Chelsea Green's Entire Wrestling Timeline Explained

Whether she's playing a "Karen" in the ring or going head-first into a dumpster during a street fight, Chelsea Green is one of the most charismatic success stories in WWE after returning from an initial release from the company in 2023. Green is a star who's not afraid of the comedic bits in professional wrestling, whose commitment to her character often had her waiting outside the office of Vince McMahon to pitch idea after idea during her first run with the company.

Green has a world of experience in just her 34 years on the planet, from working as a stunt double on the set of "Wynonna Earp," to first getting her feet wet in a WWE ring during season six of "Tough Enough," where she finished fourth amongst the women, the former Women's United States Champion has accomplished so much despite sometimes being given so little. From her start at ECCW Better Than You in 2014 to her recent work in "WWE NXT" alongside fellow Canadian Ethan Page, Green hasn't slowed down since she started training.

In addition to WWE, the star has worked in many other promotions, including TNA, where she's been Knockouts Champion, to Lucha Underground, where she wrestled under the ring name Reklusa and had an intergender match against Penta that many fans have gone out of their way to see since her return to WWE and Penta's signing in late 2024. Though overlooked by many, Green even wrestled on the event that would help establish All Elite Wrestling as a company back in 2018, before AEW actually existed.

Since re-signing with WWE and returning at the Royal Rumble in 2023, Green has been a force to be reckoned with. Her story between the ropes is far from over, but she's come a long way from her beginnings training with a Canadian wrestling legend.

According to Cagematch as of 2022, Green has eight years of wrestling under her belt. Before diving into the first match on her ledger, it's important to note that her trainer of record is none other than Lance Storm. Storm's 26-year career saw him pick up championships in ECW, WCW, and WWE. He spent time training several names that fans will recognize, including the likes of Tyler Breeze, Peyton Royce, Dolph Ziggler, Chris Masters, and many others. Green is among that group and speaks highly of her time training with Storm.

"He starts from day one from the basics and he builds from the ground up," Green said in an interview with Spencer Love in 2021. "I think that's why everyone that comes out of Lance's has a great mind for wrestling and is able to build a perfect, basic match. Lance teaches you how to entertain and how to build a match that people are going to want to continue to see."

Training under one such a successful wrestler with extensive experience in major organizations helped establish the beginning of Green's career. She spent the first two years performing across Canada, before making her way into the United States and beyond.

Green's first match occurred back on May 31, 2014, at ECCW Better Than You 2014. It was there that she teamed with Brady Malibu and MR2 in a losing effort against Billy Suede, Kenny Lush, and Nicole Matthews. She continued across the Canadian independent scene with promotions like High Impact Wrestling, Elite Canadian Championship Wrestling, Vancouver Island Pro Wrestling, and others.

On June 26, 2015, Green took part in a one-day tournament for the vacant ASW Women's Championship. She defeated Gisele Shaw in the finals to pick up the first championship in her professional career.

Her time in Canada continued throughout 2015, as the next year she would debut in major promotions both in the United States and in Japan.

That first opportunity in the US came on January 1, 2016, when she took on Jade (now known as Mia Yim/Minchin) on TNA "Xplosion." In the months that followed, Green shared the ring with some of the top names in women's wrestling. Not only did she appear in TNA, but she had multiple matches in Stardom through January and February of 2016. Those matches include names that fans will recognize such as Io Shirai, Momo Watanabe, Mayu Iwatani, Deonna Purrazzo, Awesome Kong, and many others. This type of exposure helped lead into her signing with major companies in the United States.

Green officially signed with Impact Wrestling in June of 2016. She joined the ranks under a new name, Laurel Van Ness, and was slotted high on the women's roster from the onset. She took part in a number one contendership battle royal, a match that was won by Gail Kim. From there, she and Kim entered a feud where Kim came out victorious. For a brief time, she was grouped with Allie, Maria Kanellis, and Sienna as a group that was focused on taking Kim out as champion. 

It was during this stretch of time with Impact where Green would start to use her "Hot Mess" gimmick, where she would wrestle in a disheveled wedding dress. There was even an entire wedding segment where Braxton Sutter rejected Green, causing her to fall deeper into the dark side. Some of her main feuds during this time were against Allie (now known as The Bunny), Madison Rayne, and Brandi Rhodes.

Green would close out 2016 with another stint in Japan, taking multiple matches in Stardom. She and Santana Garrett teamed together during the Goddesses of Stardom Tag League tournament, but were unable to make it out of Block A. They were defeated by the teams of Thunder Rosa and Holidead, and Hiromi Mimura and Saori Anou.

Chelsea Green continued as one of the central pieces of the Impact women's division but was unable to secure the Knockouts Championship after multiple opportunities. That would change in November of 2017, when Green was involved in a tournament to crown a new champion when Gail Kim was forced to vacate the title.

