Chelsea Green is Ready for Her Starring Role

The women of WWE are at the forefront of sports entertainment like never before. And one of the newest history makers, Chelsea Green, is embracing that responsibility. The longtime heel recently broke new ground as the first-ever WWE Women’s United States Champion (and “longest-running” as she often jokes), stepping into a different kind of role and brave new era for the world’s biggest wrestling promotion. 

Green’s reinvention represents a new chapter in the storied history of brilliant women in the WWE, from the promotion’s first female champion, The Fabulous Moolah, to Attitude era icons who became a household name during the ‘90s like Chyna, and ‘00s Ruthless Aggression stars like Lita and Trish Stratus. The 2010s were defined by the Divas Nikki Bella, AJ Lee, and their badass cohort. But in 2025 there are no more Divas, only Superstars like Green, Rhea Ripley, Bianca Belair, and Becky Lynch. It’s a brave new world for women in wrestling and Green is ready for it.

To commemorate WrestleMania weekend and the beginning of Den of Geek magazine’s 10th anniversary celebration, Chelsea Green is taking over: The United States Champion will serve as our first-ever digital cover star and guest editor with exclusive behind-the-scenes video live from WrestleMania on our Instagram feed. For our cover feature chat, Green gave us an in-depth look at her winding journey to wrestling stardom, why she feels more empowered than ever, and the hustle she is putting into our Hollywood aspirations beyond wrestling.

Climbing to the Top of the Mountain

Although it might seem like she was born to be in the ring, becoming a wrestler wasn’t always in the cards. “It’s funny because a lot of my coworkers, they grew up knowing this is it,” Green tells us. “My husband and my best friend came out of the womb knowing they wanted to be wrestlers. I wasn’t that way. I was just always an extrovert, always a performer, always a drama queen, always the center of attention at school. So I knew that would parlay into my career. I just didn’t know how that looked.” 

That all changed in a single moment, one that reshaped her aspirations to be an actor and set her on course to become the WWE Superstar she is today. She stepped in the ring for the first time at Storm Wrestling Academy to train and knew “absolutely nothing” about what she was getting into. “I stepped in that ring and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is what I was meant to do,'” she says. 

Those lightning in a bottle moments have continued throughout her career keeping her focused on her journey as a professional athlete and eventually to becoming a WWE Superstar. 

“Being called to TNA to do my first ever match on TV against Michin. And then fast forward a couple years after that, it was wrestling for All In as one of only four to five girls on the show. And then fast forward it was wrestling Pentagon for Lucha Underground. So there’s been so many moments that led up to WWE and the top of the mountain.”

“I feel like I’m the most authentic version of myself now”

Over the years, the way that women are represented and respected within WWE has shifted and changed. But with main card female wrestlers now commonplace and two WrestleMania main cards featuring female fighters—35 with Becky Lynch taking the Raw Women’s Championship from Ronda Rousey and SmackDown Women’s Champion from Charlotte Flair, and 37 which featured Bianca Belair beating Sasha Banks for the SmackDown Women’s Championship—it’s never been a more interesting time for women in the WWE. 

That’s something that Green tells us she feels grateful for every single day, “It is very empowering. I feel extremely empowered when I walk into work. Not only with the characters, but for me as a wrestler, I feel like I’m the most authentic version of myself now.”

Her current status in the promotion means she has a greater freedom of choice over just how she portrays herself in the ring. “In this run, WWE basically said, ‘Here you go. We are releasing the reins. You do what you think you need to do to succeed, whether it works or not, we don’t know, but we’re gonna hand it over to you and that has been the most empowering thing.” 

That’s been a journey in its own right as Green juggles being funny, imposing, and empowered while still kicking ass and taking names every time she walks into the ring.

“I find it very hard to be a funny woman in show business,” she explains. “I think that’s a really difficult thing to do and I’m trying to navigate that. I’m trying to figure out what the audience enjoys versus what is a little bit cringey versus what is possibly too much for them to handle right now in 2025, but that’s also been empowering for me. You know, it takes a special type of woman to make fun of herself and also still present herself as sexy and empowered and strong.” 

“At the end of the day, I just want to be treated equally,” she says. ” I don’t need to be put on a pedestal. I don’t need to be given more time because I’m a woman. I don’t want to be given less time. I don’t want to be not able to be funny or not able to be strong, or not able to do the same moves as the men. That’s this interesting Tango that we’ve been doing in wrestling. And I think finally in 2024, 2025 women in sports are taking off in all aspects. So that’s been very cool.” 

But according to Green that doesn’t mean the movement has already peaked. “Maybe if we talk in three years, I’ll be like, ‘What was I talking about? It’s so much better now.”  

A Historic Moment

This unique era represents an evolution for WWE and for Green herself who in 2024 defeated numerous Superstars, including Bianca Belair and her old foe Michin, to become the first WWE United States Women’s Champion. “That’s just a goal I didn’t even think was possible. Because, again, that’s a ceiling that I didn’t know we were ever going to shatter, bringing in an Intercontinental title, bringing in the United States Championship. So when Triple H revealed the championship, I really was set on it, this is my moment. I just knew it. I felt it in my heart. This is meant for me.” 

Striving for greatness as a woman in sports can often be a lonely pursuit but in 2024 Green was inspired by women all over the world taking over. “Witnessing the WNBA pop off, Women’s soccer pop off, Ilona [Maher] in rugby. All of these amazing women in sports that were just thriving, I thought this is the perfect time. And not only is it the perfect time for us to introduce this championship, but I think it’s the perfect time for someone like me to win it. Someone who the fans have deemed possibly mid-card, or comedic relief, all these ridiculous terms. So when we unveiled this beautiful championship. I just knew that I needed to push for this moment.” 

