NEWS

VANCOUVER, BC: The Villain is set to hit the high seas.

Lions Gate Dojo trainee Tara Zep has officially been announced for the upcoming Jericho Cruise. The Cruise, now in its sixth year, takes place from January 31st to February 4th.

Zep revealed the news to Love Wrestling earlier this week as part of an exclusive interview.

“I got a little invite last minute to wrestle on the Chris Jericho AEW Cruise,” the Villain stated. “I don’t honestly know how that happened: I have a lot of older friends. Like, Sabu and RVD, and Chris Jericho are my boys. I don’t know why, but I feel like they maybe see more in me than a lot of the younger promoters. They’re really supportive of me, and they constantly are putting me over, and I’m kind of [mind blown]. Woah! Legends!”

“I don’t know what happened there, but I think Chris Jericho found me through Sabu, and he said some nice things, and he’s like ‘Hey, I have a couple spaces open left on this cruise. Do you want to do it?’ And, I was like ‘uhh, yes. Duh?’ I’m doing it.”

“There wasn’t really a lot of conversation going into it, honestly,” Zep concluded. “It was just kind of like, I don’t know, people have been talking and found out about me and liked my shit, I guess!”

Elsewhere, Zep discussed her relationship with Mick Foley, and how the hardcore legend came to be a part of Zep’s first-ever deathmatch.

Tune in to the full interview with Tara Zep below.

Friday, January 5th wasn’t just the first Smackdown Live of 2024, but marked WWE’s return to Vancouver, British Columbia. It was the promotion’s first event in BC since September 2022. However, for Chelsea Green, it marked the Victoria native’s first opportunity to wrestle in her home province through her two stints with the WWE.

Through her second run with the promotion, Green hasn’t just excelled inside the ring, but been a focal point of the WWE’s growth above the 49th parallel. Over the past few months, the Hot Mess has made appearances with both the Vancouver Canaucks and BC Lions of the CFL as an ambassador for the WWE.

Green – who, last year, became the first British Columbian since Earthquake to perform at WrestleMania – discussed her experiences working with both franchises, as well as her goal of growing professional wrestling above the border.

“I mean, it means everything,” Green exclaimed on her work with the two franchises. “I don’t think anyone actually realizes how much it means to me. In Canada we just really only have hockey.

It’s so hockey-centric. I understand we have MLS teams. We have an NBA team, we have an MLB team, but hockey is our thing.

“

“So, we all grow up idolizing these hockey players, and I just want to give the people of not only Victoria, or BC, but the people of Canada as something else to love and watch and cheer for and support. To be able to go and maybe, maybe educate some Canucks fans, and some Lions fans on what we do here at WWE.

“I’m hoping that on January 5, when we do come to Rogers Arena, that maybe I’ll have drawn in a couple of new fans and, and got them to watch WWE, and maybe they’ll fall in love with it.”

Thankfully, not only was the January 5th Smackdown the highest-grossing WWE event in the history of the Vancouver market, but Green was able to have her first match in BC with the WWE, taking on Bianca Belair in a dark match.

Earlier this year, Love Wrestling chatted with Kevin Owens about another famous Canuck, Bruce Boudreau, and their experience at the NHL Draft.

Tune in to the full interview with Chelsea Green on Love Wrestling

FULL INTERVIEW

Chelsea Green returned to the WWE a little less than a year ago, but before that, the Hot Mess had a nearly three-year stint with the company. For the most part, Green was a part of the NXT brand, briefly teaming with Charlotte Flair and aligning herself with Robert Stone.

Since re-signing with WWE, Green has been a staple of both RAW and Smackdown.

However, on October 31st, Green made her return to NXT. That night, she and Piper Niven defended their tag team titles against Jacy Jayne and Thea Hail of Chase Academy.

As Green detailed in her recent interview with Love Wrestling, it was cathartic returning to the former black-and-gold brand.

“There was a lot of different feelings about it [and] a lot of mixed emotions, because my time at NXT was so rocky,” she began. “I was there, and then I had broken my arm, and then I was on the main roster, and then I got called back down to NXT. I had one Takeover Wrestlemania match that had no crowd. It was just a really, really unique experience for me.”

However, Green continued, her recent return more than made up for her first run with the brand.

“Finally, this time when I was able to go back, it was almost the experience that I had wished I had then. I felt like there was a lot of respect shown to me, and everyone was really, really sweet. The match was awesome. NXT just has a completely different crowd and energy than Smackdown or RAW in a really, really positive way. Every single show has a different crowd and a different energy, but NXT has something completely different and special.”

Elsewhere, Green detailed her goal of wrestling Cardi B as part of her viral #ChelseasGotTalent trend.

Full Interview

Cardi B in the WWE? It could have happened – at least if Chelsea Green had her way!

Whether it be referencing Jimmy Snuka or providing the theme song for Summerslam, Cardi B has made her love for wrestling well-known since the start of her career. Though she’s yet to officially step inside the squared circle, the Grammy-award winner has called an appearance with the WWE “some type of dream” in a September interview with Peter Rosenberg.

Ironically, it was Chelsea Green who was among the first to respond to Cardi B – and, evidently, it was never forgotten about.

Green’s attempted invite to Cardi B coincided with the Hot Mess capturing her first-ever WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship, with her and partner Sonya Deville defeating Raquel Rodriguez and Liv Morgan for the titles. Unfortunately, shortly after, Deville was forced to relinquish her portion of the championships following an injury. However, rather than simply give up her title, Green started the hashtag #ChelseasGotTalent, with individuals both inside and outside of the WWE responding to becoming her future tag team partner.

However, recently chatting with Love Wrestling, Green revealed that she did have her eye on a certain tag team partner – or, a potential competitor!

“I love that question, because you know me, as usual, it’s see where things go,” Green mused. “It’s just like fly by the seat of my pants. However, I’m being honest? I wanted Cardi B! And, if I couldn’t get Cardi B, I wanted to wrestle Cardi B! There [were] just so many good options in Chelsea’s Got Talent!”

While Cardi B herself never offered up a response, Green was quick to highlight how many people were eager to team with the Hot Mess.

“What I really liked is that we saw people from all over,” she stated. “We did see main roster talent and announcers. We saw Cathy Kelley, we saw R-Tuth. But, we also saw really amazing NXT talent that people hadn’t really seen yet.

Karmen from NXT auditioned. We saw reality stars, like Heidi Montag from The Hills. So, I mean, it could have been anyone, and I hadn’t decided yet! You know, it was only just the preliminary rounds. Nobody made it to the semi-finals and the finals.

”

Tune in to the full interview with Chelsea Green on Love Wrestling.

Full Interview