2018’s All In show in Chicago is widely regarded as one of the most influential professional wrestling shows in the history of the sport. Not only was the event the catalyst for the All Elite Wrestling promotion, but featured a night of unique pro wrestling matchups the likes of which have yet to be seen again. One of the highlights of the evening’s card was a fatal four-way matchup featuring Madison Rayne, Britt Baker, Tessa Blanchard and Chelsea Green.

Green recently joined me to discuss her appearance at the legendary All In show in Chicago, as well as the potential of running her own show.

Wrestling at All In:

“To this day, that is my favourite pro wrestling experience. It’s my favourite match, it’s my favourite crowd. It’s my favourite – it was literally the best day of my life, I’m not even joking. I was so thankful to get that opportunity.”

“I never wanted to ask Cody to be in All In. First of all, he’s really good friends with my fiancé, and so I knew that was going to put him in a really weird position. I never wanted in my career for anyone to feel like they had to give me something, or that they would feel bad if they didn’t give me something.

I texted him. I would say they announced All In, I texted him a couple weeks later, and I just said ‘hey, I just wanted to let you know, of course, I’m sure everyone’s texting you, but I would love that opportunity, and anything that I can do to prove to you that I should be in one of those matches, I’m willing to do.’ It was weird, because he’s a friend, and I was kind of having to talk to him like a boss. It was a little weird, but I’m so glad I did. He didn’t even ask me, he just announced that I was in. All of us girls didn’t know what the match was going to be or anything, we were just so happy to be chosen and I feel like that day was perfect. Everything just came together so well, and even though we were so stressed and there was so much anxiety, we knew this was our opportunity to show the world that there are indie wrestlers out there who deserve the spotlight that WWE is given. Everything just came together, and I seriously could have cried when it was all finished.

”

Running her own show and what she would have main-event:

“I guess the main event would probably be my fiancé versus Cody. I’d love, love, love, love, LOVE to see that. I really just want to see Matt wrestling in a singles match. Seriously, I’ve only seen that a few times.

I really haven’t seen him wrestle much.”

“I don’t know what the name would be, but it would definitely a play on words, like the word Green.”

Please credit Spencer Love/Love Wrestling with any transcriptions used. 

For over 20 years now, Randy Myers has been regarded as one of the premier Canadian professional wrestlers in the world. Since beginning his training at BJ’s Gym, Myers has earned championship gold and accolades aplenty throughout the duration of his career. One of those championships is the famed Stampede Wrestling Championship, with Myers representing the final champion in the title’s esteemed history.

Recently, Myers joined me to discuss his feelings on being the final Stampede Wrestling Champion, as well as his time starting his career at BJ’s Gym and the famed Hart Dungeon.

Starting out at BJ’s Gym:

“My first independent wrestling show was the resurgence of Stampede Wrestling that they did at the Pavillion in 1999. I went to that first show. I was a fan of professional wrestling before that, but that was when it seemed doable. It seemed realistic as something I could actually achieve. I had so many wild dreams as a child, but they were all sort of things that felt out of my grasp. Here, it was these people that were trained in Calgary, it was these prairie boys just like me that were performing in these rings. There was young people, too, like TJ Wilson and Teddy Hart and Harry Smith, and they were all just phenomenal. Then, I started watching Stampede Wrestling on TV, and BJ’s Gym had a commercial during the commercial breaks at noon on Stampede Wrestling Saturday mornings. They would say ‘come down to BJ’s Gym, I’m training all the young guys and they’re going to be the future of professional wrestling. I can teach them anything from moonsaults off the top rope to DDT’s,’ and as soon as I saw that, I was like ‘this is something I’m very interested in doing,’ so I went down there and checked it out.”

“The first time I went there, it was beyond what I thought. I had never done anything athletic in my entire life before; in fact, I’d weaselled my way out of gym class by writing essays about sports. I’d go to the library and study on sports and write the essays on them. The idea of competition was always really hard on me when I was young. I was really, really into it, and then I would be either the sore loser or the crappy winner. I never saw the good side in it. From a young, young age, probably seven or eight, I decided the competitiveness wasn’t necessarily my bag. It wasn’t healthy for me. So, not being an athletic kid, when I went to BJ’s Gym, first time I hit those ropes I think I made it one-and-a-half times across the ring before I was entirely gassed. 130 pounds and I was not built to be a professional wrestler athletically or physically, but mentally I was stubborn. I had so much fun there.”