And push she did—ironically as a Canadian—taking that first U.S. Women’s belt. While representing the U.S. feels good, Green has been overwhelmed by just how many fans have connected with her story and journey to the championship.

“I feel like I’m representing more than just the U.S., because since winning this championship, I’ve just had so many people tell me how much it means to them to have watched me grow over these 11 years. There’s a lot of people who tuned in and watched me as Laurel Van Ness, as the Impact Knockouts Champion, when I had no right winning a title just two years in and had no idea what I was doing. So it’s been really, really amazing to see people in the UK tell me how much it means to them. Hear people in India tell me how much it means to them. And then of course people in Canada.”

That decade-plus journey from indie wrestling to the big leagues is one that Green clearly values deeply, despite the struggle that often accompanied it. “I had to kiss a lot of frogs to find my prince in WWE,” she laughs. “My family and friends had to watch me in front of five, 10, 15 people at tiny, little independent shows in Vancouver and Victoria, but at the end of the day that makes this moment so much sweeter.” 

Coming in from the ground up also feels like something Green can uniquely share with her fans. “I feel like because of that journey, I really can relate to the fans in a different way than I think most of the women [in WWE] can. That indie journey, those fails. I heard so many nos. I tripped and fell on my face so many times, but everyone got to watch me pick myself back up, dust myself off, and just keep going. There’s something about that that people relate to. At the time, I didn’t know that that’s what would make my journey special, and it felt really frustrating to watch people race by me. And now I’m so grateful for it, because I don’t think that the people would be behind me the way that they are now without it.” 

A Controversial Call

As if defending her championship wasn’t enough of a battle when we spoke to Green it was just days after the shocking count out that had set the internet on fire and had WWE fans across the world talking. During her WWE Smackdown match against Zelina Vega, she was counted out by the referee for leaving the ring in a moment that wasn’t pre planned but still happened in front of thousands of fans live, meaning that Green had to react on the spot and change the trajectory of her character in mere seconds. It’s an impressive feat but one that the wrestler shares is common in the business. 

“The interesting thing about wrestling is that no matter what if it’s in front of five people or 50,000 it’s live and shit happens,” Green chuckles. “And it’ll forever be that way. We will forever screw things up. We will get counted out. We will have to listen to the fans and change everything that we thought we were going to do. That’s the beauty of it. And then on top of that, we’re not just live but we’re on live television as well. So the show must go on.” 

Green explains that it was a mix of her indie wrestling background and love of acting that really allowed her to shine under incredible pressure as she was counted out for the very first time. 

“We always have to create those backstories before we press record, and I think that’s what’s helped me in this run of WWE. Every Friday, every Monday, every premium live event is a new shit show—we still have that same backstory to rely on. So when I went out there and I got counted out and in my head, I was in this moment, and I wasn’t listening to the referees, and I slid in, and I heard him count to 10. But the show must go on, so I think what would Chelsea Green the President do? What would Chelsea Green, the United States Champion do? What would Chelsea Green the narcissist do?” 

The Female John Cena

With the title now on her resume, Green is eager to think outside of the ring just as much as she fights in it. While she’s still clearly excited to wrestle at WWE, she also wants to make the transition to acting like John Cena and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson before her. Now that she has been booking roles including in the upcoming Dimension 20 campaign, it feels like a full circle moment as one of her first jobs was as a stunt double on the cult classic series Wynonna Earp, which shaped her as both an actor and an athlete. 

“When I was hired to be a stunt double, I had no idea how incredible the journey would be and what would come after that,” Green shares. “I choreographed fight scenes with the stunt coordinator for Wynonna Earp that I had to perform in negative 20-degree weather with two or so feet of snow outside, bashing into trees and jumping off of roofs. It was just so exhilarating, so exciting, so painful, it was all the things, and that has kind of made wrestling so easy, because stunt work is the hardest work you can do. It’s not just like one skill set, true professional stunt women do everything from gymnastics to fighting to knowing how to drive cars and motorcycles to falling, just like we do in wrestling, except they’re doing it from a 10-story building.” 

While her passion for stunt work is clear, Green is in acting classes, thinking about what comes after WWE. “Having won a singles championship at WWE. I really think that my goal is now outside of wrestling, because at the end of the day, we can only control so many things in wrestling. It is what it is. We have a whole team behind us that is deciding the fate of our character. I can only hope for the best, I can only show up with a good attitude.”

As she builds up her credits and works on honing her craft in Orlando, Green has dreams of getting complex leading roles, more akin to characters who would show up in the works of M. Night Shyamalan or Patty Jenkins. “I want to be the female James McAvoy in Split. Ever since I became the hot mess in TNA, I have never been able to get these kind of characters out of my head: the split personality, the multiple personalities. I love diving into deep, deep character work instead of just playing someone that I am.” 

With big dreams and what she’s already achieved, Green is a force to be reckoned with. And she’s still always looking for the next thing to be excited about and inspired by.

Says Green, “I listened to Ed Sheeran, and he was saying ‘I just hope that there’s some kid somewhere that thinks that he’s just average and and he not that great at anything, and he listens to Ed Sheeran’s interview and he thinks, ‘Oh, well, I could do that if he did that.’ That’s how I feel. I didn’t grow up being the best athlete or the best actor. I didn’t do flips. I’ve never been the best wrestler, but at the end of the day, I figured out what makes me unique and then I’ve totally taken advantage of that. And it’s taken me 34 years, but when you find what makes you special, nobody can take that away from you. So hopefully that’s what people see.” 

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