Following in the footsteps of parents who were global super stars in their sport of choice, no matter what is said publicly by the offspring; must be an overwhelmingly daunting task.

Back in the day, being from Texas, I passionately followed the brilliant career of mega super star running back Tony Dorsett. He possessed it all on the sports battlefield and was even blessed with matinee idol looks.

When his son Anthony Dorsett came onto the scene and starred for the Oakland Raiders, though I never read or heard him speak about it publicly, I wondered to myself what a tremendous burden it might be to try and live up to unrealistic expectations, not so much by the parents involved, but by the public fan base.

Currently in the spotlight are Notredame’s Austin Collinsworth, son of current NFL TV analyst Cris Collinsworth, a former Cincinnati Bengal star receiver; Tulane quarterback Nick Montana, son of possibly the greatest quarterback of all time in Joe Montana and Stanford’s running back Barry Sanders, son of……….well guess who?

When you research this subject, the list is actually quite long.

Femcompetitor Magazine loves virtually everything about the women’s wrestling world so as we electronically traveled the Indie Circuit we were exhilarated when we came across this beautiful girl with tremendous star power, high energy and intense passion named Tessa Blanchard.

Hmm, we thought. That name sounds familiar.

It should.

She is the daughter of Four Horsemen legend Tully Blanchard and the granddaughter of the late Joe Blanchard. Tessa is also the stepdaughter of wrestler Terry Allen better known as Magnum T.A.

Talk about some big foot sized shoes to fill.

But you know what?

This dazzling, gorgeous, charismatic brunette is filling them exceptionally well.

This writer was so impressed with her that when I viewed her matches on video, I assumed she had been in the business for some time so it came as a shock that she was only 19 years old and had been in the business for only a little over a year.

She seems to be right out of a sci-fi flick where the off spring is growing at this phenomenal rate and my gawd, what can we do as scientists to slow this down?

Fortunately as fans we don’t want to see Tessa slow down at all. Quite the opposite. Nothing to worry about there as she seems determined to continue surging.

Tessa made her debut for the Queens of Combat promotion at their second event on June 13, 2014 and answered Miss Rachel‘s open challenge, only to be defeated by Rachel in singles action. She returned to Queens of Combat at QoC 3 on November 30 and competed in a losing effort against Mickie James, and was defeated by Crazy Mary Dobson at QoC 4 on April 13, 2015.

On November 8, 2014, she debuted for Women Superstars Uncensored and was defeated by Niya in a match for the WSU Spirit Championship at Breaking Barriers III. On February 21, 2015, Blanchard picked up her first victory in WSU when she defeated Sassy Stephie.

The reviewers at cagematch.net seem to be very forthcoming in their reviews of an Indie Pro Wrestler’s abilities and here is what one fan had to say.

“Right now Tessa still seems green and I think she needs more time to develop her wrestling ability. However she’s very good at promos as I was very impressed with her promos on Shimmer. Tessa definitely isn’t bad by any means she just needs to work on her in-ring ability a bit more.”

Another credible reviewer expressed, “Tessa has good size and speed. But with only a year of experience she’s going to require some more time in the ring before she’s able to pick up her game. She certainly has what it takes to be really good.”

Actually she has what it takes to be really great.

No doubt she is improving.

It is up to us to live up to the legacy that was left for us, and to leave a legacy that is worthy of our children and of future generations.…….Christine Gregoire

As we move up the timeline, a writer at eyesonthering.com expressed on July of 2015, “The daughter of the original Four Horsemen member and legend Tully Blanchard is making a name for herself all over the indie scene today. Her stock is rising big time and she has become many people’s favorite female wrestler today.

I had the privilege of watching Tessa train quite a few times at the Highspots facility in Charlotte, NC before she began to take off, so to see her progress so quickly is just amazing. She’s a natural in the ring, on the mic, and as a heel (runs in the family). We caught up with Tessa and spoke with her briefly about her career, the future, and her experience at the WWE Performance Center. Keep your eyes locked to the future of women’s wrestling.”

When Tessa speaks, she presents herself well on camera and I enjoyed one of her YouTube interviews where she spoke about getting into the business when in 2012 she watched her father be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.

Her views are consistent with Femcompetitor Magazine and Female Competition International in that women’s wrestling can be a great sport for all women to participate in because of the fascinating people that you meet and how you get to travel the world.

Her eyes glowed when she spoke about traveling to China and the Maritimes.

