Chelsea Green WWE NXT

Chelsea Green Talks About Massive WWE Releases, Working ALL IN Before AEW Launch, NXT

eWrestling.com reader Spencer Love sent along the following recap of Chelsea Green’s recent “Conversations With Love 70” special discussion.


Few Canadian professional wrestlers of the past decade have reached the heights of Victoria’s Chelsea Green. The Storm Wrestling Academy graduate and former ECCW/All Star Wrestling standout has worked her way through a number of the world’s top promotions on her way to the WWE, and now occupies a premier spot on one of the top televised wrestling programs in the world, NXT.

Green recently joined Spencer Love of the Conversations With Love podcast to discuss a variety of topics, including taking on an increased role in NXT, wrestling at All In, her appearance in the Royal Rumble, working with Robert Stone and the recent WWE releases amongst other topics.

Keeping busy during the COVID-19 pandemic:

“Oh, my god, isn’t it insane? I was saying this before to all my Canadian friends: I know I can’t complain, because I’m in Florida, I’ve got a pool, but still, it’s so crazy!”

Walking the line between her character on NXT and her personal life on social media:

“I really struggle with that, actually. I kind of get people telling me all sorts of different things when it comes to social media. When I was with Impact, a lot of people were kind of annoyed that I would post as myself, but then also post as the Hot Mess. But, that’s what I love about my job and about social media is I can choose. So, I really didn’t give a s**t that people thought that was annoying or it broke kayfabe, because at that point it’s 2018 and people know that I am dating who I’m dating and that I live where I live and they know who my good friends are. So, they know that when I leave the Impact Zone or when I leave NXT, I am not the Hot Mess. But, of course, yeah, my co-workers kind of were a little bit annoyed, a couple of them, but I think they quickly realized, like, ‘look, she’s playing a character, it’s who she is.’”

“We really haven’t had many people like that in the generation of social media that have to figure this out, because everyone in wrestling is kind of an extended version of themselves, and the Hot Mess really wasn’t. It was a true character. I have to say, it was difficult, and I struggle with it every day. I struggle with how much do I give away versus what I want to keep private and stuff like that. All in all, I just like my fans to know exactly who I am, and that’s every side of me, whether it’s my family, my relationships, my friends, and I don’t give a s**t if a friend is in a different company. I’m sorry, but I’m going to post with Britt Baker and Cody Rhodes and Brandi Rhodes. I don’t care. They’re my friends. I get a little bit of flack for it, but I think everyone is pretty understanding nowadays.”

Maintaining relationships when working for different companies:

“It’s funny, I actually have a harder time keeping in touch with my normal civilian friends. My wrestling friends know – like, Britt and Santana (Garrett) and Deonna (Purrazzo), those are my best wrestling friends, and they know if we’re super busy, we might not talk for two weeks. We might see each other every day, but then we might go two weeks and we haven’t even spoken to each other, but we’re all kind of just as busy. It’s harder for my girlfriends in Canada who are normal human beings to understand how busy I am, or to understand that I truly might go 48 hours without looking at my phone if I’m taping a RAW or an NXT or something. That’s kind of the more difficult side of things, and especially having a bunch of friends all over the place. All my girlfriends from Impact, we’re now all in different companies. Allie is in AEW, Rosemary’s in Impact, Sienna is with NWA. We don’t care. We just do us. We’re friends, and we really don’t care what companies we’re at. We just happen to be at different companies right now, but who knows what will happen in two years?”

Working with Robert Stone:

“I love it! A lot of people don’t know that Rob and I go quite a ways back. I worked with him at Impact, and we actually had our NXT tryout together. We never thought we would be put together. We never explored that option. We got paired together very, very last minute, and we both have the same work ethic. We want to go the extra mile, we’re both characters. The minute that we get out there, we put on this whole different front. I love, love, love working with him. I think both of us just want to succeed so bad. We probably text, I would say we text every single day about work, about ‘what can we do to build on this character? What can we do for storylines? What can we do outside of work to make people believe in this group?’ That’s why I love working with him.”

