Translation on this is via YouTube’s settings, so keep that in mind. But this just posted interview La Rosa Negra gave to Puerto Rico’s Contralona, the wrestler who new Impact World champion Tessa Blanchard is accused of spitting on and calling a racial slur during a 2017 backstage incident in Japanese promotion Stardom, needs to be considered in the ongoing conversation about Blanchard and racism & bullying in wrestling.
“When I saw those tweets, I was in shock and impressed because, since 2017, people have been pushing me to speak about something that isn’t necessary. I don’t like to talk about my personal life. I keep myself private. Reading all those fellow wrestlers tweets that supported me, and reading their names - it surprised me. Tweets from Renee Michelle, Sienna, Chelsea Green, Shanna and other female wrestlers about the comment made to me. And reading other non wrestlers comments, I said ‘I have to do something’ because it wasn’t how it says it was. Maybe people took it wrong. I don’t want to be overexposed with this. Female wrestlers know what really happened and why I didn’t say anything. Now, I want to clear things up.
I respected my work everywhere. About the comment, that every female has to respect themselves, it is right. But it didn’t come from the right person. Working in the US and Japan, I didn’t disrespect anybody. No female wrestlers, promoters, sponsors or any fan. That’s not me. People who know me know how I am. And the people I’ve worked for; NWA, Ring Warriors, Battling Bombshells, SHINE, Stardom, Marvelous, everywhere I’ve worked, they can tell you how I behave. I don’t like to talk mean about people. You won’t hear me talk bad about other wrestlers. I was there supporting people that helped me or didn’t. Because when you’re part of this business, you focus on yourself, your work, and work with respect. I don’t expect to receive any apologies. It’s not necessary. I erased what happened. I gave it to God. I took it out of myself. It saddens me that racism, envy, and bad things exist in sports. It is always there. As adults, when something bad happens, we can resolve things by talking. There’s always a solution. Mine was to forget what happened in that April 2017 in Japan.
I think this is a good experience for me because, now I know that I had a lot of backup. It is impressive. I didn’t know so many people knew about the situation until the Twitter thing. I feel fulfilled and tickled. I feel good and I know I achieved what I wanted. And nothing will dull everything I achieved alone.”
La Rosa Negra doesn’t mention Blanchard specifically, but doesn’t refute any of what is already out there (despite the phrase “it wasn’t how it says it was”, where whatever “it” refers to seems to have been lost in translation). If the scene with Tessa played out as the wrestlers mentioned reported it, La Rosa’s approach was to try to forget the incident until Blanchard’s tweet telling women to support each other brought it back up.
Per Allysin Kay, the first person to tweet the allegation, she was given permission by La Rosa to come forward. La Rosa telling Contralona she achieved what she wanted would appear to back that up.
It’s never the “right time” to come forward. It will always be difficult. There are always reasons not to. But there is no statute of limitations on someone’s pain. So many people bury their secrets for years out of fear; some forever. I encourage you to not stay silent forever.
— Allysin Kay (@Sienna) January 12, 2020
Blanchard has not commented on the situation directly since tweeting a denial on Saturday.