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Tessa Blanchard had offers from the “biggest companies” taken away after she was the center of controversy in early 2020.
Just before winning the TNA World Championship at Hard To Kill 2020, Tessa Blanchard was accused of racism and bullying by a number of female wrestlers.
This eventually led to her leaving the promotion and moving to Mexico. AEW and WWE also cooled their interest in the star, and her career as a top-level wrestler in the US. She suffered from anxiety and depression following this, as she revealed in a recent interview.
Tessa Blanchard recently spoke with George McKay for Straight Talk Wrestling about the struggles she faced during this time. McKay asked Blanchard if she has had any discussions with a major promotion about possibly returning to the United States.
Blanchard reflected on the past few years and revealed that she had offers from companies pulled after the controversy. She also begged TNA to not make her win the world title.
“I remember I was living in Tijuana at the time, and there were days when I would wake up without the strength to live that day.” Tessa Blanchard said. “I would just go back to bed and stay there all day long. There were times when I was just tired of life because my identity was tied so closely to wrestling. I didn’t know who I was without it. In less than 24 hours, it went from contract offers from the biggest companies—more money than I’d ever seen in my life—to nothing.”
“This whole storyline we had built for eight or nine months just crumbled. I remember begging the TNA office that day, ‘I don’t want to win it, I don’t want to do this.’ Afterward, instead of going home, I went on a 27-day media tour in Mexico. I remember we would pull over in the Uber before every interview, and I would vomit. I was just puking and puking because everything felt so overwhelming. It was like whiplash; I didn’t know what was happening.”
Tessa Blanchard: The Truth Didn’t Matter
Tessa Blanchard continued, sharing that she knew the accusations against her weren’t true, but that “the truth didn’t matter” to most people.
She went back to college after that and found herself outside of wrestling.
“My family, including my little brother and sister, who were 14 years old at the time, were reading all these things about me that I knew weren’t true. I knew in my heart that I wasn’t this person, but it didn’t matter—perception is reality, right?”
“The truth didn’t matter, and even now, the real truth isn’t out there, but it doesn’t matter. Sometimes, those things happen because when your feet are far off the ground, you fall hard when you fall. I didn’t know my identity without wrestling, but through those ups and downs, those really hard days when I didn’t know if I was going to get through, I found out who Tessa is without wrestling.”
“I went back to college, joined the Army ROTC, and realized that I’m good at other things too. Yes, wrestling is my dream, and I love it, and it’s what God has put in my life, but without wrestling, I’m going to be okay. There is life after this. If I get hurt or if wrestling is no longer in my life, I’m still going to be all right because Tessa is pretty strong without wrestling.
She Had Talks With Companies But Didn’t Feel Right
Tessa Blanchard went on to reveal that she has had recent talks with some wrestling companies recently. However, she claimed that it “hasn’t felt right” and has, as such, remained with CMLL for the time being.
She went on to discuss her struggles with anxiety in recent years, and the ways she has helped deal with the issues.
“I’ve talked to some other companies recently, but it hasn’t felt right yet to go back. One thing I promised myself is that it doesn’t matter about the money or anything else—if it doesn’t feel right, I’m not going to do it. My happiness is very important to me right now. Through everything I’ve gone through, I’ve developed some anxiety. “
“It sounds silly, but unless you’ve actually experienced high levels of anxiety, it’s hard to really explain. There are days when I’m just uncomfortable in my own skin because it overtakes everything. I never had this before, but now it’s something I deal with quite frequently. Even the other day, I was on a bus surrounded by people, and I felt this strong anxiety. I’m learning different ways to cope with it, like breathing exercises and refocusing myself.”
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