What VXT stands for:

“Oh my gosh, so many people ask us that! So, VXT was just a short version of the word ‘vexed,’ which Rachael Ellering came up with. She saw it and pitched it to Deonna and myself, for the three of us to be a strong, badass, Charlie’s Angels-type of group. We truly wanted to be the Undisputed Era of the girls. I think so many people laughed at that, but I’m like ‘no, but they’re so cool!’ They’re so individual, but they’re so freakin’ cool, and they all highlight each other.”

“So, it was the word ‘vexed,’ which means to bring trouble to cause a reckoning. But, we could shorten it down to VXT, which is perfect for chants and NXT rip-offs and stuff like that, and it was also just a badass word. But, Rachael hurt herself, and then I was out for a little bit, and it was such a mess that we never truly got to – we kind of pitched it on social media to the fans, but we never truly got to actually do anything in NXT with it, really.”

If the lack of female factions are a missed opportunity:

“One-hundred percent, and especially in WWE. That was such a crazy opportunity that we could have taken and run with, especially because the tag titles came out and then they were saying that NXT, or that the tag titles would be defended on every brand. I just felt like it was money. The reason that we decided to get together is not because we were like ‘oh, we’re better together.’ We actually all think that we’re strong singles wrestlers and better as singles wrestlers. But, we thought ‘(we) think this could work,’ because the Undisputed Era (were) better as singles wrestlers, and now look at them. It was a perfect opportunity to get these three singles wrestlers and put them together and show that this was going to be this perfectly well-rounded group of individuals. A strong person, a person that is more dramatic, which obviously is me, and then Deonna, the technical wrestler. I seriously think that could have been something that, if we had’ve got the opportunity, we could have totally run with it.”

“But then, I look back and I’m like ‘well, dang, I ended up on RAW, and Deonna ended up on RAW, so do I really care?’”

Having her first NXT match against Deonna Purrazzo:

“I was just trying to think – all my other first matches have kind of been forgettable in every other company. I haven’t really been like ‘oh my god, this is it, this is my moment,’ because I think, no matter what firsts I had, I always was waiting to have that first match with WWE. It was huge for me. I will never forget that. It was in Largo. I remember the crowd, I remember the entire match, and obviously, having it with my best friend, there’s nothing better.”

Always wanting to work for WWE:

“I guess with me, I set my sights on what I think is the top. Whether it’s the top or not, I set my sights on the top and then I don’t waver, and I’ve always been like that. I always pick a goal, and I can not get off of that track for that goal. So, although I was so excited to get Impact – and, honestly, I got Impact before I even deserved Impact, and same with Lucha Underground. They gave me an opportunity on Lucha Underground that I was not prepared for and didn’t deserve, but I was so thankful for it. But, I just threw out all of that. I knew my end goal. Although now, looking back on it, those were so much more amazing than I even though they were at the time, because I was so on a one-track frame of mind.”

Wrestling at All In:

“To this day, that is my favourite pro wrestling experience. It’s my favourite match, it’s my favourite crowd. It’s my favourite – it was literally the best day of my life, I’m not even joking. I was so thankful to get that opportunity.”

“I never wanted to ask Cody to be in All In. First of all, he’s really good friends with my fiancé, and so I knew that was going to put him in a really weird position. I never wanted in my career for anyone to feel like they had to give me something, or that they would feel bad if they didn’t give me something. I texted him. I would say they announced All In, I texted him a couple weeks later, and I just said ‘hey, I just wanted to let you know, of course I’m sure everyone’s texting you, but I would love that opportunity, and anything that I can do to prove to you that I should be in one of those matches, I’m willing to do.’ It was weird, because he’s a friend, and I was kind of having to talk to him like a boss. It was a little weird, but I’m so glad I did. He didn’t even ask me, he just announced that I was in. All of us girls didn’t know what the match was going to be or anything, we were just so happy to be chosen and I feel like that day was perfect. Everything just came together so well, and even though we were so stressed and there was so much anxiety, we knew this was our opportunity to show the world that there are indie wrestlers out there who deserve the spotlight that WWE is given. Everything just came together, and I seriously could have cried when it was all finished.”

Running her own show and what she would have main-event:

“I guess the main event would probably be my fiancé versus Cody. I’d love, love, love, love, LOVE to see that. I really just want to see Matt wrestling in a singles match. Seriously, I’ve only seen that a few times. I really haven’t seen him wrestle much.”

