Top 10 Stories Of 2020: Tessa Blanchard
Will she ever return to pro wrestling?
Throughout December, Neal Wagner will count down the top 10 stories of 2020 as voted on by The Wrestling Estate staff. Here is No. 9: the rise and fall of Tessa Blanchard.
“Impact Wrestling has confirmed that it has terminated its relationship with Tessa Blanchard and stripped her of the Impact Wrestling World Championship.”
This statement was released on June 25 by Impact Wrestling in what was a shocker to many fans. After all, Tessa Blanchard was in the middle of a controversial five-month run as champion and was announced just weeks beforehand as set to defend at Slammiversary in a fatal five way against Eddie Edwards, Michael Elgin, Trey Miguel and Ace Austin.
How does a company justify firing its world champion without dropping the title on the way out of the “territory?” It started back in January.
As Impact Wrestling geared up for the first Hard to Kill pay-per-view on January 12, the main event, and what was believed to be the outcome, was called into question after allegations came out against Tessa Blanchard. It started with a tweet that Tessa set out the day before that said “Hey women, try supporting one another. Cool things happen.”
The NWA’s Allysin Kay (formerly Sienna in Impact) responded by accusing Tessa Blanchard of spitting on a black female wrestler (La Rose Black) during a show in Japan and calling her a racial slur. Other wrestlers would come forward to either confirm that story or give their own, including Chelsea Green and Renee Mitchell. Members of the Impact roster at that time including Tommy Dreamer, Gail Kim and Moose would come out and defend Tessa’s character, claiming that she would never commit such actions.
The controversy didn’t derail Impact’s plans to have Tessa Blanchard win the World Heavyweight Title from Sami Callihan in the main event of Hard to Kill. She’s on record as the first female to win a major men’s world title for a North American promotion (unless you count Sexy Star from Lucha Underground).
Tessa Blanchard was then advertised for Rebellion, defending the title against Eddie Edwards and Michael Elgin. The PPV was cancelled and changed into a two-week television special event due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Blanchard and Edwards would not make it to the tapings as both were living in hotspots in the country (New York and California). Angles to keep the storyline alive were done where Elgin and Edwards would argue that they never received their proper title shots while Ace Austin would win a #1 Contenders Tournament and Trey Miguel (who was supposed to be Austin’s tournament final opponent) would be laid out backstage.
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After the announcement of her termination, multiple reports would begin to surface that suggesting that Tessa Blanchard was refusing to come to the tapings for the previous months as she was stuck in Mexico with her fiancé Daga. PWInsider reported that the relationship between Blanchard and Impact soured after she was asked to record a promo to send in and never did it.
Dave Meltzer reported that her contract was set to expire before Slammiversary and Impact wanted her to sign a one-night deal to come in to drop the title. For the record, Edwards won the title in the main event, outlasting Miguel, Austin, a returning Rich Swann and a freshly released from WWE Eric Young. Elgin was pulled from the match after he was terminated as part of the #SpeakingOut movement. Wrestling Observer Radio reported shortly after her release that WWE had been in contact with her about coming in. She did work for WWE briefly during the first Mae Young Classic, but was eliminated by Kairi Sane in the first round.
Tessa Blanchard married Daga during a ceremony held in late August that would be attended by many members of the Impact roster and few members of the All Elite Wrestling roster. Shortly after that, she posted an Instagram update that would explain her absence. “I’ve been away for a while the main reason for that is to focus on my wedding & honeymoon. The past few months I’ve gotten back to the basics & been focusing on the relationships I have with family, friends and myself.”
She would also comment on the reports from January of the racists comments and say “…that’s not me, it’s never been me, I don’t have a history of using that language & that’s the end of that…”
To play the speculation game of where Tessa Blanchard could end up, WWE is the best bet. Ring of Honor isn’t an option as it hasn’t had a women’s division since the release of Women of Honor Champion Kelly Klein in late 2019. AEW would be a good option with her father, the legendary Tully Blanchard, being in a manager role for the company. She could join a roster that includes Britt Baker, Nyla Rose and AEW Women’s Champion Hikaru Shida.
For the WWE side, imagine the matches that Tessa Blanchard could have with likes of Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, Sasha Banks and even Ronda Rousey. I would suspect that if she doesn’t resurface by the end of the year, then expect her a surprise entrant in the Women’s Royal Rumble.
Tessa Blanchard has nothing but a bright future ahead, no matter where she goes.
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