Former NWA Women’s Champion Thunder Rosa made a shocking appearance at IMPACT Wrestling’s Slammiversary PPV event appearing as Deonna Purrazzo’s mystery opponent during the shows semi-main event.
Thunder Rosa went toe-to-toe with the dominant Knockouts Champion however eventually ‘The Queens Gambit’ was enough to keep ‘The Unstoppable’ Thunder Rosa down for the three count.
Following the match, IMPACT/TNA Wrestling legend and former WWE Women’s Champion Mickie James made a shocking return to IMPACT Wrestling to invite ‘The Virtuosa’ to compete on NWA EmPowerrr an invitation which Purrazzo told James to shove in her trash bag in direct reference to the infamous ‘Trash Bag Gate’ incident following James’ WWE release.
Rosa has made critically acclaimed appearances in NWA, AEW, ROH, Tokyo Joshi Pro and Lucha Underground.
Speaking with Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful, Rosa described her lack of confidence when wrestling for the short-lived El Rey Network series, and how she now feels a much greater connection to her character:
I cringe, I cringe, I cringe. I’m just so, like, not confident. I think it was because I was still developing the character and when you’re developing a character that is not you, as you can see, even -1 asked me right now, ‘Thunder Rosa, why do you always have the face paint on?’ I was like, ‘Cause I live the gimmick, brother.’ So, I wasn’t living the gimmick with the mask. It was very challenging, like everything. Learning a new language is lucha libre, learning a new style of wrestling, talking to all these veterans and not feeling like I belong there because I was so young and so green. It was culture shock. Completely. Which, I had to learn real quick that the reason I was there was because I had the ‘it’ factor and someone saw it and I have to accept that. So, when I did that I started getting more comfortable and Kobra Moon actually got over, especially with the storyline that I have.
Rosa debuted in Lucha Underground during its second season, as the leader of the ‘Reptile Tribe’ Kobra Moon, and held the company’s Trios Championships alongside Daga and Jerimiah Snake (now known as Sami Callihan).
Chelsea Green is also back in IMPACT, returning at Slammiversary to team with Matt Cardona against Brian Myers and Tenille Dashwood!
Following IMPACT Wrestling’s incredible X-Division Ultimate X match, in which Josh Alexander would retain the prestigious championship, Cardona would make his way to the ring to confront his scheduled opponents in Tenille Dashwood and Brian Myers only to be joined by the returning IMPACT sensation ‘The Hot Mess’ Chelsea Green.
Green and fiancee Cardona would be ultimately successful in the mixed tag team bout with Green picking win for her team.
After making waves as Laurel Van Ness in IMPACT, Green signed with WWE in August 2018 and began appearing at NXT live events that October. After an unfortunate wrist injury in her first televised match, she was kept out of action until early 2020 where she officially debuted in that year’s Women’s Royal Rumble match.
The former Knockouts Champion went on to have a short NXT stint with the Robert Stone Brand before making her main roster debut on SmackDown in November where she injured her wrist once again. After months of inactivity, Green was released from her WWE contract in April of this year.
Chelsea Green has made her first public appearance since her WWE release, debuting for Ring of Honor at their Best In The World pay-per-view!
With thanks to Fightful for the transcript. To view Rosa’s full interview Sean, click here.