Tessa Blanchard is back in TNA Wrestling.
In a shocking turn of events, the former Impact World Champion returned during the Jordynne Grace/Rosemary match by attacking the former.
So how long was Tessa’s return planned?
Only two weeks. According to Fightful Select, TNA officials were the ones who contacted the second-generation star for a return. As expected, not many people backstage were thrilled with the decision (including Jordynne Grace), but TNA officials are hoping that with a new roster, more wrestlers would be less aware of Blanchard’s past and be open to working with the returning TNA star.
If you don’t remember, Tessa Banchard was TNA’s top star in 2020. She became the first woman to win the Impact World Championship. However, there was plenty of controversy surrounding the second-generation star’s name.
One of the biggest was when various wrestlers from different companies called her out for being a bully and racist. The latter incident reportedly saw Tessa spit in a Black wrestler’s face and call her the N-Word. That wrestler was La Rosa Negra, who came forward after several women brought up those allegations. Negra and Blanchard would make amends years later after the incident, so everything’s been forgiven on that front.
However, Blanchard’s career was severely damaged once she left TNA. The company still carried forward with Blanchard as the face of the promotion until Tessa refused to drop the Impact World title before her contract was set to expire. TNA stripped her of the belt and fired Tessa on June 25, 2020.
Tessa was mainly wrestling in CMLL since her departure from TNA/Impact. The 29-year-old never came out and apologized for the accusations that were hurled by Chelsea Green, Allysin Kay, Priscilla Kelly, Renee Michelle, and Shanna; she even tried to play victim about the entire situation during her recent interview with Straight Talk Wrestling in August.
But, we are all humans and we do make mistakes. It's possible that Tessa's attitude has changed since then. Tessa’s career was dead in the water before her TNA return. If she brings the same attitude she had in her first stint then she likely won’t have much of a future in wrestling beyond TNA. She is one of the best female wrestlers in the world, so she makes a strong addition to the TNA roster nevertheless.