In June, IMPACT Wrestling announced the release of Tessa Blanchard, who was the reigning IMPACT World Champion at the time.
The company announced her release on June 25, just days before her contract was set to expire on June 30.
Blanchard was still in possession of the IMPACT World Title and reportedly asked for a large sum of money to send the title back, which her side denied. Blanchard was set to defend the title at IMPACT Slammiversary on July 18 before she was released and stripped up the title.
Speaking to Hannibal TV, Blanchard's stepfather Magnum TA cleared up the story on Blanchard.
"I knew from the moment they came up with the idea of making her the World Heavyweight Champion that they were going to have a dangerous path. They came to our home in Charlotte and filmed a special with her mom and I about it. I support Tessa, but I'm not a big fan of that portrayal of men and women in the ring. Not because women aren't capable, I just don't like anything that depicts a man being physically violent with a woman. Whether they know it's a work or not, it's not a portrayal I feel comfortable with. I knew she had reached the pinnacle of what she could do in that organization. We didn't know the virus was going to come along," he said.
Magnum continued, addressing reports that she was asking for a large sum of money from IMPACT and how he felt about her time in IMPACT coming to an end.
"They wanted her to extend her contract and the opportunity of that experience that IMPACT afforded her was a step in her growth. She needed to move on from that. She hadn't extended her contract and they were paying her peanuts. She had met all her contractual dates. All I told her was, take whatever their top paid guy is and figure what that would equate to in one month's salary and say, 'if you want me to come in and do this since I've met my obligations, this is what it would take.' It wasn't a ridiculous amount of money as rumored. It was just, 'if we're going to extend it, extend it for the equivalent of what you're paying your top guy.' They didn't want to do it," claimed Magnum.
Blanchard has been silent for the majority of the pandemic, though she did make an appearance at Warrior Wrestling in September, losing the Warrior Wrestling Women's Championship to Kylie Rae.
She is currently a free agent.
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