Key findings
- Tessa Blanchard has described the personal struggles she faced when she was effectively banned from the wrestling industry in 2020.
- Chelsea Green of WWE responded to Blanchard’s interview, pointing out that many are still waiting for an apology from her.
- Green and others accused Blanchard of bullying and even racism backstage at Impact.
There was a time when Tessa Blanchard seemed to be the next big star in women’s wrestling. Fans were booking dream matches between her and Charlotte Flair and the biggest companies in the world were courting her. Allegations of bullying and even racism backstage toward other female performers ruined all that. Four and a half years later, Blanchard has detailed what she went through during that phase of her career, but those who made the allegations are still waiting for an apology.
Tessa Blanchard describes the personal struggles she faced in 2020
Blanchard spoke at length on Straight Talk Wrestling and admitted that she wouldn’t change anything about her life path so far as it has made her the person she is today, but there were times when she “didn’t have the strength to live” (H/T to Fightful for the transcription).
There were days when I was sick of life just because my identity was wrestling. I didn’t know who I was without wrestling and in less than 24 hours it was all over, from contract offers from the biggest companies, more money than I’d ever seen in my life, to nothing. From this whole storyline that we’d been working on for eight or nine months to me begging in the TNA office that day, like I didn’t want to win, I didn’t want to do this.
The storyline Blanchard is referring to is her Impact World Title win. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Blanchard didn’t show up to Impact shows, meaning the promotion was without her World Title. She was eventually gone so long that she was stripped of the title and released from the company. Blanchard currently competes for CMLL in Mexico and has wrestled for other smaller promotions, but none of the big names who were presumably vying for her signature are chasing her anymore.
Chelsea Green responds to Tessa Blanchard’s interview
Accusations that Blanchard was a bully behind the scenes at Impact began in January 2020, and Chelsea Green is still waiting for an apology. Green was not at Impact when the allegations were made, but had shared a locker room with Blanchard in the past. Green notes that she wouldn’t wish what Blanchard went through on anyone, but that she and others who claim to have been bullied by the former Impact World Champion are still waiting for an apology.
Blanchard claimed in the same interview where she detailed her issues that “the real truth is still not out there,” so it seems unlikely that there will be an apology. I get the feeling that she is adamant that she has done nothing wrong, at least not to the extent that she has been accused of. Blanchard also no longer seems to care if she ever gets signed by WWE or AEW, so there will probably never be an apology, if it is even warranted.
