Today on her Twitch channel, MMA Four Horsewoman Jessamyn Duke confirmed the speculation that her fellow Four Horsewoman Shayna Baszler, one of the finalists in the inaugural Mae Young Classic, had signed with the WWE.
Prior to the final match last week, Triple H tweeted a photo of himself with the two finalists – Baszler and eventual winner Kairi Sane – strongly hinting that both were now a part of the WWE family. Some assumed he was being metaphoric, as their participation in the tournament alone would have indicated that. But others were under the impression that a deal was imminent and just being finalized, primarily because of the WWE focus on promoting the brewing hostilities between the MMA Four Horsewomen (Ronda Rousey, Shayna Baszler, Jessamyn Duke and Marina Sharif) and the original NXT Four Horsewomen (Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, Sasha Banks and Bayley), which we reported months ago was laying the groundwork for this, followed by the news that Duke herself had begun pro wrestling training with Rocky Romero. Days after that, Fightful.com broke the news that Rousey herself was also beginning preparations.
The calm before the storm…
Win, lose, or draw, it is my pleasure to welcome @KairiSaneWWE and @QoSBaszler to @WWE. #MaeYoungClassic pic.twitter.com/ZBeDBj3Zvt— Triple H (@TripleH) September 13, 2017
Shayna Baszler was also at this past week’s NXT tapings (although she wasn’t used), confirmed when NXT Superfan Izzy posted a selfie with Baszler.
Hanging with @QoSBaszler before the NXT Tapings! You were awesome in the #MaeYoungClassic Thank you again! 🤘 pic.twitter.com/frpvw1TpuO
— Izzy Moreno (@ItsIzzyMania) September 14, 2017
Many dirtsheets reported following the Mae Young Classic that Vince McMahon changed the winner to Kairi Sane from Baszler because he had no intention of pushing someone who they weren’t going to sign and promote an angle that they had no plans of following through on. With today’s news from Duke that Baszler is signed – as well as the fact that Rousey and Duke are undergoing wrestling training and the fourth Horsewoman, Sharif, is married NXT Superstar Roderick Strong and has already appeared on NXT TV – it would appear that the angle is quite clearly alive and the WWE had every intention of signing her.
No word yet on when she’ll debut on WWE programming, but Shayna Baszler is the current reigning AIW Women’s Champion, so she’ll have to finish up her indie commitments first.
