The Problem With Tessa Blanchard That No One Wants To Talk About

WWE emerged as the apparent frontrunners for Tessa's signature soon after her Impact departure, with talkSPORT's Alex McCarthy claiming a source had told him AEW President Tony Khan may not be interested. This would seem an easy transition, given that Blanchard worked NXT jobber spots in 2016 and was a participant in the 2017 Mae Young Classic, though the company opted against signing her alongside fellow MYC competitors Toni Storm, Shayna Baszler, and Piper Niven. On top of this, Tessa wasn't even brought back for one-off enhancement spots.

Vince McMahon, it seemed, had no interest in acquiring a young, talented up-and-comer with great heritage (Tully Blanchard is her father, Joe Blanchard her grandfather, and Magnum T.A. her stepfather) when doing so looked like a no-brainer.

But why?

That's one for the rumour mill, though talk of alleged behavioural issues stretches much further back than her Impact exit. People have been whispering about this for years. One frequently-cited incident revolved around a purported Performance Center confrontation with former partner Ricochet, leading to her blacklisting, though Blanchard shot this down in a 2019 interview with Fightful.

The Wrestling Observer's Dave Meltzer reported that "attitude issues" were indeed the reason WWE passed on Tessa, saying "a lot of people wanted to steer clear of her, she had a lot of enemies." Other wrestlers remain on WWE TV despite their own controversies, showing WWE's willful "forgetfulness" when it comes to such instances. If the reports on her behaviour are to be believed, it seems the promotion hasn't been willing to extend this courtesy to Blanchard.

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