In the first round, Green won a triple-threat match against Madison Rayne and KC Spinelli. She and Rosemary faced off in the finals of the tournament on November 8, 2017, and Green came out victorious. She would hold onto that title for 65 days, along the way picking up successful defenses against Allie and Kiera Hogan. Allie ended her run, taking the title on January 12, 2018.

Green's time with Impact came to an end on January 15, and she would go in an interesting direction. She returned to the independent scene, performing for some well-known promotions in the United States. This run included matches against Priscilla Kelly (now known as Gigi Dolin) in Major League Wrestling, Shotzi Blackheart in Destiny Wrestling Organization, and Britt Baker in Rise Wrestling.

The last match she had before joining WWE NXT stands out on the list. Green took part in television tapings for Lucha Underground. Under the name Reklusa, she and Pentagon Dark had a nearly 10-minute matchup in Season 4 of that show. It was her only in-ring appearance for Lucha Underground.

The WWE came calling for Chelsea Green's talents in 2018, and she signed with the company in August. She reported to the Performance Center with a class that included Matt Riddle, Damian Priest, Humberto Carrillo, and Mia Yim.

Green's WWE NXT in-ring debut came on October 26, 2018, in a defeat at the hands of Deonna Purrazzo. She remained on the losing side of many of her initial matches in WWE. That streak saw her drop matches to Aliyah, Xia Li, and a tag team of Io Shirai and Kairi Sane. Her first victory came on December 15, 2018, when she and Lacey Lane (now known as Kayden Carter) defeated Reina Gonzalez (Raquel Gonzalez) and Vanessa Borne. She followed that up with her first singles victory against Jessie Elaban. Green was preparing for her television debut but suffered a bad injury in a dark match against Elaban. That broken wrist continued to plague her throughout much of her WWE run, and even after leaving the company.

She returned to the NXT Live match tour for several months after recovering from the broken wrist. She was paired with Robert Stone, who was her manager until Green fired Stone during a backstage segment, signaling what looked to be a move to the main roster.

Green's initial appearance on the WWE main roster was a singles match against Charlotte Flair in December of 2019. 

Green spoke highly of that moment as one that stood out in her career. "It was really cool to look back on the moment and see the pictures and see that when Charlotte and I stood next to each other in the ring," Green said to Spencer Love. "It was two tall, pretty built women that can put on a fight. And then to then a couple of months down the road, [to] be able to team with her was -– it was really, really cool ... it was something that will go on my resume and kind of my track record."

Green had two matches on "WWE Main Event." She defeated Sarah Logan and lost a match to Natalya. She participated in the 2020 Royal Rumble. She eliminated Dakota Kai and was eventually tossed out by Alexa Bliss, lasting only 12 seconds. She returned to WWE NXT, and her brightest moment came when she and Flair joined forces. After that match, she split from Stone and it looked like she was headed to the main roster full time. 

Green was suddenly added to the Survivor Series qualifying match on the November 13, 2020, episode of "SmackDown." She was booked to win that match but suffered another broken wrist that caused an audible to be called for the ending. This would be her final match in the promotion, as she was released on April 15, 2021.

Chelsea Green stayed busy after her release from WWE. She made her first wrestling appearance in July, returning to Impact Wrestling to team with Matt Cardona, formerly known as Zack Ryder. The two were paired together for a series of mixed tag team matches. They took on teams that included Jordynne Grace, Petey Williams, Tenille Dashwood, and Brian Myers. She and Cardona, whom she married in 2021, were a big talking point across much of the indie wrestling scene. Cardona was featured heavily by GCW and Green was right there with him along the way. For example, in August of 2022 Nick Gage invaded a vow renewal ceremony between Cardona and Green, attacking Cardona with a light tube and pizza cutter.

In 2021 and 2022 she appeared in 26 different promotions. Along the way, she and Deonna Purrazzo held the Impact Knockouts Tag Team titles for 56 days. They picked up the belts with a win over Rosemary and Taya Valkyrie on August 12. They lost those titles back to Valkyrie and her new partner, Jessicka. Her most recent match was on the losing side of a triple threat match for the NWA World Women's Title where Kamille defeated Green and KiLynn King.

During the November 10 episode of "Impact Wrestling," Green was shown walking out of the arena, only to stop and tell Deonna Purrazzo that she's "going home." This was her last scheduled booking with the company. 

Right before she signed with WWE and reported to the Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, to begin training in the WWE way of the professional wrestling world, Green was actually part of the event that helped get All Elite Wrestling off the ground. Back in 2018, Cody Rhodes and the Young Bucks, Matt and Nick Jackson, put on their pay-per-view event, All In, over Labor Day weekend in Chicago, in an attempt to start a wrestling promotion of their own. The pre-show for the event was even broadcast on WGN America. 