The Maritimes are Canada’s eastern provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. Nova Scotia is known for its long coastlines and artsy capital.

In terms of her legacy, she admits that it can sometimes eat you up alive but she’s determined to get past that and focus on improving in her wrestling career and setting new goals. Her advice to women who want to wrestle professionally is to get into the best shape of your life and stick with it as nothing is impossible.

Beautiful Tessa is from scenic Charlotte, North Carolina.

The greatest legacy one can pass on to one’s children and grandchildren is not money or other material things accumulated in one’s life, but rather a legacy of character and faith.……Billy Graham

Charlotte is the largest city in North Carolina.

It is the seat of Mecklenburg County and the second largest city in the Southeastern United States, just behind Jacksonville, Florida. Charlotte is the third fastest growing major city in the United States.

In 2014, the estimated population of Charlotte according to the U.S. Census Bureau was 809,958, making it the 17th largest city in the United States based on population. The Charlotte metropolitan area ranks 22nd largest in the US and had a 2014 population of 2,380,314.

Charlotte is home to the corporate headquarters of Bank of America and the east coast operations of Wells Fargo, which among other financial operations makes it the second largest banking center in the United States.

As the world of Dance and Submission wrestling appears to be merging with mutual performances at the Dojo, it was impressive to view Charlotte’s ballet and dance group.

Charlotte Ballet is a Charlotte-based ballet company focused on performing, inspiring and educating through artistically excellent programming.

As of this writing, led by internationally acclaimed President and Artistic Director Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux, Charlotte Ballet is known for its strong dancers and versatile repertoire, ranging from classical ballet to bold, contemporary works.

In June 2010 Charlotte Ballet moved to the Patricia McBride & Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux Center for Dance in Uptown Charlotte. The Center houses the company’s administrative offices, rehearsal space and Charlotte Ballet Academy.

They speak as wonderfully as they dance at charlotteballet.org, expressing, “Charlotte Ballet’s mission is to provide artistically excellent programming to diverse audiences in its home city of Charlotte, the Southeast region, and to the varied communities it serves while on tour across the nation. Charlotte Ballet has received critical recognition nationally for excellence in programming, education and outreach, and dance training.”

Charlotte Ballet is a world class repertory dance ensemble.

They continue. “It performs classic, contemporary and cutting-edge dance with virtuosity, energy, and artistic excellence for local, statewide and national audiences. Charlotte Ballet’s collective talents provide the opportunity and give us the responsibility to challenge, stimulate, educate, entertain, and thereby enrich our audiences.

Charlotte Ballet’s staff is a group of individuals with a common passion: creating artistically excellent programming from beautiful classics to thought-provoking contemporary works that push the boundaries of ballet.”

Very impressive.

My legacy is that I stayed on course… from the beginning to the end, because I believed in something inside of me.…..Tina Turner

The more that Femcompetitor Magazine takes a closer look at the world of the dynamic, beautiful and often very young Indie Wrestlers, something that is becoming extremely clear is that the lady pro wrestling world is quickly changing, especially from the culture many of us knew in the 1960’s thru 1980’s.

The stars on the rise are plenty and their performances more acrobatic and like Tessa stated, they are in the best shape of their lives.

As of this writing, you can purchase Tessa’s T Shirts at:

http://www.prowrestlingtees.com/wrestler-t-shirts/tessa-blanchard.html

The best wrestling of young Tessa’s high-flying life is yet to come and given her wrestling royalty lineage, with great excitement and anticipation, let’s buckle up our seat belts and go along for a power packed ride.

~ ~ ~

Sources: brainyquote.com, Wikipedia, fciwomenswrestling2.com, FCI Elite Competitor, photos thank you Wikimedia Commons.

http://www.nfl.com/photoessays/0ap2000000358617

http://www.cagematch.net/?id=2&nr=15724

http://www.eyesonthering.com/2015/07/all-eyes-on-tessa-blanchard.html

http://wrestlingnews.co/photos-daughter-of-nwawwe-legend-debuts-on-monday-night-raw-as-a-rose-bud/

http://www.charlottesgotalot.com/101-fun-things-to-do-in-charlotte

http://charlotteballet.org/about/

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Southwest_corner_of_Cape_Breton_Highlands_National_Park.jpg#/media/File:Southwest_corner_of_Cape_Breton_Highlands_National_Park.jpg