In less than nine years, Victoria’s Chelsea Green went from wrestling in front of hundreds at independent shows in B.C. to competing in front of over 80,000 today (Sunday) at WWE’s Wrestlemania in Inglewood’s SoFi Stadium.
Green is the first B.C. born wrestler to compete in a singles or tag team match at the event since Surrey’s John Tenta – aka Earthquake – wrestled in a singles match at Wrestlemania X in 1994.
She will team at the event, which will be streamed live to millions across the globe, with Sonya Deville in a women’s tag team showcase match and will compete against teams consisting of former UFC champion Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler, Calgary’s Natalya Neidhart and Shotzi and the duo of Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez.
One more sleep… #WrestleMania pic.twitter.com/sk0ISnx1qN
— CHELSEA GREEN (@ImChelseaGreen) April 1, 2023
Trained at Calgary’s Storm Wrestling Academy by legendary Canadian wrestler Lance Storm, Green made her debut in 2014 and quickly became a local star. She competed for both Elite Canadian Championship Wrestling and Vancouver Island Pro Wrestling initially and also had a tour of Saskatchewan.
In ECCW she was paired as a valet with Vancouver wrestler Brady Malibu, who is now a key figure in the local Boom Pro Wrestling promotion. He stated that it was clear that Green had a tremendous amount of potential.
“I immediately knew she was going to be a superstar,” he said. “I saw the same things in her that I saw in my friend Taya Valkyrie when she first started – she had superstar presence, she had built her look with endless hours in the gym, and she was trained by Lance Storm which means she had a great foundation.”
Malibu said he’s not surprised to see Green make it on the biggest wrestling show of the year and that she deserves every bit of her success.
She had interest from WWE early on, as she portrayed the character Megan Miller in 2014 and also appeared on the WWE reality show Tough Enough. However, they chose not to sign her after those appearances.
Green’s first title win occurred in 2015 when she captured the All Star Wrestling women’s title by winning the Girls Gone Wrestling tournament in Cloverdale.
Mark Vellios, the promoter of ASW at the time, stated that Green had a star factor from very early on.
“I knew she wanted to make it badly and had a great work ethic and natural ability,” he said. “When she came to All Star Wrestling’s Girls Gone Wrestling brand we quickly made her the champion and the face of the company.”
Green’s abilities continued to gain attention and she began making appearances for Impact Wrestling, known as one of the largest promotions in North America. She officially signed with the company in June of 2016 and that year also saw her compete in a handful of matches for the Japanese women’s promotion known as Stardom.
Her Impact persona was Laurel Van Ness and she portrayed a rich snob-type character before gaining a love interest and then eventually was left at the altar. Her character then morphed into a jilted bride and was often wrestling in disheveled wedding clothes and smeared make-up.
In the years that followed Green competed in Mexico, the United Kingdom, Spain and Australia internationally, while continuing to appear on Impact’s TV product and for other major independent promotions in North America.
She went on to capture her first Impact Knockouts title in 2018 and also appeared on the Lucha Underground television show. Green officially signed with WWE in August of 2018 and joined the developmental NXT brand. Just before joining the NXT roster she also wrestled at the historic All In independent show in Chicago, which helped form the basis for the All Elite Wrestling promotion.
She went on to make her WWE main roster debut on Dec. 23, 2019 in a losing effort to Charlotte on Monday Night Raw and also competed in the 2020 Royal Rumble event. She then joined the Smackdown roster later in 2020, but suffered an injury and then was released from her contract in April of 2021.
Following her release, Green joined Ring of Honor and rejoined Impact for 2021 and 2022. She also competed at independent promotions all across the globe. She returned to WWE as a surprise entrant at the 2023 Royal Rumble and now portrays a character described as a “Karen”.
Rob Fai, the co-promoter for Vancouver’s Nation Extreme Wrestling, booked Green for a show at the Commodore Ballroom last June. He stated that she was a pleasure to work with and appreciates the way she reps her home province.
“I don’t think there is any doubt about her star power,” he said. “She has the charisma, look and in-ring ability to be on the biggest stage of them all which is Wrestlemania. You’ll never hear a person say a bad thing about her, and when we brought her in for a recent NEW show – she didn’t take her foot off the gas at all giving everyone a fantastic and memorable match – she is the consummate professional and I just love she is getting her due.”
Green can be seen on Wrestlemania tonight and on Monday Night Raw, which airs on Sportsnet 360.
The best part of qualifying for Wrestlemania has been the texts & DMs from friends and old coworkers who have watched the glow up. 🙌🏼♥️ I’m so lucky. I have the best support system.
— CHELSEA GREEN (@ImChelseaGreen) March 30, 2023
