10 Times Wrestlers Held Championship Belts Hostage

by Michael Hamflett

1. Tessa Blanchard - Impact World Heavyweight Championship

Tessa Blanchard Impact Champion
IMPACT Wrestling

What should have been a significant chapter in mainstream wrestling's recent history was overshadowed before it even happened and ended so disappointingly that there's a chance that if Impact could do all of this over again, they probably would.

Tessa Blanchard is ultra-talented but carries a controversial reputation troublingly in keeping with her historic surname. Days before her theoretically transcendent Impact Heavyweight Championship victory over Sami Callahan in January 2020, stories emerged online via ex-colleagues of some of her prior transgressions including - but not limited to - use of racist slurs.

The title run went ahead regardless, but the global health crisis put paid to the bulk of her reign before a disagreement with the company resulted in her being stripped of the prize altogether. Isolating in Mexico, Blanchard failed to submit video promos hyping her return as requested, was late released, and elected not to return the title belt without first - according to various reports - receiving a "huge" sum of money in the region of $150,000.

It's since back in Impact, but Blanchard isn't. 'The Diamond' of the industry is currently a free agent.

Impact Wrestling Quiz: How Well Do You Really Know Tessa Blanchard?

ECWA Women's Title
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Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation for nearly 10 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 65,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has provided in-person coverage of some of the biggest pay-per-views and Premium Live Events in wrestling history, including WrestleMania, Survivor Series, All In & Double Or Nothing in destinations such as New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live.