Tessa Blanchard made history Sunday night by becoming the newest Impact World Champion after defeating Sami Callihan at Impact’s Hard to Kill PPV in Dallas, Texas.
After the match Blanchard remained in the ring where she was joined by her family members while the crowd chanted “You deserve it!” The new champion gave a post-match victory speech once the show had gone off the air and during the promo she appeared to address the recent accusations that have been leveled against her by a number of female wrestlers.
“Over the past eight months this has been my life, Sami and oVe has been the thorn in my side, and tonight, we did it,” said Blanchard. “Nobody, nobody in this life is perfect. We’re all human. And it doesn’t matter what you say about me it doesn’t matter what you call me. I have one of the strongest minds that I’ve ever known. So, whenever you come for me, you come for all of these people. I am now the standard bearer of Impact Wrestling. And man or woman, pound for pound, I am one of the best in the world and I am now your World Champion!”
You can see the video of her full speech below. Thank you to Voices of Wrestling for the video.
I dont know if this aired. Tessa loosely addresses the controversy. pic.twitter.com/pMMRHlYgYn
— Voices of Wrestling (@voiceswrestling) January 13, 2020
The allegations arose on Saturday after Blanchard tweeted “Hey women, try supporting one another. Cool things happen.” In reaction to the Tweet fellow wrestler Sienna accused Blanchard of spitting in another wrestler’s face and making a racist remark. Other women spoke up as well, with some calling Blanchard a bully and accusing her of keeping others down while putting herself up.
You can see Blanchard on Impact! Tuesday evenings on AXS TV.
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