IMPACT Wrestling Knockouts Champion Tessa Blanchard recently spoke with Wrestlezone.com’s Kevin Kellam while promoting this weekend’s Homecoming pay-per-view. You can read a few highlights and listen to the full interview below:
On intergender matches:
I think it goes along with different styles. Depending on what country I go to, my style might be a little bit different and my tactics might change a little bit, but at the end of the day, I’m still Tessa Blanchard and I’m still the same wrestler. I think that wrestling guys has elevated my game in a whole different way. My timing, my transitions, everything is crisp. It’s a whole different level. There’s a lot of great Knockouts, but I bring something different to the table. I’m gonna be one of the hardest hitters that these girls have ever been in the ring with. My brain is always working when I’m in the ring and thinking of ways I can [gain an advantage] on my opponent. That’s why I am the Knockouts Champion, and why nobody has been able to take that from me. It’s why Taya comes up short.
On facing Taya again:
Taya is one of the strongest Knockouts in the locker room. She is one of the top names in the independent circuit because she is so good. She brings a high flying style and a mat style. She’s wrestled all over the world. She’s Canadian, but lived in Mexico and is making her name all over the United States. She’s been in Lucha Underground and fought some of the toughest guys that I’ve been in the ring with. So, Taya definitely brings something special to the squared circle, but she’s know Tessa Blanchard. She’s no “Diamond,” and she’s sure as hell no IMPACT Knockouts Champion. Every time she is in the ring with me, she’s really good and is one of the best in the world, but she hasn’t been able to win the belt from me.
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On IMPACT going to Pursuit Network:
No matter what network we are on, it’s going to be a success because the product is that amazing. People are going to want to see IMPACT. They have some of the top names in not just the independent circuit, but in wrestling altogether. In 2018, we got Pentagon, we got Fenix, we got Tessa Blanchard, Brian Cage, Matt Sydal, Eli Drake, Tyra even. These are some of the top names in wrestling. That’s huge and the product is second to none. It’s cool because it’s not looking to compete with anyone, it’s an alternative. We’re putting out what people want to see, and IMPACT has gained some steam across 2018 and in 2019, no matter what station we’re on, it’s going to be huge.
When she decided to become a wrestler:
I never wanted to be a wrestler, I wanted to get into musical theater. I always wanted to be on Broadway. Then in 2012, my grandpa passed away and then the week after my dad got inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. We all went to Miami, and I was just captivated by the entire experience. I wanted to go to all of the interviews with my dad, and my brothers & sisters wanted to go to the beach, but I wanted to be around wrestling.
Then when I turned 18, I got kicked out of my house and I lived on my own for a year. I didn’t talk to anyone in my family for an entire year. I don’t know what it was, but one day I was sitting in my room in Charlotte, North Carolina, and I went “Huh, what am I doing? What do you want to do with your life?” So, I looked up a wrestling school and Highspots Wrestling School was about 20 minutes from me. One day I went and I showed up, and I said, “I want to be a wrestler.” He took me back to the back warehouse where the students were in the ring, and they let me watch training. Eventually, he let me in the ring that day. I tried a few bumps, I ran the ropes, and I went, “Gosh, this hurts but I love this.” After that, me and Cedric Alexander would go into the ring five or six days of the week from 6pm to 2-3am, and we would train. Any time I got an opportunity to go on the road and set up the ring, I would do it. I would drive 14 hours, sleep in my car, and get $75 just to drive right back home. I traveled and did everything to be where I am right now.
On musical theater:
I was a music theater nerd in high school. Our school did The Music Man. Aladdin. Grease. All that stuff.
