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NEW TNA SIGNING, FINAL RESOLUTION SPOILER

Four years after terminating her contract with the promotion, TNA will be bringing back a former Impact Wrestling Champion, PWInsider.com has confirmed.  

PWInsider.com can confirm Tessa Blanchard flew into Atlanta yesterday and will be part of the promotion's Final Resolution weekend PPV and TV taping. 

The word among talents was that TNA intends for Blanchard to work with Jordynne Grace initially, although whether that is the direction remains to be seen.  Grace vs. Rosemary is advertised for tonight.  Grace's TNA deal is up in early 2025.

PWInsider.com reported several months back that there had been talk internally about TNA bringing Blanchard back into the fold.    

Blanchard was let go by the promotion, at the time headed by Scott D'Amore, after relations between the two sides went awry leading into Slammiversary 2020.    In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Blanchard was residing in Mexico at the time with her contract expiring  leading into that PPV.  TNA felt they'd be able to extend her contract to include time she was in Mexico and not performing in order to get Blanchard to return and drop the title for at least one final appearance. 

When conversations between the two sides did not result in an agreement and Blanchard failed to send in promos for a TV episode, the promotion cut bait and issued a statement to PWInsider.com announcing they had terminated the relationship and stripped her of the Impact Championship.  Obviously, there is a new management regime in the company now, allowing the two sides to start from a fresh slate.

Blanchard, 29 years old, is the grand-daughter of legendary wrestler and promoter Joe Blanchard, daughter of WWE Hall of Famer Tully Blanchard and the step-daughter of Magnum TA.  She debuted for Impact (now once again TNA) in 2018 and ascended to the Impact Wrestling Championship, winning the belt from Sami Callihan at the Hard to Kill PPV in 2020.   During her time with the company, she also held the Knockouts Championship and won the promotion's 2019 Wrestler of the Year Award.

Just as Blanchard was slated to win the Impact title in 2020, allegations about her behavior backstage towards others came out on social media from other talents.  Blanchard denied them publicly but the allegations nonetheless destroyed her momentum with fans.  One of the allegations pertained to Blanchard allegedly using a racist slur backstage towards another wrestler, La Rosa Negra.  In 2023, the two posed for a social media photo together, giving the impression that Negra had forgiven Blanchard for the incident:

After departing Impact, Blanchard has not worked on the national scene, spending time furthering her education while also wrestling in Mexico and the independent scene.    Blanchard was slated to take part in WOW - Women of Wrestling's TV series when it acquired national syndication but exited before the series debuted.  Her return to TNA would be Blanchard's largest platform to date in the United States in a number of years.

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