If you needed any help understanding why WWE so badly wants to make an impact in the Indian market, look no further than this week’s YouTube rankings.
As we noted earlier in the week, WWE began uploading highlights from the Mae Young Classic on YouTube and all 16 matches from the opening round are now available. You might assume big name indie stars and international stand-outs like Candice LeRae, Tessa Blanchard or Kairi Sane would be leading the pack, but you would be very wrong in this case. Kavita Devi, who became the first woman from India to ever compete in a WWE ring, is absolutely dominating the company’s social media this week, picking up more than thirteen times the amount of views as the second most watched clip from the Mae Young Classic so far.
Devi’s match with Dakota Kai has generated so much buzz on YouTube it has actually surpassed everything the company has uploaded in the past week, with the exception of Monday Night Raw’s very top segments. It’s on par with the highly praised Roman Reigns and John Cena contract signing, and a Paul Heyman/Brock Lesnar in-ring promo. India hasn’t been the only international market showing up in droves however, as Mexico’s Princesa Sugehit taking on Scotland’s Kay Lee Ray came in second place for the week.
Below is a list of all 16 first round matches and their current YouTube viewership as of this posting.
Dakota Kai vs Kavita Devi – 1.4M
Princesa Sugehit vs Kay Lee Ray – 106K
Toni Storm vs Ayesha Raymond – 61K
Kairi Sane vs Tessa Blanchard – 47K
Abbey Laith vs Jazzy Gabert – 42K
Piper Niven vs Santana Garrett – 35K
Zeda vs Shayna Baszler – 34K
Serena Deep vs Venessa Borne – 32K
Mia Yim vs Sarah Logan – 25K
Rachel Evers vs Marti Belle – 23K
Xia Li vs Mercedes Martinez – 20K
Taynara Conti vs Lacey Evans – 15K
Bianca Belair vs Sage Beckett – 15K
Rhea Ripley vs Miranda Silinas – 13K
Candice LeRae vs Renee Michelle – 9.4K
Nicole Savoy vs Reina Gonzalez – 6.7K