That's where Green wrestled in a four-corner survival match against Tessa Blanchard, Dr. Britt Baker, and Madison Rayne. It would be Blanchard to get the victory in the match, but Green still received the exposure. Green wouldn't get an opportunity to wrestle in AEW once it was officially established at the beginning of 2019 due to her signing with WWE, but she almost appeared in a promotion that would go on to be linked to the company.

During her time away from WWE, Green made a surprise appearance in Ring of Honor, prior to its acquisition by AEW President Tony Khan, at the Best in the World pay-per-view, where she was introduced by on-screen talent and ROH producer Maria Kanellis-Bennett. She was set for the ROH Women's World Championship tournament in Baltimore, but her wrist continued to give her trouble. Green suffered a prior right before the first round of the tournament and was not cleared by the Maryland Athletic Commission. She did, however, appear on commentary for the first round's matches.

When Paul "Triple H" Levesque took charge of WWE Creative following Vince McMahon stepping down the first time in July 2022, stars who were released due to pandemic budget cuts, especially those who were in "WWE NXT" during Levesque's time at the helm, slowly began to trickle back into the company. Green hoped to be one of them, as she noted that she left the company on good terms. In a WrestleZone interview in November 2022, where she spoke about possibly returning to WWE, Green said she had a great relationship with Triple H and was sad she didn't get to "fulfill herself creatively as a wrestler" during her first run. She said she had unfinished business in WWE and put the ball in their court.

Green would get her wish when she made her return just over two months following the interview at the 2023 Royal Rumble. She entered the match at #20, but was eliminated by Rhea Ripley in just five seconds. Following the dramatic and quick exit, Green would adopt a "Karen" gimmick, or one where she would complain about everything and ask for the manager of whatever brand she was on.

Despite complaining about everything and anything she found fault with, Green still found a tag team partner in Sonya Deville. After a losing effort at WrestleMania 39, Green's first 'Mania appearance, the pair were drafted from "WWE SmackDown" to "WWE Raw" that year, where, after a five-match losing streak, they won a shot at the WWE Women's Tag Team Championships. Green won her first title in WWE on the July 17 episode of "Raw" when she and Deville defeated Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez for the tag gold. Green and Deville became the first women from "Tough Enough" to win the titles as a team.

Green and Deville wouldn't celebrate their victory for long, however, as Deville went down with a knee injury a few weeks later. She relinquished her half of the championship in August, and Green started to hold "auditions" for a new tag team partner. It was Piper Niven who would end up paired with Green, though she forced her way in rather than "audition." Despite a somewhat rocky start between the pair, they grew to become close friends in storyline. Green declared herself a two-time champion, but WWE recognizes her time with the tag gold as only one reign.

Green started picking up singles victories during her time with Niven and got her first main roster victory when she beat Natalya in a trick-or-street fight in October. The tag champs lost their titles on a December episode of "Raw" to Kayden Carter and Katana Chance, ending Green's reign with the gold at 154 days.

The single success Green was having continued following her tag championship loss, however. She wasn't stacking major victories just yet, but would be part of some big matches. Green entered the 2024 Royal Rumble at #14, and lasted over 17 minutes before she was eliminated by Becky Lynch. Green made her way back down to "NXT," where she unsuccessfully challenged NXT Women's Champion Roxanne Perez. That July, in her home country of Canada, Green competed in her first Money in the Bank ladder match, which was ultimately won by Tiffany Stratton. Green and Niven attempted to get the titles back at Crown Jewel that November in a fatal four-way tag team match at Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia, but just couldn't get the job done.

Green's singles success would really take off, with Niven still by her side, with the advent of the Women's United States Championship. Green entered the tournament to crown the first-ever Women's US champion in November 2024 and defeated Blair Davenport and Bianca Belair in the first round. She beat Bayley in the semifinals to advance to Saturday Night's Main Event in December. Green toppled Michin at the network special to become the inaugural Women's United States Champion, marking her first singles title in the company. Green and Cardona became the first-ever married couple to both the women's and men's US titles.

Despite hailing from Canada, Green adopted a patriotic gimmick with Niven acting as her bodyguard, or Secret Her-vice, a play on Secret Service. Former tag team wrestler, and fellow Scotswoman to Niven, Alba Fyre would join the faction upon the release of her tag partner, Isla Dawn. Green would feud with Michin, the former Mia Yim, throughout the next few months, and competed in the 2025 Royal Rumble, where she lasted her longest time yet at just over 26 minutes, though she was inadvertently eliminated by Niven.

Green lost the Women's US title on the April 25 episode of "SmackDown" to Zelina Vega, ending her title reign as 132 days. Green got her rematch at Saturday Night's Main Event in May, but failed to recapture the belt and suffered broken nose in the process.

The Secret Hervice and Green are still going strong. Most recently, the group, who still compete on "SmackDown," have been appearing on "NXT." Green has aligned herself with fellow Canadian, North American Champion Ethan Page, and her future looks bright whether it be on the main roster or helping out storylines in developmental.