Chelsea Green’s willingness to do anything for entertainment has made her a fan favorite.
Green has achieved championship success, but the favorite part of her job is elevating other talent.
Green has recently formed a popular comedic partnership with Ethan Page of NXT.
There are plenty of wrestlers who become overnight sensations or quickly rise to the top of their profession. Some are just destined for stardom and becoming the faces of the company.
But it’s not the case for everyone. For others, it’s a long, winding journey just to even get to the big leagues. Some people don’t ever reach it, and those who do sometimes don’t even sniff success. It takes skill, dedication and sometimes luck to just get noticed, and if someone plays their cards the right way, it will eventually lead to dreams being achieved.
And there’s no one who encapsulates that better than Chelsea Green.
It took quite an amount of time – and plenty of bumps and bruises – but Green has truly hit her stride. She’s in the midst of the hottest run of her career, proving that playing the long game and being open to just about anything will eventually pay off.
“I doubted myself for so long in this industry,” Green told USA TODAY Sports. “Now I’m at this point where I’m doing everything I could have ever dreamt of.”
Chelsea Green’s road to WWE
Green’s wrestling career started in 2011, but it wasn’t until six years later when she really figured it out. As Laurel Van Ness in TNA Wrestling, she adopted a maniac, messy gimmick that pushed her from the diva she aspired to be to “the ultimate train wreck.”
It made Green realize looks or trying to be pretty wasn’t going to get her far; it was the character work she could bring to the table that could really push her. From that point on, it’s been all about presenting an entertaining product to the audience, all while trying to get to her dream job of working at WWE.
The road was far from smooth. There was that one appearance in 2014 as Daniel Bryan’s “physical therapist-turned-mistress” character. She was on WWE’s “Tough Enough” reality show the following year, finishing fourth among females in the competition to secure a contract.
She finally arrived in WWE in 2018, but a couple of injuries spoiled any chance for her to shine in the following years. While recovering from a broken wrist in her first main roster appearance, she was released. Her dream came to an end, and she could’ve been done with it.
But she wasn’t done yet. Green returned to TNA and regained her footing. That determination paid off, and she returned to WWE in January 2023 at the Royal Rumble.
How’d that return go? She lasted five seconds in the match, a record short for the women.
Not the spectacular homecoming people envisioned, but it set the stage for why Green has been successful since. Whether it’s being launched off ladders, getting thrown in dumpsters or getting smashed in the face by cake, nothing is off limits for Green. She’s the ultimate team player, willing to do anything and everything in the name of entertainment.
It only made sense that the success followed, becoming a Women’s Tag Team Champion and the inaugural Women’s United States Champion. With the history-making title, she formed the Secret Hervice with Piper Niven and Alba Fyre, which continues to bring entertainment even without a championship.
“I feel so blessed that finally, after 11 years in wrestling, I’m doing exactly what I want to do,” Green said. “I’m finally in this amazing position where I’m creatively fulfilled and I’m on TV every single week working for the dream company.
“I feel like now I really have this unique ability to present a character to the WWE Universe and to tell a story. It took a long time to get here, but at this point now, that’s my favorite part of this job.”
Even better, the fans have gotten behind her – when that’s not even what she’s trying to do. Green said it’s her job to be booed and get fans cheering for her opponent, but it’s hard when the crowd roots for her instead.
It’s something she’s had to adjust to, but Green thinks it happens because she thinks fans understand the rocky journey she was on. She was also featured in the “WWE Unreal” docuseries, where she was vulnerable and honest about the struggles she faced.
She has the support, and she’s still a team player. What Green loves most about her job? WWE “relies on me to elevate other women.”
“The fact that I am in that position where I’m able to go down to NXT and elevate Tyra Mae Steele, or elevate (Roxanne Perez) and Guilia, but I’m also trusted to get in the ring with Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch,” she said. “That’s a really amazing position to be put in.”
Chelsea Green, Ethan Page on fire together
Green isn’t just elevating other women in WWE; she’s also helping a rising male star too.
She recently formed a partnership with NXT North American Champion Ethan Page, dubbed as the Canadian saviors of the continent. It’s been comedy gold as they have become fierce defenders of “The Great White North,” paying homage to their home country.
What’s funny is Green hadn’t met Page before they first appeared in NXT alongside each other. In fact, she only met him about an hour before the cameras were rolling.
But the moment she heard him talk, she knew he could be the piece that takes her and the Secret Hervice to the next level.
It’s barely been a month together, but it’s been an excellent fit. They bring the best out of each other to produce a highly entertaining product. So much so, there’s rumblings Page could be called up to the main roster with Green, which is something she really wants to see.
“(Page) absolutely deserves everything in wrestling that he’s ever got, and now I feel like it’s my job to make sure the main roster sees him as a main roster talent,” Green said. “I also hope that he stays with us. I think that we’ve learned so much from him. He’s learned so much from us, and we have just made kind of the perfect unit.”
In Green’s perfect world, Page gets on the main roster while Niven and Fyre become tag team champions. As for her? She wants a singles championship – the main event kind.
Yes, she’s all about raising the rest of the roster or bringing the fun to the party. But there’s nothing wrong with doing it with some gold around your waist.
“I want to prove to the writers and Triple H and the viewers that, ‘Hey, a little comedy girly can also make it as a top dog,’” Green said.
There are so many ways to define a wrestler, and it’s just as challenging to describe a great one.
Performers. Entertainers. Competitors. Out-of-this-world, gravity-defying super-athletes that know how to captivate and inspire audiences young and old. There’s endless things to describe them.
There’s also the way Chelsea Green describes them.
“At the end of the day, we’re all narcissists,” Green said. “We’re going out there in our underwear, wearing fake tanner, hoping that people love us, hoping that they are invested in what we do.”
Well that’s one way to put it. If there’s one thing to know about Green, it’s she is never afraid to give her honest, blunt truth.
The truth is, people love her and are invested in what she does.
This post appeared first on USA TODAY
