Backstage News On Why Tessa Blanchard Lost To Sami Callihan At Impact Slammiversary XVII

Last night's Impact Slammiversary XVII (full results here and a review of the show here) featured Sami Callihan taking on Tessa Blanchard in the main event of the PPV.

A brutal intergender match led to Callihan hitting two piledrivers on Blanchard to pick up the victory. After the match, Callihan grabbed both his and Blanchard's bat and looked to attack her once again, instead, handing Blanchard her gold bat and then heading to the back.

Some may have found the outcome surprising, but according to the latest Wrestling Observer Radio the reason was the match was designed to showcase Blanchard as Impact obviously sees her as a big star within the promotion. The plan from the start was to have Callihan win the match.

Impact apparently wants to avoid the reaction Roman Reigns has received in the past, when he's pushed to the point where fans have rejected him. Impact reportedly wants Blanchard to avoid that, so having her lose the match should quell that response, but she's still being put over by having a very strong showing against Callihan.

Dave Meltzer also noted this type of "backwards booking" is something WWE has done in the past, where the person they are pushing, loses more often. He gave the example of Daniel Bryan as someone who was able to get over with that type of strategy. While this booking often doesn't work, Blanchard could also be the exception as fans tend to get behind "the chase" if it's for the right wrestler.

Impact announced that its next PPV, Bound for Glory, will be in Chicago on October 20.