Chelsea Green says she knew immediately that something was seriously wrong when she suffered a broken orbital bone just five days after capturing the Interim WWE Women’s Championship.
Green won the title in a five-woman ladder match on Night 2 of SummerSlam on August 2 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, defeating Charlotte Flair, Jade Cargill, Tiffany Stratton and Lash Legend.
Her celebration was quickly interrupted by injury. During the August 7 episode of SmackDown, Green suffered a broken orbital bone while teaming with Stratton against WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Fallon Henley and Lainey Reid.
Appearing on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Green didn’t attempt to hide the bruising around her eye.
“It’s pretty dark. But we’re in the business of milking it for what it’s worth. So I will, in fact, put my entire face on and skip my eye,” she said.
Green explained that she immediately knew she had suffered a fracture, although she initially believed the injury was to her cheek.
“It happened. I looked at the ref. I said, ‘My face is broken,’ and that was it. I knew. I always know,” she said. “Wrestlers are very in tune with our bodies. You know immediately when something’s wrong. I’ve had quite a few things broken. I did think it was my cheek. I didn’t think it was my orbital bone.”
Despite having dealt with several injuries throughout her career, Green described this one as the most painful.
“Whenever you break something, your adrenaline takes over, especially in front of a live audience. Usually you don’t feel the pain, you feel a big rush of heat,” Green said. “But this was my most painful injury to date, and that should tell you something.”
The timing was particularly difficult for Green after finally capturing a major singles championship following years of setbacks and near misses.
“Not just the week flashed before my eyes, 13 years flashed before my eyes. Rhea Ripley flashed before my eyes,” she said. “The worst part was I had just said to Sam Roberts, every time something good in wrestling happens to me, it’s followed by something devastating.”
Green’s attention immediately turned toward determining when she could safely return to the ring.
“I didn’t even leave the ER before making sure that they were able to clear me after X amount of weeks,” she said. “What can I do? What would make the surgeons comfortable enough to say, okay, fine, on this day you can wrestle?”
Green also reflected on the mindset that helped her through years of uncertainty before finally reaching this point. Rather than obsessing over wins, championships or creative plans she couldn’t control, she focused on what she could bring to WWE.
“I care about my work ethic, the package that I bring to work, the way that I treat people backstage, or the way that I interact with fans. I care about being entertaining,” she said. “But I don’t care about the grand scheme of things, because I can’t. I would be up all hours of the night if I cared about my creative and the direction I was going in, because I’m not in the writers’ room.”
That philosophy dates back to her WWE return in 2023, when Green contacted Triple H about coming back to the company.
“When I came back in 2023, I don’t care what I’m doing. You want me on TV for two seconds. You want me to be the first one out of the Royal Rumble. Don’t care. Just happy to be here,” Green said. “I had been grinding since 2014 to the point where I was just exhausted. I was so thankful to let Jesus take the wheel for at least a couple years, like until they inevitably fired me again. That was my thought.”
Green also broke down the closing moments of her SummerSlam ladder match. As the finish developed around her, she remained upside down on the floor and attempted to stay completely still until the right moment.
“I was laying upside down, and if you watch really close, I’m ever so slightly trying to shift my weight from toe to toe, because my toes are the only thing keeping me there,” Green said. “I can’t move, because if I move, it gives it all away. I have to stay dead until that very moment.”
Before she could even see what was happening, Green could feel the audience beginning to realize she was about to win.
“I was still upside down, and I felt a rumble, and the minute I started turning my head and looking around, it was like I felt everyone stand up, and it gave me chills,” she said. “If I could dream of a scenario where I was winning the greatest title that a woman could win in wrestling that was better than that moment, I could not have dreamt of that moment.”
There was another obstacle after winning: Green is afraid of heights and had to celebrate from the top of the ladder.
“Those ladders are so shaky. Matt was like, why’d you get on the front side of the ladder? You’re supposed to stand on the back side. I’m like, Matt, I was just holding on for dear life,” she said. “My legs were shaking. I stand up there for a second, then I start shaking too much, so I sit down, and I’m like, okay, I’m just gonna look like I’m chilling. Nobody tells you how to go up there. You don’t practice climbing a ladder and winning a match like that.”
Even while trying to maintain her balance, Green knew the images from her championship victory would follow her for the rest of her career.
“That moment’s going to be everywhere. God forbid you have a weird look on you, or you’re scared. That’s all I was thinking, I’ve got to get good photos,” Green said. “And the photos are real. I really felt all those emotions in that moment.”
Green currently holds the championship on an interim basis due to Rhea Ripley’s absence following knee surgery. Green admitted she doesn’t know what WWE ultimately has planned once Ripley is cleared to return.
“Am I the interim or am I the permanent? I don’t know where we go,” she said. “I have such amazing chemistry with Rhea. I think she’s one of the best wrestlers in the entire world. She’s so talented. She’s so giving. She’s so generous in the ring. I would love to feud with her, but we don’t know what her timeline is. Someone knows. I’m sure Rhea knows. I don’t.”
In the meantime, Green isn’t interested in simply waiting. She said she has continued pitching championship defenses and has even looked toward Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia as a possible destination for a title-versus-title match.
“We all want to be fighting champions. So I have absolutely continued to pitch,” Green said. “Lainey wants to talk smack on Busted Open, fight me. Nia wants to come out and further injure me after the Fatal Influence takes me out, fight me. I would love that, but it’s not in my control.”
