The beginning of the WWE’s second Mae Young Classic is now less than three weeks away with tapings for the tournament kicking off August 8th and 9th at Full Sail University. WWE has already confirmed a handful of names to enter the 32-woman field:

• Kaitlyn
• Rhea Ripley
• Io Shirai
• Tegan Nox
• Deonna Purrazzo
• Reina Gonzalez
• Jessie Elaban
• Nicole Matthews
• Jinny
• Kacy Catanzaro

We’ve seen rumors about other participants such as Meiko Satomura (for more on that go here) and recent WWE tryout attendee Chelsea Green (check that out here), but a new rumor has now surfaced after WWE personality Renee Young followed a number of female stars on Twitter, which was found by Squared Circle Sirens’ Casey Michael. Of course, this has led to reports that a “list” of names for the Mae Young Classic has now “leaked”. Below is Casey’s tweet which led to the rumors:

Thanks, Renee. pic.twitter.com/AMJe42htRI

— casey michael 🏳️‍🌈 (@ifyouseekcasey) July 18, 2018

Here’s a look at the rumored “rumored list” being reported by some other sites, one of which is a former IMPACT Wrestling Knockout who was just moved to the alumni section of the company’s site (read about that here), plus a current IMPACT Knockout:

• Aerial Monroe
• Vernice Gabriel
• Isla Dawn
• Vanessa Kraven
• Kavita Devi
• Toni Storm
• Sienna
• Killer Kelly
• Rachael Ellering (Evers)
• Lacey Lane
• Priscilla Kelly
• Madison Rayne
• MJ Jenkins
• Meiko Satomura

The reports are also listing Mia Yim and Mercedes Martinez as confirmed names, both of whom competed in the inaugural Mae Young Classic, however neither have been confirmed by WWE this year as of this writing.

EA’s Take: There’s a lot to digest here, so in my best impression of Jim Carrey when he gets pulled over in ‘Liar, Liar’, “Here goes….*deep breath*”. It’s a massive leap in my opinion to go from who Renee Young followed on Twitter to, “They’re rumored to be in the Mae Young Classic!”. First of all, why would Renee be privy to such information and would she really be dumb enough to do something like that, knowing people will pick up on it? Also, there are explanations for her following a number of those people as a lot were either already signed to WWE or were JUST signed by WWE. She just recently followed Brock Lesnar and Kairi Sane too, so I guess that means they will be in the MYC? Additionally, she recently followed Kenny King who’s with Ring Of Honor. Granted, they both are in the Las Vegas area so perhaps they know one another, but does that mean we should read into that more? Another point; Aerial Monroe and Cruiserweight Champion Cedric Alexander just recently got married, so is it not possible Renee followed her because they know one another? I think some people out there need the ‘Jump To Conclusions’ mat from Office Space as a Christmas gift this Winter.

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For today’s WWE fans, many will likely point to Lilian Garcia as being synonymous with ring announcing for the company for their generation, but older fans will likely always see Howard Finkel as the quintessential ring announcer. ‘The Fink’ is known as the WWE’s first employee after being hired in 1975 by Vince McMahon Sr. for the then-WWWF, becoming the promotion’s lead ring announcer by 1979.

Appearing at every WrestleMania until 2017, ‘The Fink’ was also a member of the WWE Network’s Legends House cast and has been the company’s longest-tenured employee, earning him a spot in the WWE Hall Of Fame Class of 2009. He was last seen back in January at RAW 25, introducing The Undertaker to the crowd inside of the Manhattan Center. According to another Hall Of Famer however, the 68-year old is not doing so well physically these days.

On the recent edition of Jerry Lawler’s Dinner With The King podcast, he would note that while he’s unsure of the specifics, he’s heard that Finkel is in rough shape and possibly even suffered a stroke:

“I just heard not long ago that Howard is in really, really bad health. Not good at all. He may have had a stroke. I’m not sure, but I just know that he’s not doing well.”

At this time no details on Finkel’s condition are known, however The Chairshot will provide further details as they become available.

Quote c/o WrestlingInc

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Two Knockouts have been listed under the Alumni page on the IMPACT Wrestling website recently.

Former Knockouts Champion Sienna hasn’t been seen on IMPACT TV since the March 22nd episode of IMPACT when she unsuccessfully challenged then Knockouts Champion Allie for the title. The last we have seen of Rebel was on the June 14th epsiode of IMPACT when she lost to Taya Valykire.

Sienna:

Siennna made her IMPACT debut on April 21st, 2016 during the May television tapings. This also happened to be the same day that she signed with the company. Sienna immediately began a feud with Gail Kim and Jade after she attacked Jade. She would then join forces with Maria and Allie. Sienna would then go on to in the IMPACT career of Velet Sky by defeating her in a match with her career on the line. She would then move on a try to capture the Knockouts Championship. Sienna would fail on her first shot but would eventually capture the title at Slammiversary.

Sienna would then lose the title at Turning Point. In January of 2017 IMPACT merged with GFW and it was on the April 21st, 2017 episode that Sienna would defeat the then GFW Women’s Champion Christina Von Eerie. It was later that year at Slammiversary where she would defeat Rosemary and merge both titles. She would then go on to successfully defend the title due to the help of the returning Taryn Terrell. Sienna would then lose the title in a triple threat at Bound For Glory with Gail Kim winning the match and the title. The last we saw of her was on March 22nd of this year when she unsuccessfully challenged Allie for the Knockouts Championship.

Rebel:

Rebel never really seemed to find her footing or get off the ground really in IMPACT Wrestling. She signed with the company back in 2013 after her friend former wrestler/ring announcer Christy Hemme recommend her. Rebel would finally make her debut in May of 2014 when she was apart of The Menagerie. She would then make her in-ring debut on the September 10th episode of IMPACT in a six person mixed tag match with The Menagerie losing to The BroMans and Velvet Sky. She would then participate in a battle royal where she would fracture her arm and wouldn’t be seen until October of that same year where she and The Menagerie would defeat Angelina Love and The BroMans.

It would be sometime in 2015 that IMPACT Wrestling would announce The Menagerie’s departure from the company. In May of 2015 Rebel would return and team with Brooke in a losing effort against The Dollhouse. Later that year Rebel would turn heel and join forces with The Dollhouse. In September of 2016 Rebel would announce her departure from the company again. Rebel would make two more returns, one in 2017 and one just recently this year where she would come up short against Taya Valykire.

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