Tessa Blanchard Photo Being Removed from WWE 2K Battlegrounds

WWE 2K Battlegrounds is out now, and fans all over the world are throwing down as their favorite superstars. The game features a mix of legends and current era superstars like Roman Reigns, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Sasha Banks, Hulk Hogan, and more, but it seems it also features a former Impact Wrestling star that snuck in under the radar. In the game’s tutorial, which is made up of static screens with stylized artwork, one of the silhouetted wrestlers is striking a pose that is very familiar, as it seems to be the photo of Tessa Blanchard after she won the Impact Championship last year, and now that will be removed from the game.

The photo in question was spotted by @newLEGACYInc during a stream of gameplay, and that’s what prompted them to look at the Tessa Blanchard photo for comparison. As you can see in the side by side below, the similarities are definitely there, and as many are pointing out, even the positioning of the hands and fingers are the same, suggesting that it was found on google or something during the development process and used despite Blanchard not being a part of WWE.

You can see the side by side below, which posted with the caption “Look what the @newLEGACYinc boys found in the new WWE Battlegrounds game. 😬😬😬”

That prompted Basil Mahmud, the original photographer of the real photo of Tessa, to chime in, addressing WWE games and asking why they used his photo without permission.

“Hey @WWEgames you wanna tell me why you took my photo without my permission to use it in your game?”

Mahmud posted an update to the situation, and the photo will be removed in an update to the game tonight.

“UPDATE:
@2KBattlegrounds and I have spoken. The image is going to be removed to tonight in a patch update.

1. No I’m not going to tell you guys anything else
2. I don’t wanna do your podcast.
And number C: Credit your artists

TGIF, now go watch some Boy Meets World”

Blanchard isn’t Impact Champion anymore and she isn’t even with the company, though she’s also not with WWE. That said, there have been plenty of rumors suggesting that WWE wants to sign her, and at first, many took this as a sign that could be in the works. The google theory is much more likely though, but that doesn’t mean Blanchard couldn’t sign with WWE at some point.

What do you think of Battlegrounds so far? Let us know in the comments or feel free to talk all things WWE 2K Battlegrounds and WWE with me on Twitter @MattAguilarCB!