Chelsea Green doesn’t see herself as a temporary champion, and she isn’t interested in letting WWE’s “interim” label take anything away from the biggest win of her career. During a conversation with SHAK Wrestling, Green shut down the idea that her SummerSlam championship victory was some kind of consolation prize while Rhea Ripley remained connected to the main title.
Green captured the interim WWE Women’s World Championship by surviving a ladder match and pulling the title down in front of a crowd that was firmly behind her. When asked whether the championship felt less legitimate because it was an interim title, Green said the reaction inside the building told her everything she needed to know.
“It feels like the real deal to me. It does. And you know why? It’s because of that reaction I got when I pulled the title down. That was a moment that I cannot wait to tell my future kids about.”
Green said the victory was bigger than simply adding another championship to her résumé. She knows the moment will stay with her family forever, and she believes the crowd response was something wrestling fans do not see very often.
“It’s a moment that I know my mom, my dad and my sister are going to replay in their heads forever. It was just a once-in-a-lifetime reaction, and I think it was a once-in-a-lifetime reaction, possibly for this generation of wrestlers.”
The support didn’t stop when SummerSlam went off the air. Green saw videos of fans celebrating her victory and watched the wrestling community rally around her online. For Chelsea, that response proved fans were not treating her like a placeholder champion.
“I don’t know that we’ve seen the internet come together the way that they did to support me. I saw so many videos of fan reactions, and it just further proved that they think this is the real deal. So why would I act like it’s anything but that?”
Green knows the word “interim” has bothered some fans, but she has no plans to let it define her title reign. In her mind, she is the champion until someone takes the title away from her.
“I know the word ‘interim’ is getting to people, but it’s not getting to me. I’m permanent to me.”
Green also revealed just how much she remembers from the final moments of the ladder match. Despite the chaos around her, she said she could see individual faces in the crowd and hear fans screaming for her to keep fighting.
“I feel like I saw every single person’s face in the audience. I saw everyone’s reactions. I heard everyone’s reactions. I heard when people were screaming, ‘Get up! Get up!’”
Even while hanging upside down from the ladder, Green said she was fully aware of what was happening around her. She could hear the fans, see their reactions and even hear her mother yelling from across the ring.
“When I was hanging upside down, I looked around. I saw people’s faces. I heard my mom yelling from across the ring. I was so present.”
The final climb may have lasted only a few seconds, but Green said the championship victory was the result of more than a decade of work, rejection and fighting to prove she belonged.
“Climbing that ladder, it might have been like seven seconds to you guys, but it was actually 13 years in the making. So I took that moment to be there and be present.”
Chelsea Green isn’t carrying herself like someone keeping the championship warm for another wrestler. After 13 years of fighting for opportunities, she finally got her world-title moment at SummerSlam, and she plans to treat the championship like the real deal no matter what word WWE places in front of it.
Do you consider Chelsea Green the legitimate WWE Women’s World Champion, or does the interim label change how you view her title reign? Let us know what you think and leave your feedback in the comments.
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