Former TNA Star Tessa Blanchard Announces She's Signed With Indie Promotion
After departing TNA just a few months ago, former Knockouts Champion and TNA World Heavyweight Champion Tessa Blanchard was left without a United States promotion to call home. That's now changing thanks to Major League Wrestling. TMZ reports that Blanchard will be joining the Court Bauer run promotion, with Blanchard revealing the news herself during an interview with TMZ's "Inside the Ring" podcast. The full episode will be released later in the week.
"I'm going to be starting with MLW here soon, and I'm super, super excited for everything to come," Blanchard said.
Other quotes made available from the interview show Blanchard is looking to immediately make an impact by challenging for the MLW Women's World Championship, currently held by former WWE star Shotzi Blackheart. Blanchard isn't looking to stop there, however, as she hopes to become a "franchise" player for the MLW women's division, feeling that it is all that the division is currently lacking. The move will allow Blanchard to continue working for CMLL in Mexico, through MLW's partnership with the Mexican powerhouse. Blanchard later stated her TNA departure was related to her being asked to choose between TNA and CMLL, ultimately going with the latter.
Blanchard's eventual MLW appearance will be the first time she has wrestled for the promotion in a career that has been a bit of a rollercoaster. Once considered one of the best women's wrestlers in North America, Blanchard's career came to a halt in 2020 after she was accused by several wrestlers of making racist remarks towards wrestler La Rosa Negra during a mid-2010s Stardom tour. Blanchard has never publicly apologized for the incident, but did make make amends with Rosa Negra in 2023. She continued to wrestle for TNA after the initial controversy, but was released later that year after refusing to show up at a set of TV tapings due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She worked sparingly on the independent circuit for the next few years before joining CMLL.