Tessa Blanchard On WWE Not Signing Her In 2014, Being Eliminated Early From Mae Young Classic
Impact Wrestling superstar Tessa Blanchard was recently a guest on Busted Open Radio. During the interview, she discussed not being signed by the WWE after her tryout in 2014.
As the daughter of wrestling legend Tully Blanchard, Tessa got her start in professional wrestling at an early age. Blanchard was just 19 when she had her tryout with WWE. When she didn't get signed, she worked the independent circuit to hone her skills. Blanchard said she expected to make it to the WWE, but she doesn't have any ill-feelings about not making it because it led to her traveling around the world and gaining new experiences.
"After my WWE tryout in 2014, I thought for sure that I was going to get signed and that it is finally happening and that I was going to finally be there. Then, when it didn't happen I was heartbroken. I always think it is because God had a plan for me," Blanchard said. "If I had gone and they would have signed me right away, I don't think that I would have had the life experiences, and that I wouldn't have been able to of traveled where I went and became the Pro Wrestler that I became that I am today, or the woman I am today if I had been signed back then."
Blanchard did appear in WWE as one of Adam Rose's rosebuds and as an extra in a segment with Sheamus and Cesaro. She also worked a few matches in NXT before she got the call to be a part of last year's Mae Young Classic. Blanchard lost in the first round to Kairi Sane, who eventually won the whole tournament. Despite her early exit, Blanchard said she enjoyed being a part of the tournament and has no regrets.
"Honestly, I have zero negative feelings towards it. Everyone has their spot; whether you are happy with it or not somebody had to do it. I honestly was not upset at all," she said. "I saw on the dirt sheets that 'Tessa has a bad attitude.' I think that I am misunderstood because people perceive me to be a certain way because I am generational. They expect me to be entitled and expect me to have things early on. I think people misconstrued that honestly. I was so excited for my spot on the Mae Young Classic."
Blanchard said she was especially grateful for the chance to work with Sane because they had two previous opportunities to wrestle each other but they never came to fruition. Blanchard called being part of the Mae Young Classic one of the best experiences of her life.
"Kairi Sane and I had two tours in Japan together. She ended up having to come off of the shows because of her injury in Japan so we didn't have a match. I remember walking into the dressing room at the Performance Center and her coming up to me and saying, 'Guess what? Guess what? Me and you!' She almost had tears in her eyes," Blanchard said. "She was just so happy. Honestly, it was one of the best experiences in my life. A lot of those women are really great wrestlers. It was really cool to be part of it. Really, being eliminated in the first round didn't bother me at all. I had a great experience being a part of it."
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Busted Open Radio with an H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
Source: Busted Open Radio
Peter Bahi contributed to this article.