Tessa Blanchard made history at IMPACT Hard to Kill, defeating Sami Callihan to win the IMPACT World Title. The victory was mired in a weekend filled with controversy as Tessa was accused of racism and bullying the day before her title victory.
And while the win is still regarded as a monumental moment in the history of IMPACT Wrestling, Booker T didn't see it as such.
"Big ups to Tessa Blanchard because she's really good at what she does. But this is the worst idea for IMPACT Wrestling ever had in the history of their company. It's that bad. It's worse than paying me $10,000 for a six-hour power commercial that never aired. That's how ridiculous it is," he said on his Hall of Fame podcast. "Now, all of the men in the company, if they wrestle her and she beats them, it diminishes every guy in the company. Who is the top guy in the company now? I can't see 'The Man' Becky Lynch, wrestling Samoa Joe or Brock Lesnar. This is the worst idea in the history of wrestling. It makes me question and wonder if somebody is trying to blow this thing up on purpose. 'Let's see how bad we can mess this up.' I'm serious. If Tessa Blanchard goes back and wrestles the women, she should be able to beat all of them. And the woman that beats her, she should be able to beat the men too. The crossover, intergender wrestling is something for independent companies. If they want to be looked at as an Indy group, keep doing stuff like this."
He continued, "I don't think this is empowering women, what it was meant to be. I'm not saying Ronda Rousey is not a tough woman, but you put Ronda Rousey in there with Jon Jones and watch what happens. Put her in there with the lower-level men and watch what happens to her. You don't want to start blurring those type of lines when it comes to performance. Especially, with a man and woman these days. Normally, when a man hits a woman, he goes to jail. I don't want to see no man try to put their hands on my sisters. To actually see it play out and for someone to think this is a good idea for television? For a man and woman to be fighting? It's ridiculous. It's not something I would ever have on Reality of Wrestling."
Tessa has remained in the headlines following her victory, but not for her in-ring accomplishments. She claimed she did not use racist language during a 2017 altercation with La Rosa Negra and she is allegedly digging up dirt on Allysin Kay, who initially called her out for her racist language.
Fightful Select also reported details on Tessa's verbal confrontations in WOW. You can read more by clicking here.
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