Rant #2,503: I Am Woman

No, not me, but something happened yesterday night that has never happened before, and might never happen again, related to women in professional sports.

Professional wrestling is in a world of its own, and is truly the circus of the 21st century.

It all happens in a single ring rather than a three-ring circus, but it can be fun, exhilarating, and dubious all at the same time.

And pro wrestling is defined by WWE, the worldwide phenomenon headed by Vince McMahon and his family. Everything begins and ends with the WWE, and if you have made it as a wrestler in the WWE, you can make it anywhere. Look at the Rock and John Cena for proof.

But professional wrestling doesn't begin and end with the WWE.

There are smaller outlets all looking for their piece of the pie. The WWE probably is 90 percent or more of that pic, but smaller outlets like Impact, AEW, Major League Wrestling and Ring of Honor divide up that last slice pretty well, each featuring their own roster of wrestlers that are every bit as good--or even better--than what the WWE has to offer.

One of those wrestlers is Tessa Blanchard, probably the top female grappler in the United States, if not the world. She comes from a wrestling family, and during her past couple of years as part of the Impact roster, she has solidified herself as not only the top female wrestler in the world, but also the main attraction on that roster, above all the males and the other females in that group.

Last night, as part of the "Hard To Kill" pay per view event, her match drew national and international notice, because she was going for the Impact Wrestling World Championship--against a man.

Inter-gender wrestling is a new twist on pro wrestling, and when you are competing against the likes of the WWE, you are almost forced to do something completely different to get noticed.

The WWE has had such matches, but they are mixed matches, where tag teams of men and women face each other, but the men face the men and the women face the women. Sometimes things get mixed up, but when that happens, generally the women only get to slap the face of the man, and then they get out of the ring, and wait for their turn.

There have been women who have actually faced men in the WWE--primarily the late Chynna, who was every bit as big as a man and as athletic as one--but that usually happened in gimmick matches, not one on one.

Well, last night, Blanchard faced Sammi Callahan one-on-one during the main event of a very entertaining pay per view for the Impact championship, and if you think that Callahan--one of the best wrestlers in Impact who certainly has the best schtick as the evil, disgusting wrestler who will stop at nothing to win--held back at all against his female counterpart, you are very wrong.

Everything was featured in this match, including piledrivers and moves that can hurt, damage and even permanently injure the wrestlers involved.

The two wrestlers went all out for the win. It was wrestler against wrestler, not man against woman, and Blanchard won, making her the very first female to win a major male championship belt, and the win is making headlines all around the Internet.

Yes, professional wrestling can be as fake as a $3 bill, but the moves and athleticism are not. You have to know what you are doing to be successful in this sport, and plenty of athletes think they can do it, but end up failing miserably.

Blanchard and Callahan definitely know what they are doing, and that made the lead up to the match--and the match itself--so entertaining.

Blanchard, only in her early 20s, has been around pro wrestling her entire life, as she is the daughter of former pro Tully Blanchard. She is not over-muscled or over sexy, as many female wrestlers are portrayed as even today in 2020, but she has that rough and tumble look that makes her effective as either a heel or a babyface. She also has a reputation as something of a bully, and right before the match was held, some fellow female wrestlers came out with a story that she had bulled them in the past.

Callahan is another interesting story. Once part of the WWE, he lost his place with them when their idea for his character and his own idea clashed, and he wrestled here, there and everywhere until he found a home in Impact as the most disrespectful, disgusting wrestler on the planet as part of the "OVE" (Ohio Versus Everyone) faction. He spits, curses, and knocks his fellow wrestlers in every way possible, while he also pummels them to a pulp, and his voice--which sounds like nails against a chalkboard--adds to his completely negative persona.

Both Blanchard and Callahan have been feuding for the past eight months or so, and this led up to the title match that was held last night.

The WWE can promote its female wrestlers all they want, but most of their matches between the ladies continue to be tired and boring, more gymnastic events than wrestling matches.

But what happened last night is bigger than that, much bigger than that, and it remains to be seen what influence it has on females in pro wrestling and on wrestling in general.

Congratulations to Tessa Blanchard, the best women's wrestler going right now. What is next for her is anyone's guess, but she can basically call her own shots now, and it will be interesting to see what happens over the next weeks and months with her and her fellow Impact Knockouts, what they call their women's division. The sky appears to be the limit, now that their world champion is a female.

Kudos to Impact for thinking outside the box like they did this time around.