Just a week ago, it looked like Tessa Blanchard was poised to become a CMLL/MLW double star. After being exposed, he was scheduled to appear for a final promotion on September 12. Just a few days later, however, a statement from CMLL clarifying that Blanchard was new to the show and not signed to MLW threw things into chaos, and MLW subsequently removed references to Blanchard from the show. On “Wrestling Observer Radio”, Dave Meltzer addressed the situation and admitted that he didn’t know what was going on, other than to confirm that Blanchard is now out of the September 12th show.
“He was pulled from the commercial, and he’s effectively off the show,” Meltzer said. “And that’s right now, and I think there will be more soon, maybe, but probably not that soon. I’ve tried asking everyone involved and haven’t heard from anyone directly. I’ve heard indirectly from a few people, but nothing substantial to answer the question. So here’s the deal.”
This is now the second odd contract situation involving Blanchard this year. after he left TNA over the summer. Blanchard would later argue he was given a choice between TNA or CMLLeventually going with the latter. As Meltzer pointed out, this situation is even more odd because unlike CMLL and TNA, MLW and the lucha libre promotion have had a working relationship for several years, with CMLL luchadors routinely appearing on MLW televsion tapings. As a result of this incident, it is now unclear where exactly the MLW/CMLL relationship stands.
If you use any of the quotes from this article, please credit Wrestling Observer Radio and credit ah/t Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