“I don’t know what the name would be, but it would definitely a play on words, like the word Green.”

On the recent WWE releases:

“I know, and everyone on social media’s like ‘oh my god, poor Chelsea!’ I’m like, well, no, I have a job, I’m very, very thankful that I have a job, because who knows? If this cut had’ve come three months ago, I might not have had a job. It was just you had to be in the right place, or the wrong place, at the wrong time. Unfortunately, this is not the first time that this has happened. This has been happening all over the world in every profession, and it’s really, really unfortunate that two of the people who are closest to me in my life were released, but on the other hand, both of them are going to go on to do so much more, and I would feel terrible if that wasn’t the case, but that’s the case. Like, Deonna has so much potential. She was not used in the capacity she should have been used in. Matt has so much potential and has continued to prove that throughout his entire career. So, whatever Matt does, he’s fine. I’m really excited to see what happens once the world gets back up-and-running. Once indies come back and everything, I’m really excited to see what they do.”

“It’s not necessarily a sad thing. I think for the fans, it was really sad to watch that all unfold on Twitter. But, for myself, and Matt, and Deonna, I think we all know no matter what happens from here on out, this isn’t the end of any road for them. We have so many opportunities nowadays.”

Lance Storm’s influence on her career:

“He really is like a dad to me, and to Peyton Royce, and to Rachael, and everyone who’s gone through his school. He just has the best wrestling mind. There’s just no one like him out there. For us to kind of come full circle – I remember the day I told him I wanted to be in WWE, that was the first day I met him – so for us to kind of go through all of this together, and then to be on RAW versus Charlotte (Flair) and for him to be there was the sweetest moment to have with him. It was so, so, so cool. Hopefully that’s not our last moment. I imagine that WWE would rehire him, whether it’s in a couple months or a year once everything kind of gets back to normal, because he just is something special.”

The Canadian pro wrestling scene:

“Isn’t it amazing? There’s so many people that haven’t been seen. Even Nicole Matthews’ boyfriend – well husband actually, now – he is so freakin’ good, and he still hasn’t been kind of spotted yet. The past couple years, El Phantasmo has been blowing up, which I can’t believe that didn’t happen six years ago. There’s so many freakin’ people that are so good! I love it. I just feel like Canadians know that it’s kind of hard to succeed at anything at life in Canada, because we’re in such a bubble. You really have to be the best, or the biggest, or the most outrageous, and I truly think that Canadians just work so hard to prove themselves and to show the world ‘I deserve this chance’ or ‘I deserve the rest of the world to look at me.’”

The origins of her original name, Jaida:

“So, funny thing, actually. I wanted to name myself Dallas. I don’t know why, I just always liked that name, Dallas. I was working at an Irish pub in Calgary, trying to figure out ‘what’s my name going to be.’ Everyone would make fun of me, like ‘ooh, you’re going to be a wrestler, what’s your name going to be?’ I never thought ‘I should be Chelsea Green,’ because I was doing wrestling to be somebody else, so I was trying to come up with all these names. Nothing stuck, and every time I said Dallas, everyone was like ‘ewww, I don’t like it.’ I’m like, ‘dang!’”

“One time, this girl that was bartending with me said ‘oh, my girlfriend is a stripper, and her name is Jaida, what about that?’ I’m like ‘I love it!’ I’m not even joking, that’s where I got it from. It was a stripper’s name in Calgary.”

Why Canadian wrestling is underrated:

“It’s always bugged me, and every time I do an interview now – which is very rare in Canada – but every time I do an interview, I always say ‘guys, open your eyes. We’re not just hockey and lacrosse.’ We have so much more, and it’s unfortunate that I am recognized way more walking down the streets of Florida than I am in my own hometown, or in Vancouver, or in Calgary. It really, really bugs me, and it’s something that has bugged me since Tough Enough. I got on to this massive reality show, and there was not one Canadian publication that said anything about it. I had zero backing from Canada, and if I had have had that support from my Canadians, who knows what would have happened? Who knows if those votes coming in from Canada would have made the difference for me staying there. It’s so unfortunate, and I wish that – I understand the rest of the world not caring about Canada, because I think the rest of the world is so focussed on America because America has just built themselves up to be this greater-than-everything-else country. But, it’s like – Canadians! Come on! You have to be supporting your fellow Canadians!”