“At the same time, I was taking my first improv class. I had gone to improv class because I was like ‘either I want to do improv, or I want to do wrestling.’ I went to improv class, and everyone was, like 35+. I went to wrestling class and everyone was like 15, they were all younger than me. So, I was like ‘oh, if I’m going to do this, if I want to do both, I’m going to have to do wrestling first, because I can still do improv when I’m 35, but I can’t do improv until I’m 35 and then start wrestling.’ That’s going to be a lot.”

“Like I said, I was heartbroken at that time, and I deal with obsessive-compulsive disorder so this was a place where I could focus my obsession on something that was kind of healthy, and just continue to be learning and physically made me better. I also needed to get in to shape and wanted to clean my act up as far as being a person. I wanted to be a role model, and I realized this was an avenue for me to do that.”

Beginning his training at the Hart Dungeon:

“When I first started at BJ’s, I did that for about a year, and then there was the short-lived Matrats promotion that came through. Basically, Stampede Wrestling had run low, their talent pool had run low, so they didn’t have a lot of people on their shows. I was always going and supporting their shows. I went to one where there were only three matches on the card or something like that, so I started to bring my gear to the shows. I started asking Bruce – Bruce Hart, I started asking him, he was the promoter at the time – if they needed anyone, ever, I’ve always got my stuff with me. Like they say, bring your gear to every show, so I started bringing it. Then, one day, he was like ‘hey, we’re going to use you tonight,’ and he threw me in the ring against Hannibal, who was my very first match.”

“I didn’t know I was welcomed in the Dungeon yet. So, I started doing the Stampede Wrestling shows and sheepishly being at these shows, tentatively going and doing my best. One day, TJ came up to me and said ‘Bruce is upset that you’re not coming to the Dungeon practices.’ And the whole time, I wasn’t going was because I thought either I wasn’t invited, and I’d spent all my money on Teddy Hart’s pro wrestling camp. My grandmother had given me a little bit of money for when I graduated high school, and I spent all that money for a lifetime membership with Teddy’s school. So, at that point, I had nothing left in my bank account, and I didn’t have the price for the Dungeon. So, I was like ‘I can’t do that,’ and then Bruce was kind enough to waive the fee and invited me into the Dungeon.”

“I had to pay for it with my skin, whether that be chops or whether that be taking bumps or whether – they used to have a lot of people come through the Dungeon that were tourists that would be from wherever in the world that wanted to come see the famous Hart Family Dungeon. They would come to practice some times and then Bruce would get them on the mat to maybe throw some chops or maybe do some kicks to the groin. There was always one person who was volunteered for those, and it was me. I paid for the Dungeon, but in a different way.”

Being the last-ever Stampede Wrestling Champion:

“It’s pretty wild that I watched that promotion go through – and it’s gone through so many incarnations over the years – but I’ve watched it even myself go through two or three different bookers or stuff like that over the years. Being the Champion when it closed down means a lot, but it also means that I was the Champion when the promotion closed, which isn’t necessarily the greatest thing either!”

“I had a realization when I won the DEFY belt, and I had been so excited about that. Then, this whole where we’re at right now came down, and I’m like ‘so, I become the Stampede Wrestling Champion and it closes down, and then I become the DEFY Worldwide Champion and the world closes down. Like, what is going on?!’”

Please credit Spencer Love/Love Wrestling with any transcriptions used. 

The past year has certainly been kind to Chelsea Green as far as her in-ring career goes. Since December, Green has not only appeared in the legendary Royal Rumble matchup but made her Monday Night RAW debut against a woman that many would regard as the top female wrestler in the world, Charlotte Flair.

Recently, Green joined me to discuss her appearance in the Royal Rumble, her debut on RAW, her original ring name and why she feels she keeps receiving the opportunities she does. The full interview can be found here.

Entering the Royal Rumble:

“I don’t know why, but I get this women’s intuition I always call it, where I just know when something’s going to happen. And although I hadn’t really been used on TV or anything, I just said to Rob, ‘Rob, I’m going to get gear made for the Rumble. I feel like I’m going to be asked to be in it.’ And he kind of like laughed at me, like ‘what? Okay?’ I just had this feeling, this gut feeling, like ‘I don’t know, man, I just feel like I’m going to be in it.’”

“I didn’t really find out I was in it until the last minute. Nobody does, and even when you’re then put in it, you’re not necessarily 100% in it. They change it all around last-minute, they change your number, they change whether you’re in it or not in it. So, I was excited, but I didn’t want to get excited until my music hit. I’m telling you, when my music hit, oh my god, I’m so glad that I got kicked out right away because that was the most nerve-wracking thing I’ve ever done.

