Chelsea Green of Victoria is ready to receive her first Money in the Bank card on Canadian soil

TORONTO — This weekend’s Money in the Bank will be a moment of mindfulness for Chelsea Green.

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

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

“That’s what makes it all worthwhile, is having your friends and family enjoy it with you.”

Green will face Iyo Sky, Lyra Valkyria, Tiffany Stratton, Naomi and Zoey Stark in a six-woman match that features ladders — and often folding steel tables and chairs — as weapons. A former WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion, the Money in the Bank match is the most brilliant stage Green, 33, has ever set foot on.

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

“I’ve wrestled all over the world. This isn’t my first match on the ladder, not by a long shot. This is my moment to really show the world that I’ve been here forever. I’ve been doing this forever. I’m not a beginner.”

Green is arguably the most successful professional wrestler in Victoria history (can we extend that to all of Vancouver Island, I guess?). He’s enjoyed doing TV tapings in Vancouver, Toronto and Ottawa over the past 18 months. But doing a top-tier live event in Canada, where fan reactions are typically raucous and unpredictable, is another matter entirely.

“I’m ready to take on the PLE madness in Canada, but I won’t know what it’s going to be like until I experience it,” she said. “I just hope Canada does its best, because I hope this is the beginning of some great PLEs in Canada.”

Green isn’t 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 team match.

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

John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press