Tessa Blanchard to face Sami Callihan in a history-making title match

IMPACT Wrestling announced that Tessa Blanchard will be facing World Champion Sami Callihan for the title at the next pay-per-view event, Hard to Kill.

Women’s pro wrestling has come a long way in the past few years. Finally, women are being presented opportunity to showcase their athletic ability in the ring and are breaking down boundaries across brands.

Meanwhile, Tessa Blanchard has been busy smashing stereotypes and stepping out from the shadow of her father, the legendary Tully Blanchard, for quite some time. Tessa Blanchard is currently working simultaneously for both the WOW Superheroes and IMPACT Wrestling organizations. But it’s her time in IMPACT lately that is garnering her press for her gender-defying matches.

The match at the Hard to Kill event will be the first time in professional wrestling that a woman will challenge a man for the top title live on pay-per-view. Blanchard has already been proving that she can hang with the guys in the ring.

https://twitter.com/Tess_Blanchard/status/1193010295746240512

The storyline between Blanchard and Callihan is a feud that’s had all eyes on it for some time now. And the rematch has been building ever since Callihan defeated Blanchard in July. Callihan went on to defeat Brian Cage in a steel cage match to become IMPACT Wrestling Champion. Now it’s Blanchard’s turn for a shot at the title, a title that’s only been held by men thus far.

If Blanchard should pull off the win at Hard to Kill it will cement her in the history books as one of the few women ever to hold a title belt usually reserved for the men of the division. In 1999, Chyna became the first woman to win the Intercontinental Title. Madusa became the first female ever to win the WCW World Cruiserweight Championship that same year, a title also held by Jacqueline in 2004.

The discussion of intergender matches has been going back-and-forth for a long while now. Some fans and pros in the industry don’t agree with it while others think it’s a long time coming. For Blanchard it’s an opportunity to step up her game and create a piece of history. During an interview with Vice Canada she explained:

"I don’t think that I would be the wrestler or the athlete that I am today if I didn’t have some of the intergender matches that I have. I’m forced to step my game up because the likes of Scorpio Sky, AR Fox, Brian Cage, David Starr. The way that they think, the way that they act in the ring, the way that they move, their timing, their position … it forced me to step my game up and start thinking that way, and it flipped some kind of switch so now I’m able to do that in my other matches as well."

Whether Blanchard wins the title or not she’s already breaking ground by gaining the title shot in the first place. All eyes will be on Hard to Kill when it takes place on Sunday, January 12.