Sami Callihan Says His Match With Tessa Blanchard at Slammiversary Will Change the Wrestling Landscape

– Sami Callihan spoke with Interactive Wrestling Radio ahead of Slammiversary about his match against Tessa Blanchard, rumors of a new TV deal and more.

On the busy media day today for Slammiversary: “The day of Sami Callihan never stops! Doing a lot of interviews. I just bought an 18 foot enclosed trailer for the Wrestling Revolver. It is a busy day before the 4th of July!”

On facing Tessa Blanchard at Slammiversary: “A match that is going to change the wrestling world and is going to change the entire landscape at a national level. One of the marquee matches of the night and for the first time in Impact Wrestling, intergender wrestling is getting this kind of buzz. The numbers don’t lie. There’s more people liking it, loving it, retweeting it. Over the last couple of months, everything they’ve put out about this match has been retweeted and retweeted. Message after message! For everyone that is hating on it, I’m giving you exactly what you want. You want women to be treated equally? I’m going to do that.”

On the talents of Tessa Blanchard: “What better woman to do it with than Tessa Blanchard? I may not agree with her. I may think that she’s a bitch. But, at the end of the day, I have to somewhat respect her because either male or female, she’s one of the best wrestlers on theentire planet today.”

On if he will change his style against Tessa: “No, I’m going to wrestle her exactly as I would wrestle Pentagon Jr… Exactly as I would wrestle Brian Cage… Exactly as I would wrestle anyone on the roster. If I don’t go out there and if I don’t give her my all, it is disrespectful.”

On saying he wanted to do intergender wrestling upon entering Impact in 2017: “And I’m doing exactly that, am I not? I don’t say stuff just to hear myself talk. I say stuff for a reason.”

On his take on Impact: “We are the true renegade company. We are the Island of Misfit Toys. We’re the company that is not afraid to go out there and try something different. We’ve been doing that. People may think of Impact as the old Impact. The Impact of old has been dead for a year and a half now. The Impact of new is something to mess with.”

On rumors of a new TV deal being probable: “I think that’s huge and that is the only thing Impact is missing right now. I ain’t gonna hate on the Pursuit and Twitch deal, though. We’ve got a lot of eyes on Twitch! And, the one good thign about Pursuit and Twitch is Impact Wrestling, over the past year is we have been able to do what we want. We haven’t had a network telling us what we can and can’t do. That is why Impact is striding. And that is why, once we get on a bigger network, it is off to the races!”

On the wrestling landscape right now with new companies and changes all around: “Wrestling right now is great. The one problem with wrestling right now is the fans – They want to pit every company against each other. You know you’re allowed to like more than one wrestling? And, you know if someone likes a wrestling (company) you don’t like, how about you just shut your mouth about it? Why does everybody have to have an opinion on something that they know nothing about?”

On Impact staying ahead of the curve: “I think they’ve (Impact) been ahead of the curve for the past year and a half and I think now people are starting to take notice.”

On his really personal feud with Rich Swann: “It was personal and it was real! I would have loved to have had Rich join oVe. But, at the end of the day, I respect the fight that he brought, man. He’s always going to be my little brother. I will always defend him. I will always fight for him. Sometimes brothers just have to fight. We went out there and we didn’t apologize. We said what we had to say. Rich Swann truly is like my little brother and he’s lived with me since he was 17 years old. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – Rich Swann is one of the most talented guys I have ever met in my entire life – Not just in wrestling. In every aspect of life.”

On Jessica Havok returning to Impact and having a very oVe sounding theme: “Yeah! She’s killing it. She’s killing it! It (the theme) is pure happenstance. A little fun fact for those listening in podcast land, both songs are done by the same artist which is Jessica Havoc’s brother’s band. He’s an amazing musician.”

Callihan’s final thoughts heading into Slammiversary: “Quit sleeping on Impact Wrestling. I don’t care what company it is anywhere around the world – Impact Wrestling is about to go out and have the pay per view of the year.”