10 Hottest Free Agents LEFT In Wrestling Today

5. Tessa Blanchard

Tessa Blanchard
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.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

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, 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 the 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, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.