Tessa Blanchard Talks Hiatus From Pro Wrestling
After taking off much of 2020, Tessa Blanchard returned to the ring earlier this month for Warrior Wrestling, losing the Warrior Wrestling Women's Championship to Kylie Rae.
Going back to January, Blanchard was called out by numerous women's wrestlers at her backstage behavior over the years, most notably she was accused of saying a racial slur to La Rosa Negra back in 2017 during a tour in Japan. Blanchard has denied that accusation since the beginning. You can read more on that story here.
Shortly after the social media backlash, Blanchard defeated Sami Callihan to win the Impact World Championship ? the first woman to hold the title ? at Impact Hard to Kill.
The COVID-19 pandemic then hit, and Blanchard was stuck in Mexico with her then fiance, and fellow wrestler, Daga. Impact Wrestling released Blanchard in June due to her reportedly not sending promos in, nor could the two sides agree to how Blanchard could return and drop the title. Her contract was reportedly set to expire that summer anyways.
Earlier today, Blanchard commented on social media about being away from wrestling to focus on her wedding and honeymoon. Tessa also touched on the previous allegations mentioned above: "Racist? That's not me, that's never been me."
"I've been away for a while, the main reason for that is to focus on my wedding & honeymoon," Blanchard wrote. "The past few months I've gotten back to the basics & been focusing on the relationships I have with family, friends & myself. The point of this post is because I'm taking back the control of my narrative. I've had people weigh in on what I should do, what I should say, what interview to do, where to go...now, I want to listen to what I want and what's in my heart.
"I am so blessed in so many areas of my life & I am so grateful to have such strong people in my life. & I regained control of that mindset...that I know who I am. At the end of every day I can look in the mirror and say 'I know that woman, I like that woman, I love who that woman is becoming and what she's capable of,' that's all I need. Racist? That's not me, that's never been me, I don't have a history of being that way, I don't have a history of using that language & that's the end of it, it's just not who I am & I'm tired of being called & my family seeing me be called something so hateful.
"Who I am is a woman that cares deeply about my passion and putting in work. Who I am is a woman that gives 110% at whatever she does whether it was waiting tables, extra curricular school work, the next workout, or in the ring. Who I am is a woman that prefers to be viewed as tough as nails instead of having any form of weakness. Who I am is a woman completely driven by my passion & what I believe God has for me in life. Even with those little details about me, at the end of the day none of it matters...we are each responsible for taking control of our own lives. I'm taking back control of mine. [#SeeYouSoon]"
As noted, earlier this month Blanchard's image was used in a WWE 2K Battlegrounds video game, but that image has since been removed.