"Well, I'm 22 years old now. My dad was out of wrestling before I was even born. Then, when I was younger my dad had come out of retirement so I was present for one of his matches. We were in New Bern, North Carolina, and I don't even remember how old I was, but I was a little girl," Blanchard said. "I remember being scared because my dad had bled in that match and that was my first--I think that was my first experience to see my dad in the ring, which scared me considering I was a little girl, but I also remember going backstage to a RAW and SmackDown meeting Hulk Hogan and Triple H. I didn't really understand because I was so young, but looking back now, those were amazing memories."
Blanchard revealed that she initially didn't tell her father or any of her family that she planned on pursuing a professional wrestling career. She was estranged from them at the time and admits that she wasn't in a good place in her life. Finding a wrestling school to join was her outlet, and she instantly fell in love. Her stepfather Magnum T.A. was the first to see her wrestle and he gave her advice that she still follows to this day.
"I actually got into pro wrestling without even telling my dad or anyone in my family for that matter. It was probably around 2012, the year that my dad was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. I think that trip to Miami, Florida planted the seed that perhaps this is the thing that I wanted to do. My brothers and sisters all went to Miami with my dad, but they were all interested in checking out the beaches, or cool restaurants, but I was like, Dad, can I wake up at 5 a.m. and go check out WWE Axxess with you? That stuff intrigued me and being around people that work for WWE at the time, and being around people who are part of the roster, just being exposed to that was very unique for me. That was the trip that planted the seed," Blanchard said. "Fast forward to when I turned 18 and I got kicked out of my house and I lived on my own for a year and during that year I didn't speak to my family too often - in fact, I did not speak to them at all. I was probably heading down to a not-so-awesome path. I remember waking up and I asked myself what I was doing. I don't know what it was exactly, I don't really remember but something made me look up a wrestling school. I found out that Highspots was about 20-25 minutes to where I was living at the time. I went there and spoke with the owner of Highspots, and I told them that I wanted to be a pro wrestler. They had me watch a training that day with Cedric Alexander and George South were all in the ring, and they ended up pulling me into the ring and had me run the ropes and taking bumps. I remember it hurt so bad but I loved it, I loved it so much.
"I remember it was like three or four months in they came back and said that I couldn't train here anymore because I know who your dad is and that he doesn't know you were training," she continued. "I didn't want him to think that we were hiding something from him, so I was like, no, I will handle it, don't worry about it. I remember calling my dad and my stepdad [Magnum T.A.]. I remember telling my step-dad because he lived in Charlotte, North Carolina--well, they still live there, but I told him, 'hey, I am training to wrestle. It's about 20 minutes to where you guys live and I wanted him to come and check it out.' That week he didn't come, but the week after that he did, and I got super excited to when he came in, as well as my brother. I told Cedric [Alexander] that let's do our thing, to get in the ring and train and to do our spots. I remember my step-dad coming through the turnbuckle and we were talking for a moment; he was like, 'Okay Tessa, you are not good, but you have got it. You just have to go out there and become undeniable.' That is where my #Undeniable hashtag came along, but also that was how I told my family that I was wrestling."
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