Tessa Blanchard, four others confirmed for WWE Mae Young Classic

WWE has confirmed five more wrestlers who will be participating in this summer’s Mae Young Classic.

In an announcement that was made by ESPN, it was noted that Tessa Blanchard, Abbey Laith, Taynara Conti, Kavita Devi, and Jazzy Gabert would be taking part in the women’s tournament. They join Toni Storm, Princesa Sugehit, Lacey Evans, and Sarah Logan as names already confirmed for the 32-competitor field.

Blanchard is the daughter of Tully Blanchard and the stepdaughter of “Magnum T.A.” Terry Allen. She is only 21 years old but has been wrestling since 2014. She debuted for Stardom last year and has continued to appear for the promotion.

Dave Meltzer previously reported that Blanchard was a name that had been mentioned for the tournament.

With her getting a new in-ring name yesterday, Laith seemed like a lock for the Mae Young Classic. She wrestled as Kimber Lee and was a standout on the indies before being signed by WWE. She had been using her real name (Kimberly Frankele) in NXT before the name change.

Conti is also a fairly recent WWE signing who has been given a new name. The Brazilian (named Taynara Melo) debuted in a battle royal at an NXT house show earlier this year. She has a background in judo and jiu-jitsu.

Devi is from India and attended WWE’s tryouts in Dubai this past April. She has trained with The Great Khali and has participated in weightlifting. Her being in the tournament was first revealed by the Times of India this morning.

Rounding out the list, Gabert (also known as Alpha Female) is a veteran pro wrestler from Germany. She has wrestled for wXw, Stardom, and has done a few matches for TNA. She has also competed in MMA.

The Mae Young Classic will begin taping on July 13th and 14th at Full Sail University.

WWE women’s tournament to be named the Mae Young Classic

This summer’s WWE women’s tournament officially has its name.

Triple H announced today that the tournament will be called the “Mae Young Classic.” The name honors Young, who the company has long held up as a legendary figure in women’s wrestling. She was 90 years old when she passed away in January 2014.

After being in the planning stages for a while, the tournament was announced at WWE’s business partner summit in Orlando over WrestleMania weekend. WWE hyped that it will feature a 32-competitor field and that 17 different countries will be represented.

The Mae Young Classic will begin taping on July 13th and 14th at Full Sail University, with tickets going on sale this Friday at 10 a.m. ET. It is being taped to air on the WWE Network.

Jim Ross has confirmed that he’ll be part of the announce team for the tournament, but no wrestlers have officially been revealed for it yet.

Dave Meltzer reported that those would be the taping dates for the tournament and that the plan is for the winner to later be crowned at a live special.