10 Hottest Free Agents LEFT In Wrestling Today

5. Tessa Blanchard

Tessa Blanchard Impact Champion
IMPACT Wrestling

Love her or hate her, it's impossible to debate Tessa Blanchard's ability and presence.

Formally fired by IMPACT Wrestling on 25 June 2020 - at which time she was the IMPACT World Champion, of course - the Queen of the Carolinas has only wrestled once since then, dropping the Warrior Wrestling Women's Title to Kylie Rae last September.

At just 25 years of age, it's crazy to think that Tessa Blanchard has only competed once in the past 12 months, and under usual circumstances Blanchard would have had WWE, AEW and plenty of other promotions banging down her door once her IMPACT departure was made official.

The issue is, the controversy that has often surrounded Tessa is too much even for WWE to sign her up thus far. And let's face it, when the morally questionable and often distasteful WWE has doubts over you, that says it all.

January 2020 brought to light multiple accusations of racism and bullying towards Blanchard, including Black Rose stating how Tessa spit in her face while calling her a racial slur.

Despite the horrendous claims laid at her door, one has to feel that it's only a matter of time before Tessa Blanchard makes her wrestling return - with whichever promotion signs her having to answer some serious questions.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer and Presenter, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund and Eli Roth to Kevin Smith and the Russo Brothers, to Kevin Conroy and Frank Miller, to Bret Hart and Sting, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, and Brian Flynn, to many, many more. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is a long-standing season ticket holder and an FSA Award-winner for his time co-hosting the Fearless in Devotion podcast.