Tessa Blanchard on Merging Impact World and Knockouts Titles, Her Response to Charlotte Flair’s Comments About Horsewomen

– As previously reported, Impact Wrestling World champion Tessa Blanchard recently took part in a media conference call and discussed a variety of topics. During the media conference call, she was asked about Charlotte Flair’s comments in a December Sportskeeda interview that Charlotte and Blanchard are the only ones who can call themselves Horsewomen. Below are some additional highlights from the media teleconference, courtesy of WrestlingInc.com.

Tessa Blanchard on potentially merging the Knockouts and World titles for Impact: “Never say never – anything is possible. We’re at a time in wrestling where crazy things are happening. It’s a great time and things are evolving as we’re in the midst of an evolution. I’m all for it. Change and evolution don’t happen without one or the other.”

On her plan to be a fighting champion: “I’m gonna be a fighting champion. I wanna face guys and girls because I don’t look at it like that. It’s not intergender wrestling, it’s just pro wrestling. Some of my favorite matches have been against girls and some of my favorite matches have been against guys. I’m all for it. If that’s something that were to happen in the future – cool. If it’s not, then it’s cool too. Whatever happens, I’m all for it.”

On combining the titles: “Never say never. Anything is possible. I’m in this to break stereotypes. I wanna grow as an athlete and I wanna wrestle some of the best in the world and some of the best in the world happen to be female. I take Taya and Ace very seriously as competitors. I take a lot of our whole locker room very seriously because they’re so talented. I’m all for it if that’s something that were to happen down the line. Impact has proven that we don’t look at it as intergender wrestling as we just look at it as pro wrestling. That might make some people uncomfortable because it’s not what they’re used to. But it is our outlook.”

Blanchard on being able to wrestle in the ring against men: “I think wrestling the guys is something that came naturally to me because that’s the way I was trained. We would train and train and I was forced to hold myself to a higher standard because of that and because of my family – to do them proud but also to find out who Tessa Blanchard is in the ring on my own.”

On Charlotte Flair’s comments that she and Tessa are the only ones who should be able to call themselves Horsewomen: “I would say that there is a truth to the statement that Charlotte and myself are true, thoroughbred Horsewomen. Being a Horseman means that you’re excelling to the best of your ability. Being a champion is a state of mind and a lifestyle. Holding up that four is a true symbol of excellence. For Charlotte Flair and myself, it is birthright.”