Big Update On Tessa Blanchard's Wrestling Future
Tessa Blanchard has wrestled only five matches since her acrimonious IMPACT departure in 2020.
Tessa Blanchard is more occupied with education than professional wrestling these days.
The former IMPACT Wrestling World Champion has revealed as much in a new interview with Bill Apter for Sportskeeda. Blanchard, who has wrestled only five matches since an acrimonious IMPACT split in June 2020, is going through school at the University of Texas - and claims that her disappearing from view is intentional.
Said Tessa:-
"I kind of do that on purpose. I like to keep some things for me, some things for my family. Right now, I'm in school... so that's like my main focus right now. I try to do one to two of these wrestling get-togethers or matches a month. Honestly, not too much more than that at the moment."
Tessa is studying international affairs at the University of Texas. Her goal is to keep her toes dipped in the wrestling world, with happiness her primary focus:-
"Yeah, doing whenever it makes me feel happy. Honestly, that's really my main focus right now, my happiness. I don't want to compromise my happiness for anything. Not for money, not for popularity, not for followers, not for any of that."
Blanchard last wrestled in September, competing in a tag team bout for Pennsylvania Premiere Wrestling. This was only her third match of 2022 thus far.
The 27-year-old was originally placed to become a centrepiece of the recently-relaunched WOW - Women Of Wrestling promotion, who produced a "NUCLEAR HEAT" t-shirt for her last year, referencing Tessa's problematic past. The Blanchard/WOW relationship reportedly went south earlier this year, however, with Tessa and founder David McClane falling out over a cancelled CBS tryout in January.
January 2020 saw Blanchard accused of bullying and racism by multiple peers, including La Rosa Negra, who was allegedly racially abused by Tessa, who, per the accounts, spat in her face as well. Blanchard denied these allegations. Five months later, she was let go by IMPACT and stripped of its World Championship after failing to submit requested video materials while isolating during the COVID-19 pandemic, with IMPACT fearful their World Title-holder would no-show the upcoming Bound For Glory pay-per-view.