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.
