Details Revealed on Reported Fallout Between WOW and Tessa Blanchard

Women of Wrestling (WOW) drew major buzz last year when it revealed the additions of former WWE Superstar AJ Lee and former Impact Wrestling star Tessa Blanchard, in addition to the announcement of a new TV deal with the ViacomCBS Global Distribution Group. Unfortunately, the pandemic delayed the rollout a bit and now a new report from Fightful Select indicates things have been challenging behind the scenes, revolving around the relationship between Blanchard and David McClane, though there evidently has been conflict in other areas as well.

The report states that Blanchard is currently not figured into WOW’s plans, though she also hasn’t officially been fired or released. Issues have surfaced since January, with the report mentioning one situation where Blanchard was “livid” about a canceled tryout due to COVID. Blanchard felt it could have still happened through Zoom, but CBS made the call to cancel it completely. Lee has been at the tapings and worked commentary, but Blanchard did not appear at tapings.

Sources within the company say that WOW was able to lure some back who swore they would never work with Blanchard again, though they would end up seeing “more of the same.” One source said that at one point the attitude was chalked up to “passion” among higher-ups.

Sources indicate that a part of the initial plan was to be a Blanchard rehabilitation project after there wasn’t interest from WWE, AEW, Impact, or ROH, and McLane had long been supportive and protective of her. The report states that an email was sent in January of 2020 to ask WOW talent not to speak about Blanchard’s controversies, though quite a few talents in the company have spoken on the record since then about past issues and issues that have either returned or remained.

A source said that things had to have become quite bad between McClane and Blanchard, as he has been by her side consistently for years throughout other controversies. There have been no official announcements of what the plan is for WOW’s tapings and Blanchard’s role within the company, but we’ll keep you posted as they are revealed.