Chelsea Green On If WWE Has Contacted Her For The Second Mae Young Classic
Chelsea Green, f.k.a. Laurel Van Ness in Impact Wrestling, was the special guest on Women's Pro Wrestling Weekly with TK Trinidad and Evan T Match. You can watch it in the video above or download the podcast version on iTunes. They sent us these highlights:
If she goes back to train with Lance Storm:
"At first, since I have been wrestling for about 4 years now. For the first couple of years, I would go back often, even if it was just for a day to help out another girl to help out in his class, or to brush up on a move that I wanted to learn. Now, because I am based in Orlando, Florida compared to being based out in Canada, I don't have that opportunity as much. However, whenever I do have a chance to go back to Calgary, I go back and visit him because honestly, as many lessons as I have learned, travelling and meeting new people [to train with], Lance Storm knows everything. I swear to you, any question you can have about moves, psychology, gimmicks, the history of pro wrestling, he knows. Lance Storm is an encyclopedia of wrestling knowledge. He really drills the necessities into you so that when you go out there you won't do stupid things. You just start from the basics, which is amazing."
Influences after leaving Storm's wrestling academy:
"I would say, because people don't know this about me, but I knew nothing about pro wrestling. Not a thing. I had never seen a pro wrestling ring until I was maybe around grade 11. Lance Storm taught me everything that I know. Then, when leaving 'Storm's Wrestling Academy,' I would say that the person who taught me the most after leaving the school would be Billy Gunn because he influenced me on Tough Enough, and now I am really close with his family. He always gives me great advice. The other person would be Gail Kim because she helped me get the job from Impact Wrestling. She trusted and supported me, as well as elevated me along the way as I went."
Being kicked off of Tough Enough:
"What happened was, I did Tough Enough, and when I got kicked off and didn't get a contract, I thought – and this was naive of me, but I assumed that they would see how much that I loved this and how quickly I learned, and that no matter what even when I left I would be receiving a contract. So when I left Tough Enough and sat on my couch for about a month or two as I waited and waited and never received a call, I kind of had to think outside the box and had to think, 'okay, now what?' I am now stuck in Canada. I am not legally allowed to work in the United States. I really don't know what I am doing, and for the amount of time that I spent being on Tough Enough, I really wasn't wrestling. I had to come up with something different. I asked myself where are people going to generate a buzz to make a name for themselves? The two places I thought of were Mexico or Japan. I worked on trying to get to Mexico, which was the first thing that I really wanted to do, but a couple of my girlfriends thought that I should learn how to wrestle before I go to Mexico, so I should try out in Japan. That is how I kind of got over there in Japan. I still didn't really know what I was doing, but with the language barrier over in Japan, they don't know that you don't know what you are doing, so every crazy move that I wanted to try, they were like, okay, let's try it. That is how my confidence and movesets grew by trying things that I wouldn't have tried had I been here in the United States."
If WWE has reached out to her regarding the second inaugural Mae Young Classic:
"I have not been contacted yet. I don't know if you know who Britt Baker and Santana Garrett are. We stay in contact and there are no secrets with us girls. We tell each other exactly what is happening. What conversations we have had with WWE, but none of us have heard anything. I know that a lot of girls, a lot of buzz about it, where they have heard from people in the Performance Center, but I have not heard anything about it. I am keeping myself really busy at the moment, and it is really full. That way, if they don't call, I am not worried about it, and if they do call I would be totally excited, but either way, I'm happy because I am busy."