Chelsea Green Is HILARIOUS! 2x Women's US Champ, Zack Ryder's WWE Return, Ethan Page, Viral Moments
Chelsea Green (@ImChelseaGreen) is a professional wrestler currently signed to WWE and the reigning Women's United States Champion. She sits down with Chris Van Vliet at INSIGHT Live in San Diego, CA to discuss winning the Women's US Tile for a second time, being paired up with Ethan Page in NXT and why they work so well together, her husband Matt Cardona (Zack Ryder) recently making a return to WWE, her infamous dumpster match, being featured on Unreal and the pitch to have her win the Royal Rumble, and more!
On her creamed line with Ethan Page:
“Actually, that just came off the top of my head. No, I can’t believe they posted that. I am shocked. I came back from the creaming, I said it, and I was like, ‘Okay, do we need to redo that?’ And he was like, ‘No, I’m gonna post it.’ I’m like, what?! Ethan was like, ‘No, no, please God no!’ The things that I make that man do, oh my gosh. God bless him. But yeah, then they posted it, and it went viral. I was shocked. But they do be posting crazy things, because sometimes Rhea and Dom were saying some crazy sh*t, right? So maybe I shouldn’t be surprised, and I should do that more.”
On Zack Ryder’s recent return:
“Okay, so I’ve never really worked with Zack Ryder. I mean, we were ships passing in the night for years at the beginning of our relationship, and then we only really came together in TNA and kind of on the Indies for two years. Then I was re-signed again. I kept yapping, running my mouth, telling everyone he was going to return as Matt Cardona, and I had to eat my words when he came back as Zack Ryder. But it was really cool, because I’ve never had a chance to just sit in the crowd and listen to everybody react to Zack Ryder. I’ve never really been there for the Woo Woo thing, except when I did it at Saturday Night’s Main Event, or when I did it at All In, then I felt a little bit of it. But it was really surreal. I knew that moment was going to come. I think we had been hoping for that moment to come every Rumble for the past five years. And it didn’t, obviously, there was no Rumble moment. So I just didn’t expect that this was going to be the moment.”
On preparing for the Zack Ryder return:
“So the crazy thing is that with WWE, they can say something’s gonna happen, and until you are, I want to say at the show, but even at the show, things can change, because it’s live TV. So until I knew that LA Knight was walking to gorilla, I couldn’t get excited, because I have been on the receiving end of many of, ‘Oh, you’re gonna get this.’ ‘No, maybe next week.’ ‘Oh, you are gonna go out there and win.’ Oh, no, you broke your arm. You know what I mean? All those little moments. So it’s crazy how you just [can’t control it]. So no, I could not get excited. But I was a little excited when he was flying with me to New York. And the morning of the show, I had Good Day New York, and he came, and then as I’m walking out, TMZ was outside, and he panicked, because it’s like, oh my god, everything’s gonna be blown, and then he’ll never get the moment if TMZ sees him.”
But it’s not unusual to see you and Matt Cardona together?
“But on the day when there’s a surprise opponent, do you know what I mean? So we didn’t get too excited, but we hoped. We really hoped this is gonna be the moment.”
On the success of the hats:
“My husband bought 20. They actually only sold out because Matt bought them.”
On the gear with her face on it:
“I had that gear sitting waiting for a year. It needed to be the perfect moment, that gear was worthy of a WrestleMania moment, a hometown moment or a championship moment. So I kept it all pristine, all wrapped up, and I was just waiting for that moment.”
What went into making gear with your face on it?
“I’ve got so many different gear makers, but I’ve got my one PLE gear maker, who we kind of bounce ideas off of each other. First of all, I live for the girls and the gays, and he’s gay, so he has the same really ridiculous sense of style that I do. I want the biggest, the most, the brightest, the most obnoxious that I can possibly get, and what’s more obnoxious than having your face all over you? I don’t know how I’m ever gonna top that. That’s the problem. And when I won the title the second time, I was like, Well, I’m gonna go Mexico [themed]. I’m gonna bring the AAA to SmackDown and go and go Mexico themed, because I don’t know how I can top me.”
On the pairing with Ethan Page:
“I don’t know who in NXT thought to put us together, but I owe them a lot of money. When Ethan gets called up, I owe them a lot of money. Yes, I don’t know, but it’s crazy. I remember being backstage and listening to him out in the ring when I was going to come out and do the first promo with him. His facial expressions, and the sh*t that was coming out of his mouth was just like, Oh, my God, I couldn’t have said it any better. And we actually get along too, which that’s rare. There’s also, like, something very unique about putting a man and a woman together who are in no way related or partners or anything. We just have a different dynamic than anyone else.”
