Impact Wrestling: Tessa Blanchard has to win the X Division Title at Bound for Glory
At Impact Wrestling Bound for Glory, Tessa Blanchard will be one of five wrestlers competing in a ladder match for the X Division Championship.
As talent-rich as its roster is, Impact Wrestling has almost no one under their umbrella that they have positioned as a legitimate star. One of the few exceptions to this has been third-generation grappler, Tessa Blanchard.
Since defeating Gail Kim at Impact Wrestling Rebellion last April, Blanchard has steadily risen up the card, going from the centerpiece heel in the Knockouts Division to participating in the promotion’s first-ever intergender main event at Slammiversary, Impact’s second-biggest pay-per-view (PPV), opposite Sami Callihan.
Even though she came up short in that match and a rematch that would’ve earned her an Impact World Title shot, the 24-year-old has remained a prominent fixture in the Impact Wrestling upper midcard. Her incremental push will culminate with a spot in a five-way ladder match for Jake Crist’s X Division Championship at Impact Wrestling Bound for Glory, the company’s biggest event of the year.
In that match, she will join Crist, Ace Austin, Daga, and a wrestler to be determined in an arduous climb to claim a belt that has historically been defined for having “no limits” and there’s no better way to embrace that tagline than to put the title on Blanchard.
Storyline-wise, it makes all the sense in the world, as the build for this multi-person match has primarily revolved around Blanchard’s months-long feud with Callihan and his Ohio Versus Everything (oVe) faction.
Over the last few weeks in Impact Wrestling, Blanchard has not only pinned oVe member Jake Crist to qualify for the ladder match but also saved fellow ladder match participant Daga from and oVe attack and teamed with him to beat Jake and Madman Fulton in a tag team match.
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Sure, you could argue that Daga’s presence in this program makes him just as likely a candidate to walk away with X Division Title. You’d honestly have a stronger leg to stand on making that case than you would for totally-cool card trick enthusiast Austin, whose character has spent the last month trying to woo Alisha Edwards using a plan that hinges on Edwards not watching any episodes of Impact. The same goes for whoever fills the final spot.
But Daga’s role in this story is merely supplementary to the larger narrative of oVe keeping Blanchard from winning the championship. And it’s a narrative with only one logical conclusion: Blanchard climbing the ladder and unhooking the X Division Title.
Giving Blanchard the win at Bound for Glory accomplishes three things: it gives the fans a satisfying conclusion to her mini-feud with the Crists, gives the company a history-making moment to boast about (Blanchard would become the first woman to win the X Division Championship), and gives her a direct line to continue her feud with Callihan.
See, for all of the creative gunk from the old TNA that this current Impact regime has dumped out, one thing that has remained is “Option C” — where the X Division Champion can relinquish the belt for an Impact World Championship shot.
Callihan, coincidentally enough, has a World Title match at Bound for Glory against Bryan Cage. Even if “The Draw” doesn’t win the gold this Sunday, it’s only a matter of time before he gets his hands on it. And when he does, Blanchard will be there, ready to add another chapter to their series and, hopefully, get her long-awaited win for the most important championship in the company. The company can start to put that in motion this Sunday.
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Overall, the Bound for Glory card looks pretty solid. Taya Valkyrie and Tenille Dashwood will likely put together a great Knockouts Championship match. The six-man tag featuring The Rascalz, Aero Star, Taurus, and Dr. Wagner Jr. will give fans a hearty helping of entertaining spots. Ken Shamrock vs. Moose should be a fun spectacle. And the main event should live up to its relatively high expectations. But Impact’s best chance at burgeoning its biggest ascending star rests in this ladder match. Here’s hoping they take that chance.