10 Things You Didn't Know About Tessa Blanchard
3. She Did A Number Of NXT Jobs In 2016
There was a time when every episode of NXT seemed to feature a well-known independent star getting to do job duty before going on to bigger and better things. Much of the yellow brand's roster took this route, while a number of others soon found success in other wrestling companies. Tessa Blanchard is no exception, and Tully's daughter featured on NXT TV on three occasions in April and June of 2016.
She came up short on all three occasions, losing to Alexa Bliss, Nia Jax and Carmella. The NXT commentators made no secret of Tessa's family tree, but that did little to help her inside the ring against the trio of Performance Center products. None of the matches were anything to write home about, although hearing otherwise about Nia or Carmella would be more newsworthy.
Tessa also had a much higher profile WWE outing, coming up short in the first round of the 2017 Mae Young Classic against eventual winner, Kairi Sane. The match was one of the highlights of the first round, one of the most competitive bouts without a shadow of a doubt, with many fans surprised that the two went face-to-face so early in the tournament. Still, a competitive loss to Kairi Sane is better than a squash loss to Nia Jax.