Evie gets new in-ring name, confirmed for WWE Mae Young Classic

The list of names confirmed for this summer’s Mae Young Classic continues to grow.

WWE’s New Zealand Twitter account announced today that Evie (who is from New Zealand) would be taking part in the tournament. She has also been given a new in-ring name, with her now being known as Dakota Kai in WWE. She changed her name to that on Twitter after the announcement.

News of Evie signing with WWE broke last December and she reported to the company earlier this year. She hadn’t wrestled a match for WWE since signing with them before debuting at tonight’s NXT house show in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Evie has been one of the standouts of the women’s wrestling scene outside of WWE, including appearances for Stardom over the last couple of years. She also appeared on an episode of NXT TV in 2015 in a match against Nia Jax. The match was Jax’s first on television.

More participants for the Mae Young Classic figure to be revealed shortly as the tournament starts taping on July 13th and 14th at Full Sail University. Toni Storm, Princesa Sugehit, Lacey Evans, Sarah Logan, Tessa Blanchard, Abbey Laith, Taynara Conti, Kavita Devi, Jazzy Gabert, Bianca BelAir, Vanessa Borne, and Dakota Kai have been confirmed for it so far.

After those tapings in July, the winner will be crowned at a live special on the WWE Network after SmackDown in Las Vegas on September 12th. Jim Ross and Lita will be the commentary team for the tournament.