Eli Drake vs. Tessa Blanchard is officially no more.
When the company first announced the intergender match back in late February, some fans sounded off on the one-on-one encounter between the former world and knockouts champions. Drake sided with those fans, making it clear that he wasn’t thrilled about facing Blanchard since it screamed, “hey, this is fake!” to him.
The former world champion put over Blanchard as top-notch talent, but refused to face the third-generation star.
Until now, it wasn’t confirmed whether Drake’s comments were a shoot or not as IMPACT officials and Blanchard remained quiet about the situation.
The bout has now been pulled and instead, Joey Ryan will face Tessa Blanchard in a singles match. Ryan is no stranger to intergender bouts and has faced Blanchard in the past, though this will be the first time the two stars lock up in a one-on-one match.
IMPACT United We Stand is scheduled for Apr. 4 in New Jersey. The event will be headlined by Rob Van Dam & Sabu taking on The Lucha Bros in an Extreme Dream Match.
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