What was the idea in putting you guys together?
“I would love to know. I have no clue. I don’t know. I got a call like the day before, being like, ‘Hey, you’re gonna come into NXT.’ I said, Sure. I just assumed I was gonna have a singles match. I showed up, and they said, ‘Oh, you’re gonna be with Ethan.’ And I’m like, Ethan who? Then they said, ‘Ethan Page.’ I had to Google him, and then I was like, Okay, I do know Ethan. He’s Canadian. I know him. But I didn’t really know anything about him. I didn’t know anything, and now I’m like, yeah, duh. We belong together on screen. I think it’s perfect. My sister called me the other day to tell me that he’s stealing my spotlight, and I think that that is a perfect partnership.”
On her 2014 debut segment with Stephanie McMahon:
“Okay, so it actually goes back to the day before. It was at the time when you always heard about extras getting try-out matches and actually getting a job, which I feel like you never hear about anymore, because we’ve got these crazy, elaborate try-outs. So I had just started wrestling, we were in Abbotsford, I was an extra. I’m in this tiny, little broom closet of a locker room. I heard one of the girls outside talking to our talent relations guy. And the talent relations guy was like, ‘Hey, if you have a passport tomorrow…’ So that would have been Sunday, and then tomorrow would have been Monday night Raw. [They said] Tomorrow we’re going to do a spot we need an extra for [TV]. It’s going to be quite a big spot. You’ll be speaking, but it’s in Portland, Oregon.’ She was like, ‘I don’t have a passport.’ In my head, I’m like, ding, ding, ding! I got a passport. So I waited till she came back, and then I excused myself to go to the washroom, and I found that talent relations guy, and I said, ‘I can do it. I got a passport.’ And that is how I became Megan Miller. So it was so crazy. I was dating this very sweet guy at the time, he had to drive me to Portland, Oregon, sit in the crowd while I declared that I had slept with Daniel Bryan. The funny thing is hours before they gave me this script, one thing about WWE is they tell you things without telling you things. They’ll give you a script or they’ll tell you that you’re winning a title without telling you, ‘Hey, you are winning this title tonight at this time.’ They don’t do that. It’s kind of all like wishy-washy talk. So they gave me this script, and it says, ‘Stephanie, Megan, Stephanie Megan, Stephanie, Megan.’ I’m like, okay, who’s Stephanie and who’s Megan? I don’t know why I have this script. Nobody tells me I’m Megan. Nobody tells me it’s Stephanie McMahon. Nobody’s telling me anything. I get out there and it’s like, Okay, we need you for rehearsal. I haven’t even looked at this thing because I don’t know who the f*ck Stephanie and Megan are. I go out with the script, and Stephanie McMahon is in the ring, and Vince is standing there with a microphone ready to rehearse this segment where I’m Megan. So I’m trying to read through like, Oh my god. I’m sleeping with Daniel Bryan. Oh my god, I’m getting slapped by Brie Bella. Oh my god, I’m with Stephanie McMahon. The whole thing was just [crazy]. I was delusional. I was way too new to be in there. It’s the first time I had ever spoken on a microphone, ever.”
That was your first promo?
“Ever! I had never picked up a microphone, I don’t even think in high school. I’d done presentations in university, that’s about as far as my public speaking skills went. So imagine [how I felt]. They kept saying at the end, ‘Oh, you did so good. You looked so nervous.’ Yeah, no, sh*t! I’m like, how do you hold a microphone? I don’t know. The whole thing is so crazy, but so iconic. And Brie slapped the hell out of me, popped my eardrum. It was amazing, honestly, it was everything I could have ever dreamt of and more.”
On just being a part of the show regardless of winning or losing:
“I think it goes back to when I played Laurel Van Ness. I quickly realized that character work was my forte. I was trying so hard to be a professional wrestler. Then when I became Laurel Van Ness I was like, oh my god, I’m doing way less work, and people like it way more. What have I been doing this whole time? From then, it kind of spiraled and I realized okay, if that’s what I bring to the table, then who cares if I win or lose? They’re not watching to see if I win or lose. They’re watching to see the ridiculous stuff that comes out of my mouth, the bumps that I take and stuff like that. Life has been so much better since I stopped trying to be a professional wrestler. It really is. It’s great.”
What are you now?
