Moose On Why He Does Not Want Impact World Title Match Against Tessa Blanchard
Over the last few weeks in Impact, Moose set his sights on Rhyno and now has shifted his attention to Petey Williams. He talkes about why his focus is on Williams when he joined The Wrestling Inc Daily.
"I think I've ran through all of the ECW legends so now it's time for me to do the same to the old TNA guys," Moose said before being asked why he isn't instead going after the Impact World Title, held by Tessa Blanchard.
"I don't wanna focus on a title right now because that wouldn't be a challenge. A woman has that title and I want a challenge. I could go the easy route and challenge for the World Title but how great is that if I beat a woman? I'm looking for a challenge and nothing against Tessa, but I am Moose. That wouldn't be a challenge. So I'm trying to challenge myself and make a point, so why not go after the old TNA guys like I did the old ECW guys?"
Moose is seemingly dismissing Tessa Blanchard as world champion and he expanded on his comments about her not being a challenge.
"I'm not saying she's not a deserving World Champion, she's just not a challenge for me," stated Moose. "It would be considered bullying if I challenged Tessa because I know I could easily win the World Title in less than 5 minutes. How great does that make me?"
He was then asked what it means to the credibility of the Impact World Title if he doesn't want to compete for it.
"Let me put it like this: if all the teams that Michael Jordan beat for his six title wins were all scrubs, do you think his legacy would be the same? If all the teams that Michael Jordan beat for his six title wins?if he swept all of those teams, would his legacy be the same? If I beat Tessa for the championship and become World Champion, would that make my legacy any bigger than what it is," asked Moose. "No, it wouldn't do anything for my legacy. I would have to hear stories, 'Oh, he's not a great World Champion because he beat a girl.' So I already know how people are gonna react if I go after the title and I wanna do something greater."
Moose discussed if it was a good decision by Impact to allow women to compete for the World Title and he went back to her just not being competition for him.
"I want a challenge ? beating Tessa for the World Championship is not a challenge. It's something that I could easily do. I'm not saying Tessa is not a great wrestler, it's just not a challenge for me. I think a great challenge would be wrestling someone who's been a world champion over different countries or promotions. That's a challenge for me. Old ECW guys or TNA guys is a challenge for me. Beating Tessa for the World Title is not a challenge for me," Moose said before adding he's beaten guys like Ken Shamrock and Rob Van Dam, while beating Tessa wouldn't elevate him any.
If Taya Valkyrie was Impact World Champion instead of Tessa Blanchard, would that make a difference for Moose?
"No, that wouldn't be a challenge. I think the problem is that Tessa is champion but if Ace Austin was champion, I wouldn't wanna go after him because it's not a challenge for me," stated Moose. "It has to be someone that I look in my mind and say, 'You know what? I wanna go after this because this is a challenge. This is something that could be hard.'"
He added that having the title doesn't make you the top dog as he calls himself Mr. Impact Wrestling even without the title.
"Put me in a triple threat with Elgin, Sami or a four-way match with Elgin, Sami and Eddie Edwards. That's making it a challenge. If I was so title-hungry I would have went after the X-Division Title multiple times. I would have went after the World Title multiple times but I haven't because I don't think it's a challenge to me right now," stated Moose
Moose takes on Petey Williams tonight on AXS TV, 8/7c, as part of Impact Wrestling. For more information please visit ImpactWrestling.com. Moose's full interview with Wrestling Inc aired as part of a recent episode of our podcast, The Wrestling Inc. Daily. Subscribe to get the latest episodes as soon as it's released Monday – Friday afternoon: by clicking here. The full interview can be heard via the embedded audio player below: