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.

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“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