WWE Announce Latest Big Name For Mae Young Classic

WWE have announced another big name for this year's Mae Young Classic: Japanese veteran Meiko Satomura.

The founder of Sendai Girls Pro Wrestling has 23 years of experience to fall back upon, and is renowned for her in-ring excellence. She recently made herself known to fans of UK indy wrestling, winning the Fight Club: Pro Championship from Chris Brookes. She still holds that title today.

In an official announcement, WWE described Satomura as a 'head-kicking demigod of the Japanese wrestling scene', and said:

'A living legend in the Far East, Satomura began training for the ring in 1994 at age 14. She made her professional debut the following year and stands as one of the few active competitors whose origin dates to Japan’s thunderous women’s wrestling boom in the 1990s. Viewed as a top prospect from day one, Satomura even competed in WCW early in her career. Mentored by Chigusa Nagayo (one-half of the famous Crush Girls tag team), she also trained under catch-wrestling icon Billy Robinson.

Known for her debilitating Death Valley Bomb and explosive Scorpion Rising axe kick, Satomura is a master of 

Joshi

 Strong Style (the hard-hitting in-ring style associated with Japanese female wrestlers).'

Satomura joins other big names such as Io Shirai and Toni Storm as potential front-runners for the tournament. Last year's inaugural competition was won by Kairi Sane, who defeated current NXT Women's Champion Shayna Baszler in the final.

With such an impressive pedigree outside of WWE, it'll be interesting to see whether Satomura continues to make appearances for the company once the tournament is over.