"The Crown Jewel of NXT" battles one of the tournament's most daunting intimidators, brawny Berliner Jazzy Gabert. Video courtesy of the award-winning WWE Network.

Seattle native Abbey Laith was presented with a tall task in the First Round: Figuring out a way to beat Jazzy Gabert, the 6-foot-1, muscle-packed machine from Germany.

Gabert appeared impervious to Laith’s attack at the start. Each time the NXT Superstar lunged at her, Gabert threw her down with thunderous force, eliciting a shocked reaction from the fans inside Full Sail University. Gabert mauled Laith with a smothering attack on the mat, crumpled her with body strikes in the corner and nearly took her head off with a clothesline.

Laith showed incredible fortitude throughout, enduring the mauling and eventually using her speed and technique to fight back. As Gabert had her set up for a backbreaker, Laith slipped out of the Berliner’s mighty grip and rolled through into the Alligator Clutch, Laith’s finishing maneuver which was originally made famous by the tournament’s namesake, Mae Young.

Laith’s application of the hold proved as inescapable as Young’s, and she snared the three-count — a fitting end to the Mae Young Classic’s thrilling debut episode.