Wrestler Tessa Blanchard made her surprising return to TNA in January and was met with "she's a racist" chants, leading many to wonder exactly what happened.
After being away from the company for years and seemingly never finding a professional wrestling promotion to call home, Tessa Blanchard returned to TNA at Final Resolution.
This came just days after WWE and TNA announced a historic multi-year partnership allowing wrestlers from each promotion to appear on weekly shows, pay-per-views, and PLEs (Premium Live Events).
Blanchard's controversy isn't the only one that has occurred in professional wrestling recently. Hulk Hogan was booed out of the building on Monday Night Raw's first-ever Netflix episode.
What Did Tessa Blanchard Do?
In January 2020, Tessa Blanchard was set to face Sami Callihan for the IMPACT World Championship. She won the match and became the first woman to win the men's world championship in the promotion, but what followed still haunts the wrestler today.
Around the time of her match, Blanchard posted to Twitter (now X) encouraging women to support one another. This caused female wrestlers from nearly every major promotion in the United States to share their own experiences with Blanchard, accusing her of being a bully and making racist comments.
Some female superstars who made their voices known were the now-inaugural WWE Women's United States Champion Chelsea Green, Allysin Kay (the NWA women's world champion), Tanea Brooks, and more.
One of the biggest incidents involving Blanchard was when wrestler La Rosa Negra (Black Rose) spoke up about an incident that happened in Japan in 2017.
Specifically, La Rosa Negra detailed that Blanchard spat on her and called her a racial slur. It was something that La Rosa Negra kept private for some time, but when others began making claims about Blanchard, and then the events involving La Rosa Negra were muddled, she felt she needed to clear the air.
Since then, La Rosa Negra and Blanchard have reportedly worked through their issues, discussed what happened, and are on better terms.
Blanchard initially denied the allegations, but it seems that she may have privately admitted to them and then apologized.
However, many in the wrestling community and fans feel Blanchard should publicly apologize for her actions.
While her controversy with La Rosa Negra and the times she allegedly bullied others were remembered when she returned to TNA, that was not the only time Blanchard found herself in trouble.
Why Was Tessa Blanchard Stripped of the IMPACT Title & Fired?
As mentioned, Tessa Blanchard won the IMPACT World Championship, cementing herself in wrestling history as the first woman to do so in that promotion and signifying a giant leap for women's and intergender wrestling.
However, just months later, the company decided to terminate her contract completely, stripping her of her title and firing her.
Shockingly, Blanchard's racial controversy had absolutely nothing to do with this. Indeed, it did not give her good publicity, but the real reason she was fired was that she was straining the promotion and not doing her job.
In one instance, Blanchard did not submit her promos for a filmed segment that would air on television, which raised tensions between her and TNA.
In another case, despite being the champion, she did not make her scheduled TV appearances. Instead, she decided to stay in Mexico with Daga, a fellow wrestler and her partner at the time.
Her actions ultimately led to TNA stripping her of her championship and firing her.
TNA IMPACT! airs weekly on AXS TV in the United States every Thursday at 8 p.m. ET.
