On the most recent episode of The Hall Of Fame with Booker T and Brad Gilmore, the two give their thoughts on Tessa Blanchard becoming a free agent and toss the ideas of where the third generation talent may land and speak on her speculated attitude problems.
“I think very highly of Tessa Blanchard and what she’s built as a performer,” Booker said. “I mean Tessa Blanchard put herself on the map as IMPACT’s #1 superstar.”
“Now the name, Tessa Blanchard. Man, that’s money. We can do something with this anywhere in the world. Tessa Blanchard, she’s a catch in anybody’s company if they can get her right now. If WWE picked Tessa Blanchard up along with Charlotte Flair and like I said, I wish Hulk Hogan’s daughter would have stayed in there. That’s what I wanted to see. I wanted to see the second generation of all women and Tessa Blanchard is one of them.”
Wherever she goes, Booker is looking forward to seeing Tessa put herself to the test.
“She’s going to be a star immediately. We’re gonna actually get a chance to see how good Tessa Blanchard really is, if she’s good as she says she is as well. That’s something I always wondered myself when I was working them other companies, especially before I got to WWE was ‘How good was I? Can I go up here and show these guys that I am the real deal?’ In my head, I thought I could do that. I proved that in the long run.”
Booker also gets why Blanchard wouldn’t put herself at risk during these times travelling from south of the border in Mexico where she currently resides.
“I totally understand what Tessa not wanting to travel back and forth to Mexicio to the States the way it is right now,” he said. “I don’t know what happened, but I think it’s gonna be a loss for IMPACT more than it’s gonna be a loss for Tessa Blanchard because Tessa, I really think she could work anywhere in the world with any other women out there in the business today.”
What Booker is really impressed with is the fact that she carved her identity without being in a top promotion like WWE.
“She’s made herself first and foremost. She’a never gone to WWE. She hadn’t gotten the rub from people in the WWE. For people to know Tessa Blanchard’s name around the world, she’s done that on her own. And for her to do that, I give her big props and hopefully WWE can snatch her up and we can see some great matches with her and Charlotte Flair.”
As far as reputation concerns go outside the ring, Booker says that every big star goes against the grain at some point and cites his beginnings with Eddie Gilbert in his GWF days after two bad stints in Texas.
“I went to the Global Wrestling Federation and my brother was getting a tryout and ‘Hot Stuff’ Eddie Gilbert, I just happened to be there with my brother and he said, ‘Who’s that guy?’ He goes, ‘That’s my brother.’ He says,’Is he a worker?’ ‘Yeah, he’s a worker.’ And he says, ‘What’s your name?’ I said, ‘Booker T.’ He goes, ‘Oh, we heard about you. You’re the one with the bad attitude.'”
“So a lot of people in this business have rebelled along the way and still made it,” Booker says before sharing what working with Gilbert ended up doing for him. “He made us a tag team, he gave me a chance, even though I knew I didn’t have a bad attitude. It was just a misunderstanding with a guy who thought he had more authority which he did at that time, but me personally standing up for what I believed in and knowing it wasn’t right. As a green kid, knowing something like that wasn’t right working for a promoter who didn’t, it was best for me to move on from that situation, but it did get to Dallas and then the word is that I had a bad attitude.”
“Maybe Tessa Blanchard doesn’t have a bad attitude, maybe it’s the people that she’s been working around more importantly than anything,” Booker said. Gilmore then makes note that Tessa wasn’t nothing but a pro when working with ROW for a time.
(Transcription credit should go to @DominicDeAngelo of WrestleZone)
Booker goes on to give his reasoning why WWE not AEW, should be the landing spot for Tessa. You can watch the entire clip below.
