Impact Wrestling: Tessa Blanchard vs Sami Callihan is an Attitude Era throwback

The Impact rivalry between Tessa Blanchard and Sami Callihan has set the wrestling world on fire. But it is not something we have never seen before. In fact it is a throwback to one of wrestling’s most celebrated eras.

It was not too long ago that Impact Wrestling, or TNA as it was known back then, was the hottest wrestling promotion on the planet and was seen as a legitimate alternative to the WWE. But one stupid decision after another saw the company slowly fade into obscurity and become the butt of wrestling jokes all over the world.

But after almost a decade of struggling to regain its footing, a change in ownership back in 2017 and subsequent shift of headquarters to Canada, the company finally managed to steady the ship. Now Impact Wrestling is back to making waves in the wrestling industry on the back its heated angle involving Tessa Blanchard and Sami Callihan.

As the granddaughter of the legendary Joe Blanchard and the daughter of Tully Blanchard, it is no surprise that Tessa is a prodigy when it comes to wrestling. At only 23 years of age, she can easily dominate women’s wrestling for the next decade and Impact would be smart to build their women’s division around her similar to what WWE have done with Charlotte Flair.

Sami Callihan has been an independent wrestling sensation for quite some time and has managed to rebuild himself on the indies after a failed run in NXT. Callihan gained a lot of exposure last year when he accidentally broke Eddie Edwards’ nose with a baseball bat. Since then, he has managed to weave the incident into his character to become one of the most hated heels on the independent circuit.

So when the dastardly Callihan attacked Blanchard with a baseball bat, it was bound to catch the attention of the wrestling community. The buzz surrounding the rivalry was greater than anything Impact had enjoyed in years. Which is why Impact management decided to make the highly anticipated match between the two at Slammiversary the main event of the show. It is safe to say that the risk paid off.

For the last couple decades, mainstream wrestling had been bereft of an intergender rivalry, or at least a memorable one. Tessa Blanchard and Sami Callihan, though, exceeded all expectations and produced a match that could easily go down as the greatest inter-gender match in history.

While Blanchard and Callihan’s rivalry might have gained popularity because of how it stands out from anything else in wresting today, it is in many ways a throwback to the Attitude Era.

The Attitude Era was where Chyna was regularly competing against men, becoming a wrestling icon in the process. Chyna holds singles victories over the likes of Jeff Jarrett, Val Venis and Billy Gunn. In fact she even managed to come out on top in a Triple Threat match against Triple H and The Undertaker albeit with a little help from Stone Cold Steve Austin.

The rivalry between Blanchard and Callihan also brings back memories of many other amazing intergender moments that took place in the Attitude Era. Whether it was Sable powerbombing Marc Mero or Stone Cold mercilessly beating up an unconscious Lita with a steel chair, it managed to get the female talent over like nothing else could.

The very same thing happened with Blanchard when she suffered a beating at the hands of OVE on Impact and then took Sami Callihan to the limit at Slammiversary.

In many ways, Tessa Blanchard is the modern day Chyna. And while she might not have managed to pick up the win at Slammiversary, Impact has already been hinting at a rematch between the two. Wrestling fans can only hope that Impact does not end up dropping the ball on Blanchard like they have done with so many in the past. Blanchard is far better in the ring than Chyna ever was and with youth on her side she can be a top star for the next decade.

With her Impact Wrestling contract expiring in 2020, bigger things might be on the cards for Blanchard in the near future. AEW is sitting on a boatload of Tony Khan’s cash and a lack of recognizable stars in its women’s division. With the meteoric rise of women’s wrestling over the past few years, WWE will also be interested in Blanchard without a doubt.

A bidding war between the two companies for Blanchard might be on the cards. Or she might just decide to stay with Impact and rebuild the company back to its former glory. Whatever might be the case, you are sure to hear a lot more about Tessa Blanchard.