Which Canadians are under-appreciated:

“I definitely think Artemis (Spencer) deserves a spotlight that he every now and then gets, but he’s so good. He deserves to be in WWE on 205 Live. That’s someone that I truly, truly believe, and there’s a couple of girls on the East Coast that I think are amazing. All-in-all, I think that the girls that come to Shimmer and things like that, those are all girls that deserve all the success in the world. Nicole Matthews deserves the success.”

All-female promotions:

“So, I’m not necessarily a huge fan of all-female wrestling shows. The reason I say that – and I know people are going to be like ‘wait, what?’ – the reason I say that is because I find that it’s very, very hard to stand out. And that’s just a me problem. There’s a lot of people that do not feel this way. But, it’s very, very, very hard to stand out when – if you’re on an all-women’s show, you kind of have to call dibs on your moves. At SHIMMER, there’s a list of moves you can’t do. Well, if every single person on that roster, on the SHIMMER roster, puts down one move, that’s a lot of freakin’ moves you can’t do. That is 30-50 moves you can’t do. It’s very hard. When you’re the only female match, or maybe there’s two female matches, on a normal show, the guys don’t really care what you do. They don’t bug you. I just find it really, really tough to stand out on the all-female shows. I don’t necessarily think that I thrived. I didn’t thrive in that environment, I don’t think that I was really given any opportunities on SHIMMER or Shine to thrive.”

“However, I do think in situations like that, you learn because you have to. You learn how to make adjustments or figure out ‘how am I going to stand out when I’m not just the only girl on this card? I’m one of a million, so I have to make my match different, I have to make me different.’ You definitely are put in that. It’s a sink-or-swim situation. I have kind of mixed feelings about those promotions.”

WWE Evolution:

“I think Evolution, I would say the opposite about Evolution as I did about SHIMMER and Shine. Everyone in WWE, they’ve moulded this character. They have this persona. They have storylines. We’re all invested in each match differently. I would love to see an Evolution again. I don’t necessarily think we need to have one every year. I don’t think we need to hammer it into fans, like ‘you need to like this Women’s Evolution, you need to support us.’ That’s not necessary. But, I do think, okay, let’s do another one. We have so much amazing talent, and with NXT just exploding now, we could do an NXT Evolution.

Becoming a TV wrestler again earlier than expected:

“I feel like everything in my career I’ve got before I was ready, except the stuff I’ve been given at WWE. I’ve been ready for that. There’s no better feeling than performing. This is just exactly what I wanted to do, is perform on TV in front of fans, and I’m doing it. It’s crazy.”

Entering the Royal Rumble:

“I don’t know why, but I get this women’s intuition I always call it, where I just know when something’s going to happen. And although I hadn’t really been used on TV or anything, I just said to Rob, ‘Rob, I’m going to get gear made for the Rumble. I feel like I’m going to be asked to be in it.’ And he kind of like laughed at me, like ‘what? Okay?’ I just had this feeling, this gut feeling, like ‘I don’t know, man, I just feel like I’m going to be in it.’”

“I didn’t really find out I was in it until the last minute. Nobody does, and even when you’re then put in it, you’re not necessarily 100% in it. They change it all around last-minute, they change your number, they change whether you’re in it or not in it. So, I was excited, but I didn’t want to get excited until my music hit. I’m telling you, when my music hit, oh my god, I’m so glad that I got kicked out right away because that was the most nerve-wracking thing I’ve ever done.”

Why she feels she keeps getting unexpected opportunities:

“I think what happens is someone just throws me a bone, and I think that I’m really good in a situation where it is sink or swim. So far, I have managed to doggy-paddle my way out of all these crazy situations I’ve been thrown in, and I think that has done me a lot of favours. I don’t think anyone expected for me to be used on RAW that day, and then, when they just threw me that bone, I was like ‘well, here it is!’ Even if this is just a match where I’m losing in two minutes, I don’t care. I’m going to go out there and look the best I’ve ever looked and look at Charlotte in the eyes and show every single person that yes, there is another woman out here who is the same size as Charlotte, who can go toe-to-toe with her, and I think that’s what I did.”

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