Chelsea Green’s Hot Takes on ‘WrestleMania’ 41, Shocks, Secrets & More

It’s the busiest and biggest week of the year for WWE superstars such as Chelsea Green. The first-ever Women’s United States Champion is excited to grace Las Vegas with her presence for WrestleMania 41 festivities. 

The sports entertainment juggernaut will take over Sin City with multiple events from stage shows including The Undertaker’s “1 deadMAN SHOW” and a roast hosted by Tony Hinchcliffe to “After Dark” parties including “Gronk Beach” from former WWE 24/7 Champion and four-time Super Bowl Champion Rob Gronkowski. And that’s not even counting the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony and the two-night WrestleMania extravaganza on April 19 and 20 live on Peacock.

Green herself is gearing up to meet fans at appearances and shine in a big match on SmackDown Friday on the eve of the grand events. She’ll stand alongside her Secret Hervice (Alba Fyre and Piper Niven) to face Zelina Vega, Kayden Carter and Katana Chance. Green isn’t booked at press time for WrestleMania itself, but she will be ready to entertain those who have pledged allegiance to her at Allegiant Stadium nonetheless. 

Before all the excitement of the event begins, the patriotic trendsetter gave us a peek at what it’s like to be WrestleMania ready and give her hot takes for some of the biggest matches.  

How is it preparing for WrestleMania week? I say this because I know for you it’s more than just travel. You have to think about all these looks, events you have to go to, etc. 

Chelsea Green: Usually, getting ready for WrestleMania week starts about two months beforehand. Being a girl and having a ton of appearances, you obviously want to have everything set up and decided long before WrestleMania happens. Especially this year where the road to WrestleMania was mostly in Europe. So, we had to be prepared even before. On top of appearances and media and community events, we also have the most shows packed within a few days.

We also want to make sure we have a set of gear for every single show because you never know what will happen in wrestling and live television. You can always be called in and need wrestling gear. I’ve been preparing for a couple of months. I always like to take into account what my character is dressing like in that era. I’m in my United States Champion era, so I’m going to try to wear as much red, white and blue as possible. Because I’m a brat, I have to have different gear every time I go to the ring. I will be bringing four to five sets of gear and boots and hats and skirts. It’s insane, but that’s why we love it. It’s the best time of year. 

You also have to think of Hall of Fame and other things like that. 

I have my Hall of Fame dress. I have my WrestleMania outfits that I will be going to WrestleMania in. We usually like to dress nice and fun for that. Then there are all my appearance outfits. When I tell you us girls probably have to bring 10 pairs of shoes, you could imagine what outfits go with those 10 pairs of shoes. 

I’d imagine that’s a lot of checked bags, but you also have to make sure you bring some in the carry-on, right? 

One rule as a wrestler is you always make sure in your carryon you have a set of boots, gear and any entrance gear because so many times we’ve had our bags not show up. You can always go shopping for everything else, but one thing that is irreplaceable is your gear. What you wear to the ring. That is a rule of thumb. Everything else can be bought. 

Chelsea Green and the Secret Hervice

Your first WrestleMania was really 39 in Los Angeles. What do you remember about that? 

I was also part of WrestleMania weekend during the pandemic. My very first WrestleMania was 2020 during the pandemic. I was in NXT and I actually did a ladder match in front of nobody. It is quite possibly the most awkward thing I’ve ever had to do. I was really proud to be part of NXT TakeOver WrestleMania, but it was really tough with no adrenaline and crowd energy to feed off of. Walking into my first WrestleMania on the main roster back at WWE in Los Angeles in 2023 was a completely different experience. 

It was 80,000 chanting for us. It was one of my first matches teaming with my new partner Sonya Deville. My dad and sister were in the crowd. It was just really special to have that moment after just debuting in January of that year. I was still really fresh and wasn’t sure I would be chosen for that moment. It was an honor to be able to do that only a couple of months in on the main roster. Of course, I had a look, set of gear planned in hopes I would be at that WrestleMania. I thought it was a crazy wish to have that dream come true. 

What do you want to tease about your looks this year? 

Great question. I have a lot of USA things, five sets of red, white and blue gear. I try to wear something sparkly and eye-catching during WrestleMania weeks, but this year especially in Las Vegas. It’s the hub for all things sexy and sparkly. I’m going a little more over-the-top sexy and sparkly this year. We’re going sexy and sparkly all the way to Las Vegas. 

Do you collaborate with the Hervice? 

We’ve been talking a lot about what we would do if we were on a WrestleMania. We tossed around a lot of different ideas. A fan drew us a really nice beautiful outfit that coordinated all three of us together. There is something about their suits that I don’t think we want to stray away from just yet. They’re just getting started, and had their second match in suits. We have a match this Friday coming up in Las Vegas with the three of us in action. I’m thinking we’ll stick to the suits for them and red, white and blue for me. However, if there was a little WrestleMania moment, just know I have a little Lady Liberty outfit waiting. 

