Chelsea Green was a star in IMPACT Wrestling before joining NXT in 2018, now the ‘Hot Mess’ has contrasted her stays in both companies, saying it’s hard to reconcile the fact that she was made champion in one and couldn’t get on TV in the other.
Green is best known in IMPACT Wrestling as Laurel Van Ness, who really came into her own when she was jilted at her on-screen wedding to Braxton Sutter [The Blade in AEW]. Becoming a ‘Hot Mess’ Green would come to the ring in her tattered wedding dress, with make up running down her face, and clutching a wine bottle. Laurel Van Ness became IMPACT Wrestling Knockouts Champion when she defeated Rosemary for the vacant title in late 2017, before being granted her release in early 2018.
Going on to sign with NXT, Chelsea Green had to wait over a year before she made her televised debut in the company. That debut didn’t even take place on NXT, with Green facing off with Charlotte Flair on Raw in December 2019. Her televised debut on the black and gold brand came a month later, after appearing in the women’s 2020 Royal Rumble match.
Speaking on an edition of her own Green With Envy podcast, Chelsea Green has now discussed the differences in how she was used in each company:
“So, I was champion at IMPACT Wrestling in 2017 into 2018. I had such a great two years there at IMPACT Wrestling, but I kind of still look back on my time there and I think of how young I was and naive I was and, and just how new to wrestling I was. IMPACT hired me when I was only two years into my career. That is unheard of to be thrown on TV after only two years of wrestling. It’s a different monster and a different beast when you get hired by WWE because they have a Performance Center they have a developmental program but in IMPACT, if they hire you, that is because you are TV ready and you are put on live television right there. So the fact that they had that much faith in me is just wild.”
“Anyways, on Canada Day, IMPACT Wrestling put out this 60-minute episode all about me — or I should say about Laurel Van Ness, my character’s name, and highlighted my career. Obviously, that’s not the messy moment of the week. But it got me thinking about what is the messy moment? How the f*ck can I go from IMPACT [and] being named champion? [IMPACT] gave me main event matches, they aired a 60-minute show solely on me to WWE, where I couldn’t even get on TV for over a year. Like, tell me how that’s possible.”
Green went on to say she is not bitter about her WWE exit but couldn’t help but be annoyed when reflecting on this occasion:
“I feel like I haven’t been bitter about WWE since I was released. I’ve been open-minded about the release and the fact that doors are now open for me since the WWE door closed. But this time, I just couldn’t help it. I was feeling a little bit annoyed with the WWE system. You know, I was super excited to be featured on TV. But there was just this weird feeling of having two polar opposite emotions at once, feeling a little bitter, and a little sad. Then also feeling very f*cking proud and very confident in who I am and where I’m going. So that was kind of the messy moment of the week for me. I think you guys probably get where I’m coming from.”
Chelsea Green has hinted that she could be reprising her character from IMPACT Wrestling as she teased a ‘New Hot Mess.’