Kemo
08-02-2018, 01:29 AM
Jim Ross and Amy “Lita” Dumas were the play-by-play and color commentators for last year’s Mae Young Classic. It is believed there will be a change to the team this year, however. According to a report from PW Insider, the current plan is for Mauro Ranallo to be the lead announcer of 2018’s tournament.
The Mae Young Classic is set to tape over 2 days from Full Sail University next week. The tournament will be filmed August 8th and 9th at Full Sail University. The finals will be held at the Evolution pay-per-view in October.
Already confirmed for the Mae Young Classic II are:
Ashley Ryane
Deonna Purrazzo
Io Shirai
Isla Dawn
Jessie Elaban
Jinny
Kacy Catanzaro
Kaitlyn
Karen Q
Kavita Devi
Killer Kelly
Lacey Lane
Meiko Satomura
Mercedes Martinez
Mia Yim
Nicole Matthews
Priscilla Kelly
Reina Gonzalez
Rhea Ripley
Taynara Conti*
Tegan Nox
Toni Storm
Xia Brookside
Zeuxis
** defeated Vanessa Borne in a qualifying match
Earlier this year, Ranallo spoke with Sports Illustrated regarding his time as a commentator for Smackdown Live.
“With WWE, the biggest issue was the weekly travel for SmackDown,” Ranallo said. “I also had a job with Showtime Championship Boxing, and now Bellator MMA, so I was busy almost every weekend and the fact that I had to be on the road with SmackDown Live, which was a dream job in live TV on the USA Network, was going to kill me.”
Ranallo would say there were other issues which impacted his happiness at the time but he’s in a much better place with the company now.
“There were other issues, and they’ve been dealt with,” Ranallo continued. “Honestly, I’ve never had a better relationship with WWE, especially Paul [Triple H] Levesque and Michael Cole, two people who are instrumental in me being the voice of NXT. The amount of support I’ve received from everyone, and I mean from Vince McMahon to Stephanie to Shane to the entire locker room, it’s incredible.”
The Mae Young Classic is set to tape over 2 days from Full Sail University next week. The tournament will be filmed August 8th and 9th at Full Sail University. The finals will be held at the Evolution pay-per-view in October.
Already confirmed for the Mae Young Classic II are:
Ashley Ryane
Deonna Purrazzo
Io Shirai
Isla Dawn
Jessie Elaban
Jinny
Kacy Catanzaro
Kaitlyn
Karen Q
Kavita Devi
Killer Kelly
Lacey Lane
Meiko Satomura
Mercedes Martinez
Mia Yim
Nicole Matthews
Priscilla Kelly
Reina Gonzalez
Rhea Ripley
Taynara Conti*
Tegan Nox
Toni Storm
Xia Brookside
Zeuxis
** defeated Vanessa Borne in a qualifying match
Earlier this year, Ranallo spoke with Sports Illustrated regarding his time as a commentator for Smackdown Live.
“With WWE, the biggest issue was the weekly travel for SmackDown,” Ranallo said. “I also had a job with Showtime Championship Boxing, and now Bellator MMA, so I was busy almost every weekend and the fact that I had to be on the road with SmackDown Live, which was a dream job in live TV on the USA Network, was going to kill me.”
Ranallo would say there were other issues which impacted his happiness at the time but he’s in a much better place with the company now.
“There were other issues, and they’ve been dealt with,” Ranallo continued. “Honestly, I’ve never had a better relationship with WWE, especially Paul [Triple H] Levesque and Michael Cole, two people who are instrumental in me being the voice of NXT. The amount of support I’ve received from everyone, and I mean from Vince McMahon to Stephanie to Shane to the entire locker room, it’s incredible.”