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| Tessa Blanchard became the first IMPACT Wrestling World Champion after defeating Sami Callihan at Hard To Kill last January 12, 2020 in Dallas, Texas (Image Source: Forbes.com/IMPACT Wrestling) |
On the night of January 12, 2020 (US time) in front of a sold-out crowd
inside The Bomb Factory in Dallas, Texas, third-generation athlete Tessa Blanchard
opened a new chapter in her professional wrestling career as the first female
IMPACT Wrestling World Champion after vanquishing Sami Callihan in their third singles
encounter that has been the talk of the industry. On the same night, Taya
Valkyrie continues to solidify her year-long dominance as the longest-reigning
IMPACT Knockouts Champion of all time after defending her title against Jordynne
Grace and ODB. These two amazingly impressive female competitors are now
considered to be the new cornerstones of IMPACT's Knockouts division after its
first major PPV event of 2020 named Hard To Kill.
Since the inception of the Don Callis-Scott D'Amore era in late 2017,
IMPACT Wrestling has been through its own road to resurgence and return towards
prominence by delivering impressive quality PPV events, highly-compelling storylines
and some of the best matches and moments enjoyed by today's generation of professional
wrestling fans around the world featuring a diverse roster of high-caliber
characters working and training hard to showcase their own prowess inside the wrestling
ring. These factors have earned IMPACT the mantra Hard To Kill, and among the factors
that truly redefined the mantra is its Knockouts Division.
2019 was highly regarded as one of the best years for the division that
arguably started the women's revolution in the industry since its inception in 2007.
Through the years, one of IMPACT Wrestling's signature divisions made its own ups
and eventually overcome its own downs. Within these times, the platform has established
some of the biggest names in the sport which includes Gail Kim, Awesome Kong,
The Beautiful People (Velvet Sky, Angelina Love, Madison Rayne), ODB, Taryn Terrell
and Rosemary among others. Throughout 2019, the Knockouts division became more
interesting than ever with the inclusion of Jordynne Grace, Tenille Dashwood and
Katie Forbes as well as the addition of new flavors in The Demon's Realm
storyline with the return of former Knockouts champions Rosemary and Havok.
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| IMPACT Wrestling Knockouts Champion Taya Valkyrie (Image Source: LordsOfPain.net/IMPACT Wrestling) |
Tessa Blanchard and Taya Valkyrie, which were hailed as IMPACT
Wrestling's Wrestler of the Year and Knockout of the Year respectively as voted
by its fans, have made the list of Sports Illustrated's top ten female
wrestlers of 2019 along with Jordynne Grace. On the other hand, both the first
encounter between Tessa Blanchard and Sami Callihan and the fatal four-way Monster's
Ball match for the IMPACT Knockouts Championship at Slammiversary XVII last July
2019 as well as the street fight between Blanchard and Taya Valkyrie in Mexico
last February 2019 were highly regarded as among the best matches delivered by
IMPACT Wrestling throughout the previous year by both fans and critics alike.
These facts just prove how the professional wrestling fandom is enjoying what
IMPACT's Knockouts division is all about compared to how it all started.
To be frank and honest, one of the many reasons why I still enjoy
watching IMPACT Wrestling more every week is the diverse and high-caliber quality
of its roster, more particularly those in the Knockouts division. Now that Hard
To Kill is already in the books, IMPACT's Knockouts division will continue to
create its own trubitastic impact in today's professional wrestling boom and prove
to the world that there is still a place in the industry for more female
athletes to showcase what they can do and bring to the table inside the wrestling
ring.
Catch the action of the Knockouts
of IMPACT Wrestling with a new episode every Saturday at 9:00 pm on TAP EDGE via Skycable (SD channel 218, HD channel
188) and TAP GO (available on Google Play, Apple App Store and tapgo.TV). For
more IMPACT news and updates, follow @IMPACTWRESTLING on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
and visit IMPACTWRESTLING.COM.
