Court Bauer On Bringing In Tessa Blanchard: I’m A Firm Believer In Second Chances

Tessa Blanchard will make her MLW debut at MLW Saturday Night SuperFight, taking on Keyra.

Blanchard has been back in the spotlight since her return to TNA Wrestling in 2024. She was out of the spotlight beginning in 2020 when she was accused of bullying and using racist language towards La Rosa Negra.

Speaking to Dave Meltzer and Garrett Gonzales on Wrestling Observer Radio, MLW founder Court Bauer explained why he brought in Tessa.

“I’m a firm believer in second chances. If I didn’t get a second, third, fourth chance, maybe, I mean, I wouldn’t be in the position I am because someone opened the door for me. You can’t just grade everyone on, like, the same, you know, system. It’s not black and white. There’s grays in this, and you wanna see kind of where they are, where their head’s at when you talk to them, and you converse, and they gotta kinda see what’s happened. How they’ve changed, do they feel differently? How can they reflect? Are they just a sociopath?

“But I really believe in second, third chances, and I think, you know, I think the world got into such a harsh place where it’s like everyone’s just like the Salem witch trials. Everyone’s just burn them at the stake. I’m like, there’s definitely some really bad dudes out there. Then there’s people that are like, man, they fucked up. They get it. They would like another chance, but if no one gives them another chance, they’re just, that’s it. They are done.

What I found is the fans, they typically want a comeback story if it’s authentic, if the people are worthy of it. So that’s what I believe when I see a lot of folks out there that, you know, need that second, third chance.”

Blanchard initially denied the allegations of using racist language. She posted a photo of herself and Negra smiling together in 2023.