”

Wrestling Charlotte Flair on RAW:

“I think what happens is someone just throws me a bone, and I think that I’m really good in a situation where it is sink-or-swim. So far, I have managed to doggy-paddle my way out of all these crazy situations I’ve been thrown in, and I think that has done me a lot of favours. I don’t think anyone expected for me to be used on RAW that day, and then, when they just threw me that bone, I was like ‘well, here it is!’ Even if this is just a match where I’m losing in two minutes, I don’t care. I’m going to go out there and look the best I’ve ever looked and look at Charlotte in the eyes and show every single person that yes, there is another woman out here who is the same size as Charlotte, who can go toe-to-toe with her, and I think that’s what I did.”

The origins of her original name, Jaida:

“So, funny thing, actually. I wanted to name myself Dallas. I don’t know why, I just always liked that name, Dallas. I was working at an Irish pub in Calgary, trying to figure out ‘what’s my name going to be.’ Everyone would make fun of me, like ‘ooh, you’re going to be a wrestler, what’s your name going to be?’ I never thought ‘I should be Chelsea Green,’ because I was doing wrestling to be somebody else, so I was trying to come up with all these names.

Nothing stuck, and every time I said Dallas, everyone was like ‘ewww, I don’t like it.’ I’m like, ‘dang!’”

“One time, this girl that was bartending with me said ‘oh, my girlfriend is a stripper, and her name is Jaida, what about that?’ I’m like ‘I love it!’ I’m not even joking, that’s where I got it from. It was a stripper’s name in Calgary.

”

Please credit Spencer Love/Love Wrestling with any transcriptions used. 

It’s been just over two months since Randy Myers defeated Schaff to become the 7th-ever DEFY World Champion, carrying on the legacy of champions such as Artemis Spencer, Shane Strickland, and more. The title gives Myers yet another reason to espouse his love of the promotion, which he’s done on a frequent and consistent basis.

Myers joined me to discuss his love of working with DEFY Wrestling as well as the honour of carrying the promotion’s championship.

His love of DEFY Wrestling:

“When I got involved with DEFY, it was at a point where I was taking my first-ever break from professional wrestling. I’ve been doing wrestling for the last twenty years, so I’ve been going, like, every weekend, (a) couple shows for quite a while. And then, it was a time where I developed some mental health issues that I’d kind of needed to focus on, so I’d taken a step away from wrestling. But, then, there was a big show at DEFY down in Seattle, and they had Davey Boy Smith versus…who was he wrestling that night? It was a stacked card, and I needed to go down and I needed to witness this live. So, I went down. I had heard good things, I went down, had some friends down there, and I was blown away when I saw the product.

The fans were incredible, the actual in-ring was awesome, and just the vibe was phenomenal. So, I just went down there as a fan and was blown away.”

“Then, Matt Farmer, who’s one of the promotors of it, we’ve known each other for quite a while. We toured a couple years, probably ten years ago, eight years ago now.

So, we knew each other, and then we kind of got to talking.

He sent me a message asking me if I wanted to be on their next show. Like I said, I was taking some time away, but I was so blown away and this kind of rejuvenated me and it got my heart pumping again. It got those juices flowing. So I was like “of course, I’d love to take part in your show.’ I thought I was going to maybe only go down for one, but then the crowd was so loving and embraced me so much that I was like ‘well, I can’t leave. They pulled me back in. It’s like the mafia, right? You try and get out but they pull you back in, but happily.”

Carrying on the legacy of the DEFY World Championship:

“It’s incredible. Representing DEFY as a whole, being in that lineage of champions that (were) just named, it means so much to me. I can’t even really put it into words. I (feel) like DEFY’s what I always wanted from wrestling. I always wanted something that was an inclusive product where you could feel safe as a fan no matter who you were, no matter what kind of place you were coming from in life. Whether you’re a freak, a geek, a misfit, a weirdo, felt that you were strange, or felt that you needed to change, or any of those things. (If) you ever felt that you were different, this is the place for you. It’s so embracing and so loving.”

“To represent a company that is what I’ve been looking for twenty years in wrestling means the absolute world to me, and means every drip of sweat I’ve had, means all the blood, means all the tears that I’ve cried, all the times I said I was going to quit, all the workloads I didn’t want to do but did anyways, all the gross cans of tuna I shoved down my throat, they were all worth it.”

Please credit Spencer Love/Love Wrestling with any transcriptions used.