As previously reported, the original plan for the Mae Young Classic finals were for Kairi Sane to defeat Toni Storm. Those plans were changed when the company decided to “go all out” for the Horsewoman storyline, so they went with Shayna Baszler instead of Storm for the finals.
According to Dave Meltzer, the decision was made on Monday not to feature anything regarding the Horsewoman storyline. They company decided to make the night all about Kairi Sane and save the Ronda Rousey & Four Horsewoman angle for a later date.
There is a rumor going around online that suggests that Vince didn’t want to base the tournament around Shayna because she’s not signed with the company. Those reports appear to be false as Triple H indicated on Twitter prior to the tournament that both Baszler and Kairi have both signed deals to the company.
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