Another former Knockouts champ among names rounding out Mae Young Classic field

Well, here’s your 2018 Mae Young Classic (MYC) field.

Okay, there’s one name yet to be unveiled, as her qualifying match will presumably air on a future episode of NXT (find out about that, along with other spoilers for the black-and-yellow brand, here). But in dropping five names on us today (Aug. 3), we’re now at 31 of 32 competitors and know the identity of everyone who hasn’t previously appeared on WWE programming.

Hers isn’t the name the company’s announcement led with, but the wrestler who jumped out at us is Allysin Kay. Impact Wrestling fans will know Kay as former Knockouts Champ Sienna. The 30 year old has been wrestling for about a decade, but not since earlier this year after she was diagnosed with blood clots in her lungs when she experienced shortness of breath and other symptoms at a January Impact taping. Her contract with the former TNA expired while she was out dealing with her health, which apparently has been addressed to the satisfaction of WWE doctors. Now maybe she and Charlotte Flair can settle their whole “gimmick infingement” beef - if the Queen visits next week’s tapings, or Kay makes it to the finals at Evolution...

Another Impact-ex, MJ Jenkins, is in. The Johnny Rodz trained New Yorker’s been around the indies for a few years and spent time on Impact in 2017. She was recently announced as part of the latest Performance Center class.

PC vet Xia Li is back for her second MYC. The China native will try to do better than her first round loss to Mercedes Martinez last year. Also returning is Rachel Evers, daughter of WWE Hall of Famer Paul Ellering. Evers defeated Impact vet Marti Belle before being taken out by the since-released Abbey “Kimber Lee” Laith in the first edition of this tourney.

The name WWE’s story does lead with is Chilean luchadora Zatara. Though only 26 years old, she’s been wrestling since 2008 and recently began working in Mexico.

Here’s the list, barring that spoiler, of women who will be competing Aug. 8 - 9 during tapings at Full Sail Live in Winter Park, Florida :

Kaitlyn
Kacy Catanzaro
Io Shirai
Rhea Ripley
Nicole Matthews
Jinny
Deonna Purrazzo
Tegan Nox
Jessica Elaban
Reina González
Kavita Devi
Mia Yim
Mercedes Martinez
Killer Kelly
Zeuxis
Isla Dawn
Lacey Lane
Karen Q
Toni Storm
Meiko Satomura
Ashley Rayne
Priscilla Kelly
Xia Brookside
Hiroyo Matsumoto
Aerial Monroe
Vanessa Kraven
Zatara
Xia Li
Allysin Kay
MJ Jenkins
Rachel Evers