By Canadian Press

Victoria’s Chelsea Green ready for first Money in the Bank card on Canadian soil

Jul 5, 2024 | 5:32 PM

TORONTO — This weekend’s Money in the Bank will be a full-circle moment for Chelsea Green.

The Victoria native will compete in the titular women’s match on Saturday as the WWE returns to Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena. The ladder match with a lucrative contract for a world title match hanging above the ring will be Green’s first time wrestling in a premium live event in Canada, despite being a professional wrestler for 10 years.

“My entire story I feel like has led me to this moment right here,” said Green in a video call from her Toronto hotel room. “I think the best part is that my mom is going to be sitting front row and my mom was sitting front row at my very first independent show in Kitsilano in Vancouver in 2014.

“That’s what makes everything worthwhile is your friends and family being able to enjoy it with you.”

Green will face Iyo Sky, Lyra Valkyria, Tiffany Stratton, Naomi and Zoey Stark in the six-person match where ladders — and often tables and steel folding chairs — can be used as weapons. A former WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion, the Money in the Bank match is the brightest stage 33-year-old Green has ever stepped on.

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“It takes 10 years to make someone an overnight success and that is how I feel about this year for me,” said Green, who signed with WWE in January 2023, after stints with other promotions and two short-lived runs with the Connecticut-based company. “People may just be seeing what I bring to the table but I’ve been bringing that to the table since 2014.

“I have wrestled all over the world. This is not my first ladder match by any means necessary. This is my moment to really show the world like ‘no, I’ve been here all along. I’ve been doing this. I’m not a rookie.'”

Arguably the most successful pro wrestler to ever come out of Victoria — “we can expand that to all of Vancouver Island, I think?” — Green’s enjoyed doing television tapings in Vancouver, Toronto and Ottawa over the past 18 months. But to do a premium live event in Canada, where fan reactions are typically boisterous and unpredictable, is another thing altogether.

“The PLE craziness in Canada is one that I say I’m ready for but I just don’t know until I experience it,” she said. “I just hope that Canada brings their A-game because I hope that is the beginning of amazing PLEs in Canada.”

Green is not the only Canadian on the card. Intercontinental champion Sami Zayn of Laval, Que., will defend his title against Bron Breakker. Kevin Owens of Marieville, Que., will team with Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton against the Bloodline in a six-man tag match.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 5, 2024.

John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press