Even More On Tessa Blanchard’s TNA Exit... (TNA News)

More details on Tessa Blanchard quitting TNA this week.

by Andrew Pollard
Tessa Blanchard
TNA Wrestling

Following the news earlier this week that Tessa Blanchard had requested, and been granted, her release from TNA, there are now more details on the reason for the Diamond's exit.

At the time the news broke of Tessa departing TNA, it was believed that the former TNA World Champion was given the choice by the Anthem outlet to choose between working for TNA or continuing her work in CMLL. Given that choice to make, Blanchard opted to quit TNA and focus solely on CMLL.

Adding more to this story, Fightful Select reports that Tessa Blanchard was indeed asked to decide which promotion would be her priority, and many people were actually surprised she was able to continue working for both TNA and CMLL for as long as she was. Ultimately, CMLL proved to be the better option for Tessa, booking her more, reportedly paying her more, and with the 30-year-old preferring how she was being used creatively in CMLL rather than in TNA.

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Those in TNA that Fightful spoke to said there is no bad blood between Blanchard and TNA, and that it was claimed that TNA was actually looking to rework her deal and offer her more money. The third-generation star was in the middle of a three-year contract that she signed upon her return to the company in late 2024. It was also noted that Tessa had to miss certain CMLL dates in order to meet TNA obligations in the past.

Of course, Tessa Blanchard is just one of several names to depart TNA recently, with Tommy Dreamer and Sami Callihan amongst those exiting the promotion this week as part of "workforce reductions", following in the footsteps of Steve Maclin, Myla Grace, and Dani Luna requesting their releases.

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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, 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 a long-standing season ticket holder and an FSA Award-winner for his time co-hosting the Fearless in Devotion podcast.