Tessa Blanchard knows a famous wrestling last name can open doors, but she says that doesn’t mean the talent automatically comes with it. The third-generation star says she’s seen wrestlers come into the business thinking their family name would carry them — only for the actual work to fall short.
Blanchard addressed wrestling’s “nepo baby” conversation during an appearance on TMZ’s Inside the Ring, where she was asked about second- and third-generation talent and the baggage that comes with having a famous parent in the business.
As the daughter of Tully Blanchard and granddaughter of Joe Blanchard, Tessa said she understood early on that people were always going to have opinions about her. She also knew she never wanted her last name to be the only reason she had a career.
“Um you know I think that there’s always going to pe be people that have their opinion no matter what. When I first started wrestling, I had in my mind that I never wanted to rely solely on my name because, you know, you see that sometimes people that are my dad was a wrestler or my mom was a wrestler, so I’m going to be great at it, too.”
Then Blanchard got to the part that cuts right through the “nepo baby” argument. She said there are wrestlers who come from famous families, but once they actually get in the ring, the work doesn’t always follow.
“And then the work doesn’t doesn’t follow. Like you see some third generations cuz I’m I’m third generation all also Randy Orton, Natalia who are just fantastic in the ring. you see Charlotte Flair who’s just in a 4×4 athlete.”
Blanchard pointed to Randy Orton, Natalya and Charlotte Flair as examples of wrestlers who had family connections and still proved they could deliver on their own. That was the standard she wanted for herself too. Blanchard said she never wanted to be somebody who was simply passable because of who her family was. Her goal was to become one of the best in the world while building a legacy separate from the one she inherited.
“Um, I I always wanted to put in the work, not to be good, but to be great, not to be passible, but to be one of the best in the world, to honor my family legacy, but to create my own at the same time.”
Blanchard isn’t denying that being born into wrestling can give someone a head start. Her point is that the family tree stops mattering pretty quickly if you can’t back it up once the bell rings. A famous last name might get people to look your way, but according to Blanchard, the work still has to be there.
Do you agree with Tessa Blanchard that some second- and third-generation wrestlers lean too heavily on their family names, or do wrestling families get judged harder because of who their parents are? Leave your feedback in the comments.
This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.
