Japanese Region, Osaka Subregion, First Round: (7) Mae Young vs (10) Sara Del Rey

Going into this tournament, I didn't expect either of these two to go out in the first round. Can't say I've seen anything from Mae Young besides when she was elderly and WWE would trot her out so I can't comment much on her. That said Sara Del Rey is damn good and I do think she'd come out on top of this one.

 

All of the respect in the world goes to Mae Young for being one of the first women to actually legitimize Women's wrestling, especially for the highly skilled ass-kickers like Sara Del Rey.

Mae's work during WWII helped the wrestling industry as a whole too, as many of the male performers went away to fight in the war.

Sara is also working in 2015 to legitimize the mainstream perception of women's wrestling. She may not have gotten a chance to truly show her own wares on the National stage, but its her knowledge, experience, and strengths as a trainer that are transforming the future of women's wrestling in WWE, by starting that shift in NXT. It cannot be stressed enough the respect level shown by WWE decision makers to bring in Sara as the first fulltime woman coach the company has ever hired, despite her having no previous WWE background. And the fact that it was universally accepted as a homerun hire by everyone associated with the business speaks volume about Del Rey's greatness.

As for in ring accomplishments, Mae was never really treated as the focal point in her time, having some secondary NWA titles basically created so that she could carry them, but never having held the NWA world title, or the WWWA world belt once Burke left the NWA over a dispute of the title to create that organization. Sara Del Rey, on the other hand, has had much more championship success, having nearly a year reign as the first holder of the Shimmer world title, and beating every top women's indy wrestler that toured the Northeast during an over three year run as JAPW women's champion(a title she never lost).

It was said that many of the male wrestlers at the time were convinced that Mae would be able to takeout half of her male counterparts if it came down to it, yet no reliable records that I have ever seen indicate that she was ever given the chance to score any victories against notable male competitors of her time period. While once again, Del Rey on the other hand, besides having defeated everyone she has been matched up against on the women's circuit, has defeated the likes of Claudio "Cesaro" Castagnoli, as well as El Generico, and numerous other noteworthy male faces on the indy scene(Icarus, Tim Donst, and Archibald Peck among them), including scoring multiple pinfalls and outlasting eleven men in one night to win Chikara's 2011 Cibernetico. Also Del Rey has scored pinfall victories against the likes of Aja Kong, and Awesome Kong, performers physically unlike anything that Mae ever dreamed of in her time period.

Mae deserves to be revered, but this is simply a case of evolution of the sport. For her time Mae did amazing things and was a legit badass, but Sara Del Rey is a different animal entirely having accomplished more and defeated better opposition, while also working just as hard to positively influence the future of her of gender in the industry.

Mae shouldn't have had to go out in round one, yet drawing Del Rey there is no other option, as "The Queen of Wrestling" Sara Del Rey clearly needs to be picked to win and advance.

 

Mae Young deserves to be remembered... however, while she may have had a career rivaling Lou Thesz's for duration, she was never a Burke, a Young or even a Stratus or Victoria. During all that time, she only held two lesser singles belts and only held them mere months.

Sara Del Rey may not have the longevity of Young but she has built a legacy as a great women's wrestler... no, scratch that - GREAT WRESTLER in a timespan when women's wrestling has been portrayed by the global market leader as anything but great.

SDR for ole FF4L

 

Mae was around forever, but never really was considered the best. She deserves respect, but I cannot put her over a badass like SDR. Laying the foundation for the future is great and all but Sara took that future & made it her bitch.


Bring on the next victim.

 

Johnnie Mae Young's contribution to the squared circle, at a time when women were too few in the mat game cannot be discounted. Then again, neither can SDR's. The sad part about Young's career is that modern fans will remember her for two things: The first is being the Moolah's sidekick. Secondly, in one of the most idiotic angles I have ever witnessed, was giving birth to a hand. Her career, unlike Moolah's, Burke's, or even Banner's, was elevated by pop culture. If she was not on WWF/E television, would she have even been considered, never mind getting a 7 seed?

As for SDR, Though she has only one World strap (Shimmer) to her credit, she has fought the world, and is continually developing the future of the squared circle for women. SDR made history by becoming WWE's first female trainer. Sad that VKM did not think more of her and sign her as a wrestler. SDR will not go far in this, I am afriad. But, in a match between Young and Del Rey, Del Rey gets the nod.