WWE News: Four More Names For The Mae Young Classic Revealed

With the tapings for the next Mae Young Classic set to begin exactly three weeks from today (August 8th and 9th) at Full Sail University, the bracket for second all-female tournament is slowly starting to fill out. We’ve already seen Io Shirai, Kacy Catanzaro, Rhea Ripley, Jimmy and Nicole Matthews confirmed (find that here), as well as the returning former Divas Champion Kaitlyn (see that story here) and today WWE has announced four more names.

Joining this year’s field will be recent WWE signee Deonna Purrazzo, plus NXT Superstars Jessie (Jessica Elaban), Reina Gonzalez and Tegan Nox (formerly known as Nixon Newell). Purrazzo, who signed with WWE in late-May (check that out here), started her journey with the company this week at the Performance Center in Orlando (read about that here). She will join Jessie as another first-timer in the tournament, meanwhile Reina Gonzalez and Tegan Nox will both be entering for the second time (Tegan had to be replaced for the inaugural Mae Young Classic by Miranda Salinas after suffering a torn ACL).

Here is WWE’s official announcement:

Tegan Nox, Deonna Purrazzo, Jessica Elaban and Reina González confirmed for Mae Young Classic 2018

Four new competitors have been revealed for this year’s Mae Young Classic, and they include some of the brightest prospects from the WWE Performance Center, as well as one of the PC’s newest signees.

Making her long-awaited WWE Network debut will be Tegan Nox, from Welsh Valleys, South Wales. Nicknamed “The Girl with The Shiniest Wizard,” the 23-year-old Nox signed with WWE last summer after spending several years wowing audiences throughout the United Kingdom and beyond. Weeks after arriving at the WWE PC, however, Nox tore her ACL in practice, which put her on the shelf for 10 months and prevented her from competing in the inaugural Mae Young Classic. After a lengthy rehabilitation, Nox finally debuted at an NXT Live Event earlier this year and hasn’t looked back. Will the ever-exciting Nox — who is known for her daredevil maneuvers inside the ring, as well as her devastating Shining Wizard knee strike — make up for lost time in this year’s tournament?

As originally announced by Sporting News, new signee Deonna Purrazzo, who reported for training this week at the WWE PC, will also compete in this year’s 32-woman tournament. Going by the moniker of “Virtuosa” on the independent scene, the 24-year-old Purrazzo is widely hailed for her highly technical in-ring style. Making her pro debut in 2013, Purrazzo has wrestled throughout the United States, as well as in Japan, England, Puerto Rico and Canada, and she is known for finishing off opponents with her favorite hold, the Fujiwara Armbar.

Also vying for the 2018 the Mae Young Classic trophy is former collegiate volleyball player and NXT rookie Jessica Elaban. Standing 5-foot-10, the rangy Elaban has been pegged as an up-and-comer to watch since joining the WWE PC last May. An athlete her entire life, Elaban also excelled at soccer, basketball, track and dance before setting her sights on the squared circle. Having spent the past year learning under the WWE PC’s world-class coaching staff, Elaban looks to prove that she can hang with the world’s best female wrestlers, despite being a relative newcomer to the ring.

Returning to the Mae Young Classic is hard-hitting powerhouse Reina González, a second-generation wrestler from Texas. The 6-foot-tall daughter of Ricky “Desperado” González, Reina played basketball at Sam Houston State University before following in her father’s footsteps. She joined the WWE Performance Center in October 2016 and participated in the inaugural Mae Young Classic last summer, where she battled Nicole Savoy in the First Round. Though she came up short in that outing, González was praised by WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross for her rugged aggression.

Today’s announcement comes on the heels of several huge Mae Young Classic competitor reveals last week, including former Divas Champion Kaitlyn, Japanese sensation and new WWE signee Io Shirai, former “American Ninja Warrior” competitor Kacy Catanzaro and more.

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