ECW legend The Sandman found himself trending over the weekend as he was called out by Jordynne Grace for his alleged remarks about women's wrestling.
Jordynne Grace, Taya Valkyrie, Rosemary, and Tessa Blanchard were scheduled to headline the WrestleCade SuperShow on Nov. 30. Prior to the match, Sandman told the women backstage that "women main eventing is wrong" according to a tweet by Grace.
Blanchard, who was replaced in the match by Su Yung, cut a promo on Sandman in the ring where she stated, "I was in the back earlier tonight and I had to listen to an old ECW guy that used to have a beer in his hand, talk about how 'women shouldn't be main eventing this event or any event.' Not because he didn't have faith in these women, but because he didn't have faith in you fans. It's 2020 and I think that's a crock of horseshit."
Appearing on Busted Open Radio, Sandman gave his side of the story, saying he never spoke to multiple women and only addressed Taya Valkyrie.
"I didn't think any of it was warranted at all. I'm trending for telling somebody -- all I said was I don't think most fans are ready for girls to be in main events. There are so many girls that totally deserve to be main eventers in all different kinds of organizations. From WWE to AEW, they're so good and incredible. I don't think like that. I never talked to [Jordynne Grace]. I was not talking to four women, ever. I don't even know who [Jordynne Grace] is," he said.
Sandman went on to note that he is a fan of intergender wrestling and that "if you're over, you deserve to be [in the main event]." When asked if he knew WrestleMania 35 was headlined by three women, Sandman said he heard about the match, but didn't see it.
Shortly after Sandman's appearance, Grace called in to the show to give her side of the story.
"He did not just say it to Taya and it's not the only thing he said," said Grace. "I didn't go into the whole conversation on social media because it was about a ten-minute back-and-forth that went on. It was me, Taya, and Tessa all standing around and talking, Sandman comes up to Taya, asks her what match she's in. She said she's the last match. He said, 'the main event?' She said, 'Yeah, the main event.' He said, 'Excuse me?' We all stared at him because we didn't know if he was joking or not. Then he said, 'You know that's wrong, right?' Then he started talking about the WrestleMania women's match and how bad it was. Tessa, she's a little more outspoken, and she tried to start talking. He cut her off, put his hand out and said, 'I'm The Sandman, by the way.' She said, 'I'm Tessa Blanchard.' He said, 'I respect your family so much.' Continues to completely shit on women's wrestling."
Grace continued, "They start going back at it, Rosemary walks up, we tell her what Sandman said, we're all standing there listening to him arguing about women's wrestling with Tessa. He throws up his hands, walks away. Two minutes later, comes back and says, 'excuse me ladies, I just went around to the locker room and polled a bunch of people with over 200 years of wrestling experience and they all agree with me; women main eventing is wrong.' That's exactly what happened. Tessa told him how disrespectful he was. He clearly didn't care and he came on here and is completely lying through his teeth to try and save face."
According to Grace, she told Sandman to watch the main event, and when he didn't, that's when she decided to make the post on social media.
Grace is set to challenge Taya Valkyrie for the IMPACT Knockouts Championship at Hard to Kill. Tessa Blanchard will headline the event, challenging Sami Callihan for the IMPACT World Title.
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