Tessa Blanchard Gets "She's A Racist!" Chants At Genesis 2025 (TNA News)
Tessa Blanchard's past came back to bite her in Jordynne Grace match at TNA Genesis 2025.
Tessa Blanchard's first TNA match in almost five years drew chants of "She's a racist" on Sunday's Genesis 2025 pay-per-view.
Blanchard, who rejoined TNA in December after being dismissed under a cloud of controversy in 2020, defeated the seemingly outgoing Jordynne Grace in a well-worked, 20-minute match at Genesis.
Not well-worked enough to distract from the chants, however. They were clear and audible:
A “she’s a racist” chant broke out at #TNAGenesis tonight for Tessa Blanchard.
Advertisement— Wrestle Ops (@WrestleOps) January 20, 2025
Blanchard was later part of a group of wrestlers who applauded Grace backstage after the bout. Genesis is believed to have been Jordynne's last match in TNA, with WWE reportedly interested in signing the Knockouts division stalwart.
Although Tessa has claimed she isn't contracted to TNA, Fightful has reported otherwise. TNA sources have indicated that if Blanchard wasn't signed, she wouldn't have factored into their plans, though there is no word on the length of her deal.
Tessa was an important figure for TNA during her original 2018-20 run with the promotion, becoming the first woman to win the company's World Championship by defeating Sami Callihan at Hard to Kill 2020. In the days before this, several TNA talents spoke up, accusing Blanchard of various instances of backstage bullying:
You’ve consistently put down, bullied, and belittled countless female coworkers, including me. Is that support? https://t.co/MrOOksiijk
— CHELSEA GREEN (@ImChelseaGreen) January 11, 2020
Most damningly, this included using racist language towards Black wrestler La Rosa Negra during a tour of Japan:
Remember when you spat in a black woman’s face and called her the N-word in Japan? Was that you “supporting women“? The AUDACITY of this tweet https://t.co/P49uNWsqIH
— Allysin Kay (@TheAllysinKay) January 11, 2020
Blanchard issued a statement denying that she had used a racial slur days after Allysin Kay and Chelsea Green's initial tweets:
"Over the last week I have been accused of calling a fellow wrestler a racial slur. To read this allegation has been personally upsetting. To be clear, I absolutely did not use that word. That word is not in my vocabulary. That word is not in my heart. Racism is not in my heart."
"Yet I know many people have to deal with racism in a way I will never have to. Racism is an awful part of American history, and it is equally awful that its still part of our society today. While I did not do what was claimed, I stand ready to use my platform to support the fight against racism however I can."
By June 2020, Blanchard was out of TNA, with the promotion stripping her of its World Championship amidst reports of a worsening relationship between the company and the wrestler.
Tessa has primarily wrestled out of Mexico since leaving TNA in 2020.