“An actress, a glorified actress, a little bit of a stunt woman. And then, every now and then I do a roll up. It’s great. I love it.”
On her dumpster match:
“I came up with that spot [the powerbomb ending]. Not to toot my own horn, but toot, toot. I was gonna die on that hill. I kind of talk about that often, like there are only certain hills I’m gonna die on. Winning is not a hill I’m going to die on, or getting a certain move in, that’s not really a hill I’m going to die on. But when it comes to the Money in the Bank ladder spot that going through the table, being power bombed into the dumpster, those are hills I’m going to die on, because those are the things that people are going to talk about forever. I believe that was the first female dumpster match ever in WWE, there had to be something huge at the end. Everyone’s going to talk about the match, because it is a first, but it can’t just be a powerbomb into a dumpster. That’s kind of boring. The boys would never just do that. I always have to think about, like, what are the guys gonna do? Because the guys are out here doing crazy, crazy stuff. I want to make sure that we’re doing equally as crazy stuff, so that there’s no women’s wrestling and men’s wrestling, it’s just wrestling. But do you know that the salsa that was in there was spicy? I asked for salsa and cake to be in there, and they got spicy salsa, and it was in my eyes, because I had to dump it on my head to pop out, it was so painful. I don’t know if you’ve ever had spicy salsa on your head, but don’t. I do not recommend.”
Why are you ok being the butt of the joke?
“Because it gets me views and it gets me a new contract, and it gets me a raise, and it bought me my new house, and honestly, hopefully in the next year, it gets me numerous auditions. You know what I mean? Hopefully this parlays into something even bigger than we could have ever imagined, because I was able to tuck my tail between my legs and be the idiot.”
On a possible Women’s US Open Challenge:
“Okay. So obviously, for three years, you’ve seen me duck and dodge any match possible. I really tried to avoid wrestling, but we’re here, we’re a double champion. Ethan is teaching me to face our fears head-on, so did I pitch to have an open challenge? Yes, because I’m a fighting champion now! I’m gonna need a sauna and some ice packs, but I will be a fighting champion!”
On the WWE Unreal pitch to have her win the Royal Rumble:
“God bless Ed. I wish he never said it. I wish it never aired, because now it won’t happen, that’s my thought. Is it now we have to wait at least five years for it to happen, and who knows where I’ll be in five years? When I watched it, I didn’t know that. Everything that you saw in Unreal, we’re not told these things. I thought that was such a good idea. I hope that they use it. Well, for me, yes. But if not on me, we need a Carmella to come back and do that. You know what I mean? Somebody with some spice, a Billie Kay, someone funny, who really would take that.”
On her Money in the Bank fall:
“Seriously, that ladder is high, and then when that ladder is in the ring, it’s very high, because I think it was a 20-foot ladder, and then it’s in the ring, and the ring is so high. And you can tell because I’m clinging on for dear life as I’m going up it trying to look all like I’m a badass, and I’m like, Dear God, please let this be over. I want to go home. I need a glass of wine. But it was all worth it. I knew what that moment was going to be. I died on that hill getting that moment because the boys tried to take it away from me. The boys tried to have that exact same moment. So we bargained. We gave Chad Gable a spot, and I took my spot. Also, and this might not be that popular of a thing to say, but also, IYO was going to be on the ladder with me. I said no. I came up with the spot. I wanted the spot, and I didn’t think going through it a second time with somebody else was going to be as impactful. I already did the spot in TNA for Queen of the Mountain, and I did it with my best friend, Deonna. I don’t think you can get better than going through tables off of a ladder with your best friend. So I wanted the moment, and I fought for it to be just me, and I fought for it to be the very, very, very last spot before Tiffany won.”
On wrestling Penta:
“The best decision I ever made was that match. Because now, when someone says I suck at wrestling, someone else says, ‘But did you see the Penta match?’ And I’m like, yeah, yeah, that one match in 2018. He literally wrestled himself. Watch it again. He literally wrestled himself. But I digress. He is amazing, and so am I.”
On a custom Women’s US Title:
“I asked. I really did try. I tried so hard. I wanted to do a Divas open challenge. I want to do the whole shebang, but I understand that the women before me, it’s fun for me, because I wasn’t a diva, but the women before me fought so hard to kind of end that stigma. I don’t know if bringing it back right now would do those women justice. Maybe in 10 years, maybe the girls from NXT can come up and do it in the future, but I will continue trying. I will keep pushing.”
What is Chelsea Green grateful for?
“My puppy, to everyone who came here, and that my meet and greets are sold out.”
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