News & Notes: NJPW G1, Sara Del Rey, Backstage Reactions to MY Classic

NJPW 2017 G1 Climax News

New Japan Pro Wrestling will be airing the first show of this year’s G1 Climax tournament for free on NJPW World. The first four shows will include English commentary as an option before being Japanese commentary exclusive till the final three shows.

This year’s tournament starts on Monday, July 17 at 2AM EST (11PM PST) and ends on August 13th.

Triple H Honors Sara Del Rey at Mae Young Classic Tapings

During tapings for the Mae Young Classic tournament, Triple H publicly honored Sara Amato (Sara Del Rey) for the hard work she’s done training the current generation of women’s wrestlers in the WWE. Triple H credited her for being the real start of the Women’s Revolution in the WWE.

For all the work you do and all the time spent preparing the future of our industry… we say #ThankYou to @WWESaraAmato.#MaeYoungClassic pic.twitter.com/3zdqE6Osrr

— Triple H (@TripleH) July 15, 2017

Stephanie McMahon also praised Amato on Instagram for all the hard work she has done during her wrestling and training career.

#ThankYouSara for all of your sacrifices on the independent circuit all around the world, helping pave the way for women's wrestling, and ensuring its future as the first women's coach and assistant Head Coach in @wwe. #WeAreNXT #WomensWrestling #maeyoungclassic #WeAreReady

A post shared by Stephanie McMahon (@stephaniemcmahon) on Jul 15, 2017 at 11:19am PDT

Some Within WWE Upset at Mae Young Classic Tournament

Several people within the WWE are reported to have been upset the Mae Young Classic tournament was held, according to this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

Dave Meltzer reported the same individuals within WWE who believe “WWE women all have to be hot” were not happy at some of the selections made for the tournament. Instead of viewing the tournament as WWE’s way to showcase the skills of women’s wrestling around the world, those same individuals were upset the selections didn’t prioritize WWE standards of beauty over skills.