Readers might already hear the news of Tessa Blanchard berating and calling the “N” word to a fellow wrestler in Japan back in 2017. The wrestler turns out to be La Rosa Negra, a Puerto Rican veteran that wrestled in Japan for some time now. Many wrestling fans weren’t familiar with La Rosa Negra, but, through Blanchard’s comments, they found out about her.
In an interview with Contralona TV, a media company in Puerto Rico, la Rosa Negra had this to say about the issue with Blanchard:
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 like to keep myself private. Reading all of those fellow wrestlers’ tweets that supported me and reading their names, it surprised me. And reading the non-wrestlers’ comments, I said ‘I have to do something.’ Because it isn’t how it says it was. Maybe people took it wrong. I don’t want to be overexposed with this. The female wrestlers know what really happened and why I didn’t say anything. Now, I want to clear things up.
Working in the U.S. and Japan, I didn’t disrespect anybody – no female wrestlers, promoters, sponsors, or any fans. That’s not me. People who know me know how I am. Everywhere I’ve worked, they can tell you how I behave. I don’t like to talk mean about people. I was there supporting people that helped me or didn’t. I don’t expect to receive any apologies. It’s not necessary. I erased what happened. I gave it to God.
“It saddens me that racism, envy, and bad things exist in sports, it will always be there. As adults, when something bad happens, we can resolve things by talking. There’s always a solution. Mine was to forget what happened on that day in April of 2017 in Japan. I think this was a good experience for me because now, I know I have a lot of backup. It’s impressive. I didn’t know so many people knew about the situation until the Twitter thing. I feel fulfilled. I feel tickled. Nothing will dull everything that I have achieved alone.
Black Rose, is the real name that the Puerto Rican female wrestler became known for. La Rosa Negra has wrestled for the top companies in Puerto Rico, including Carlos Colon’s World Wrestling Council. In a wrestling scene dominated by men, and not known for pushing women, she became a star. (She won the women’s title in each company that she landed in Puerto Rico.) In Florida, Rosa Negra started to appear for Shine and their partnership with Gabe Sapolsky’s World Wrestling Network (WWN). This opened the door for her in Japan. She wrestled two years for Stardom, winning the High-Speed Champion. She took on big names like now WWE stars, Io Shirai and Kairi Sane. She then became a regular trainer in Japan after a knee injury. In fact, when Blanchard berated her for “not working” right, Rosa Negra had almost 15-years ahead of her at that moment.
