Tessa Blanchard Explains Her Absence From Wrestling, Fires Back at Racism Allegations

Tessa Blachard recently made her return to the ring, dropping the Warrior Wrestling Women’s Title to Kylie Rae at a show in Chicago Heights, Illinois. It was the first time she performed in the ring since March, just after her split with Impact Wrestling. In January, Blanchard had become the first woman to hold the Impact Wrestling World Title when she defeated Sami Callihan at Impact’s Hard To Kill PPV event. However, some of the narrative that weekend was stolen by allegations of racism and bullying by Blanchard, directed at her by some past co-workers.

Now, Blanchard is firing back. In a lengthy Instagram post, she explained the reason that she has been away from the wrestling business for so long and adamantly denies the claims that she is racist.

Blanchard wrote:

“I’ve been away for a while, the main reason for that is to focus on my wedding & honeymoon. The past few months I’ve gotten back to the basics & been focusing on the relationships I have with family, friends & myself. The point of this post is because I’m taking back the control of my narrative. I’ve had people weigh in on what I should do, what I should say, what interview to do, where to go.. now, I want to listen to what I want and what’s in my heart. I am so blessed in so many areas of my life & I am so grateful to have such strong people in my life. & I regained control of that mindset.. that I know who I am. At the end of every day I can look in the mirror and say ‘I know that woman, I like that woman, I love who that woman is becoming and what she’s capable of’, that’s all I need. racist? That’s not me, that’s never been me, I don’t have a history of being that way, I don’t have a history of using that language & that’s the end of it, it’s just not who I am. & I’m tired of being called & my family seeing me be called something so hateful.

Who I am is a woman that cares deeply about my passion and putting in work. Who I am is a woman that gives 110% at whatever she does whether it was waiting tables, extra curricular school work, the next workout, or in the ring. Who I am is a woman that prefers to be viewed as tough as nails instead of having any form of weakness. Who I am is a woman completely driven by my passion & what I believe God has for me in life. Even with those little details about me, at the end of the day none of it matters.. we are each responsible for taking control of our own lives. I’m taking back control of mine.. #nosvemospronto.”

There have been rumors that WWE is interested in signing Blanchard, and she even showed up in the recent WWE Battlegrounds video game.