Posted on 4/18/125 by Colin Vassallo
WWE Women’s United States champion Chelsea Green was a guest
on Insights with Chris Van Vliet.
Here are the highlights from the interview, which you can
see in full below.
On winning the Women’s US Championship:
“So the funny thing about WWE is they never really want to
tell you something, because card subject to change is real.
That’s what they always say, card subject to change. Because
anything can happen outside of the ring, inside, on social
media, public perception, anything can change. I can’t tell
you how many times I have shown up to work thinking I was
going to do one thing and we have gone completely the other
way. It’s happening right now, my phone is going off,
‘Change of plans.’ We’re always rewriting the show, and it
goes all the way up until we’re live. Even then, things
change as we’re live.
So they kind of started telling me, people kept acting like
I knew I was gonna win and talking to me like I knew I was
winning, so they’re just talking to me like, okay, and then
we’re gonna do this and this. I’m like, Okay, so I think I’m
winning, but I don’t want to ask anyone because that’s
embarrassing. ‘Um, hey, by the way, am I winning?’ What if
I’m not? What if I’m totally misinterpreting all this? So
they did this to me for I would say a month of talking to me
like I was winning without actually knowing. Michin also
kind of told me, ‘Hey, by the way, it looks like you’re
winning so let’s plan this match with that in mind.’ We kind
of spoke about that a week before and I was like, okay, but
I want to build the match not like that. I want to build the
match so that anyone could win at the finish, and then
whoever wins we just sneak one out on the other one.
So I think we did a good job of that, but as we were walking
to the ring to go through things I was being filmed. So
that’s a big telltale sign, you’re being filmed for
something WWE. So they had me walk to the ring, and then
they had this very, very, very awkward moment between me and
Shane Helms where he basically told me that I’m winning, we
were just all downplaying it big time and it was very
awkward. I hope that footage comes out, because Triple H is
sitting there watching us have the conversation, but he’s
not telling me. But obviously he decided it, and I’m like
this is so weird that he’s watching me react. So I’m trying
to be excited, but I’ve also kind of known and hoped that
this was gonna happen, and then I’m also like but if I react
too big is that kind of icky? I’m so excited I’m winning, do
you know what I mean? A lot of emotions were going through
me and I’m not a very emotional person too, so that doesn’t
help the reaction. So it was very awkward. So I hope that
moment airs somewhere. I hope you guys all get to see that.”
On her USA-inspired gear:
“So again, when I found out that there was going to be this
path to the United States Championship, Matt and I sat down
and we’re like okay, if I was the winner of this inaugural
title, I can’t have the title make me, I have to make the
title. What can I do? I knew I wanted to take some
inspiration from King Booker and stuff like that. We kind of
went through all these different iterations and it all came
so quickly. I truly hadn’t come up with a game plan, because
you’re not gonna really come up with a game plan for this
hopeful thing.
So I kind of had floated a bunch of ideas by and then all of
a sudden, oh my gosh, here I am. It’s Long Island. I won it,
now what? I had to make a decision very fast because
creative asked me, What do you want to do for your
celebration? That was my entry into this is what this title
is going to be. This is what Chelsea is going to bring to
the table as the first-ever United States Women’s Champion.
It had to be something special and I’m like I’m going to be
the President. I’m going to be so delusional, but topical,
this is what’s happening right now in America, let’s be the
President. Let’s not call it a celebration. Let’s call it an
inauguration, and I need a stamp. I need a presidential
seal.
So I designed the Presidential seal and from there, it just
snowballed. What I like to do with these characters is I
don’t flesh out the entire character. I like a good
backstory, but I just know this is kind of what I want it to
look like, somewhat. Then every week someone gives me a new
idea, just like the hot mess, like with the bride every week
someone gave me a new idea and I was able to incorporate
that into the character. And then with that you have the
future laid out. So you’ve got your backstory already, and
then you start to go from there and build the blocks to the
future of this championship or this character.”
On fans wanting another match between Chelsea Green and
Penta:
“I did not realize that that would [gain traction]. I mean,
it got some traction when it first aired but not the way it
has now. Oh my goodness, it’s crazy to see how much steam it
has picked up in the past couple of years. And then
obviously, when he signed with WWE, we ran into each other
in the hall in Toronto and he was like, ‘You and me,
rematch?’ I’m like, I don’t think so, pal. I think we’re
good. We did our one match, and everyone loves it, let’s
not.
But I do remember having the match and coming back, and
everyone at Lucha Underground was so kind to me, so kind. I
was hired at the end of the season. I came in, I killed Sexy
Star off, and then I teamed up with Marty and me and Penta
had this crazy match. That’s what dreams are made of. I
didn’t even have to put the work in. They worked all season
to make this unbelievable show and I just came in and had
this match with one of their top stars. I would have hated
me, but they were so kind and so sweet to me and they all
gave me these big hugs.
I’ll never forget John Morrison being like, ‘Chelsea, I’ve
never seen you wrestle like that, ever. I’ve already texted
Matt and told him how incredible that was.’ I was like, oh
okay, wow, thank you. That’s very nice. I thought he was
being dramatic. Then of course, I never watched myself, so I
see clips, but I never watched the match. Now I’ve basically
watched it because my God, people this year have been
showing me every single move I did. I’m like, damn.”