You had such a big few months including becoming the first WWE United States Women’s Champion. How do you take in the fan support for you who are outraged you’re not on WrestleMania at this point in time? 

I’m so thankful they feel that way. Truly. They don’t have to fight for me or speak up for me, but they do. It feels really great to work for 11 years and to finally have the fan respect and admiration. At the end of the day, this is life. This is show business. This is wrestling. This is what happens. We only have a few hours of TV and so many spots on the card. As much as I want to be part of it and deserve to be there, it’s not happening right now. I would be okay if I don’t get on that card and cheer Tiffy on and watch the women’s tag match and see if the titles change hands. Checking out Iyo [Sky], Bianca [Belair] and Rhea [Ripley]. I’m okay with that. My time will come. If it’s not this year, my time will come. It doesn’t look like it’s going to be this year, but also, that’s the beauty of wrestling. Anything can change. You never know. I’m going to take it day-by-day. At the end of the day, my suitcases are packed. If they call me in and want me to take over Cody Rhodes’ place and wrestle John Cena, I’ll be there. 

Matt Cardona and Chelsea Green

What do you want to say about your match this Friday? You and Zelina have built up a great rivalry. Last week on SmackDown, there was that count out controversy that leads into this one. 

I think the fun thing about the United States Championship is that we’ve been seeing girls that don’t get enough air time, get that TV time they deserve. Especially Michin, obviously with myself, and now with Zelina. I want to keep that going. Whether I’m the champion for the next three years or it ends up being someone else, I want to make sure that we keep showcasing these girls that are sometimes sitting at home waiting for an opportunity to shine. We have so many hidden gems on the SmackDown and Raw roster. I’m not even incorporating NXT, which we know has amazing women there too. I want to make sure we stay on this path. I think we are on a great trajectory for this championship. Zelina is lucky I got counted out the other day because I was on the road to another victory and who knows what would have happened if I didn’t get counted out and if the referee wasn’t counting at the speed of light. I’m going to prove what I set out to prove last week and beat her ass. 

Give me some of your hot takes on this WrestleMania card? 

One thing I can not decide on is who is going to win out of Iyo, Bianca and Rhea. Those are three of the greatest talents in WWE. I think that will be a match where we see moves and spots we’ve never seen before. I’m rooting for Tiffy [Tiffany Stratton]. I think she is an amazing champion and will continue to grow and thrive. I hope she retains the title. I think it’s going to set the tone for the future of WWE and the women’s division if she retains. I think with the WWE Women’s Tag Titles, that is so fresh I don’t want either to win because I think my Secret Hervice should be be the champions. I think that is ultimately where they end up, so who cares who wins. I think John Cena, heel John Cena might end up with the title [against Cody Rhodes]. I don’t know why my heart and gut tells me that. I’m so interested to watch that match. At the end of the day, I’m just a girly girl who wants to watch the girls. I’m here for the girls. 

When it comes to Tom Brady, he teased he may show up at WrestleMania. What do you make of that possibility? 

You know I’m not opposed to that. He is an American hero, but I think if we need a true American hero at WrestleMania, I think they should call me in. Tom Brady could totally valet me to the ring. But it seems only fair to have the true patri-hotty on WrestleMania, and that’s me. 

Is [your husband] Matt Cardona going to be Randy Orton’s mystery opponent if he does have a match? 

You know I would never kiss and tell, but I know that Matt Cardona will be in Las Vegas. 

Related

CM Punk's Wife AJ Lee: Inside the WWE Stars' Marriage

He is always ready like you. 

He is always ready. He stays ready. He will be in Las Vegas all weekend. 

With this being in Las Vegas, do you have any other plans outside of wrestling? 

Matt and I actually got married in Las Vegas in 2021. So, it’s going to be fun to go back and visit our old stomping grounds in terms of what we did for our wedding weekend. We had our rehearsal dinner at Carmine’s, so we’re going to go there with my mom. My sister will also be there, so we’re going to take my sister out for some fun nights. Matt and I are going to go to Nobu at Caesars Palace for a date night before WrestleMania week kicks off. Of course, Matt has his live podcast on Thursday. I might just pop up there to watch the show. We have a lot of things planned. Now it’s a matter of whether I will be on WrestleMania or not. Let’s see. 

Let’s make this happen, fans! 

Yes, speak up or forever hold your peace people. I’ll be in Las Vegas waiting. 

WrestleMania 41, April 19 and 20, 7/6c, Peacock 

WWE SmackDown, Fridays, 8/7c, USA Network