There were two former Impact Wrestling stars who attended WWE tryouts on Thursday.
The sports entertainment company holds tryouts throughout the year at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida to have wrestlers run drills that could determine who they may want to potentially sign to a developmental deal and place in the NXT system where they would compete on the third brand.
Those former Impact talents are Laurel Van Ness and Robbie E.
Van Ness, real name Chelsea Green, departed from the promotion after a set of Impact tapings in Ottawa, Canada in January. Green signed with the promotion back in June of 2016 where she would go onto having a successful run including being the Knockouts Champion.
Green does have a bit history with the WWE as she was part of the 2015 re-launch of Tough Enough where she finished up placing fourth place for the females and is currently dating Zack Ryder.
Robbie E had a successful run with Impact as he is a former Tag Team, X-Division and Television Champion. He signed with Impact back in 2010 and departed in 2017.
IMPACT Wrestling’s Laurel Van Ness was recently a guest on the “With Spandex Podcast” to talk about a variety of professional wrestling topics. Here are some of the highlights:
The origin and evolution of her character in IMPACT:
“Well, everyone asks me that. It started out basically where, yes, when I was left at the altar, everything that happened after I was left at the altar, so me dropping down to my knees and being the most dramatic human in the world, that was me. Then when I got to the back, everyone was leaving, that was the last day of tapings, and Dutch [Mantel] came up and said, ‘I just want you to cut a quick promo. We don’t know if we’re gonna use it. You’re gonna sit, and you’re gonna cry.’ So as I was doing this promo, drinking champagne, which was real champagne, it was like my second bottle of champagne.
“Oh yeah. I’m drinking the champagne, and he’s kind of shouting ideas at me, like, ‘Oh, sing. Sing ‘The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow.’ Do you know that song?’ And I’m like, ‘Oh, sure.’ He’s like, ‘Act crazier. One more take, but do it even crazier.’ When that aired, it kind of took off in this weird way I never thought it would. So then when I came back for the next set of tapings they were like, ‘Okay, we’re gonna roll with this crazy bride. I think we’ll keep you in the dress.’ I was like, ‘Oh, that’s cool.’
“From there on it was them saying to me, ‘Do whatever you want and be as crazy as you want, and hopefully we have to tell you to dial it down.’ So every time I went out there I did something crazier. You know, more outlandish than the last time I went out there. But I can’t just say it was only me, because what I loved about Laurel, and I still love about Laurel is that every time I was kind of going through a match someone random in the locker room, it could have been Dutch, it could have been Abyss, it could have been EC3 or Spud. Random people have always had ideas. One idea, Pat Kenney was like, ‘Oh, you should do an airplane around Kong.’ I was like, ‘Sure. Done.’ He said that as I walking out, and then that became Laurel’s thing.
“Someone else was like, ‘Hey, I saw this funny spot where you take the girl down, and then you pin her like Cameron from WWE. Pin her on her stomach, and you think that that’s real.’ So then I’m like, ‘Easy. I’ll do that,’ as I’m going out there again. And the next time it’s like, ‘Oh, you should get tangled up in the ropes, that’s funny. And then you should get hit with this move,’ and I’m like, ‘Okay. Sure.’ So it’s kind of like this weird character where it doesn’t matter what you tell me to do, I can go out and do it because I am the most unexpected kind of random character. Nothing that I do you question and be like, ‘Wait. Why?’ You know what I mean? Because it’s fun like that.”
Her unique smudged makeup look:
“Oh my gosh. It’s my favorite thing ever. It’s so funny, because I go in in the morning and I get my makeup done. I’m looking good, I take selfies. Then they’re like, ‘Okay, Chelsea. You’re on in three matches,’ and I’m just like [smearing] makeup all over my face. My lipstick’s going everywhere, and smudging my makeup.”
Winning the IMPACT Knockouts Championship:
“It’s crazy, isn’t it? It’s so crazy. Bound for Glory week was such a whirlwind. With it being filmed in Canada, it was really exciting for me. Although it was on the East Coast and I’m from the West Coast, still felt like I was kind of in my hometown, I don’t know. It felt like this wrestling world had come full circle, and for it to come full circle and then for them to be putting the title on me was also really overwhelming.
“I wrestle Rosemary for the title, which you’ll have seen by now I guess. She could tell you the same thing, and Gail would say the same thing. They told me three times that I was winning that match. I didn’t realize that that match was the finals at the tournament for the title.”
You ca read the full highlights of Van Ness’ interview on the “With Spandex Podcast” via Uproxx at this link.
It sounds like another Impact Wrestling star is on the way out. Impact Knockout Laurel Van Ness, aka Chelsea Green, has asked for her release from the company, according to a new report by Squared Circle Sirens.
She reportedly requested her release after the most-recent set of tapings, and sources are under the impression that Impact will grant her request.
Green is 26-years-old and has been working with the company since mid-2016. Her character is currently in the tournament to crown Impact’s newest Knockouts Champion, after Gail Kim vacated the title with her retirement.
If her release is granted as expected, she’ll join Madison Rayne, Taryn Terrell, and MJ Jenkins on the list of women who recently left the company.
Global Force Wrestling (GFW) star Laurel Van Ness recently did an interview with Metro to talk about a variety of professional wrestling topics. Van Ness discussed making a living as a full-time indie wrestler, wrestling fans yelling out sexist comments to her, and fans chanting her boyfriend’s (WWE Superstar Zack Ryder) name during her matches. You can check out the highlights here:
“It’s so amazing that to an extent we can compete with WWE. They’re always going to have the mainstream audience, but right now we’ve got so much attention. There is a crazy spotlight on indie wrestling, and that’s amazing because it’s what we love to do, and a lot of us are doing it for a living. We’re trying to make money and entertain people, and for that to be our sole career. It’s crazy how things have changed and we’re now able to do that without having to work second and third jobs. This isn’t just a hobby, this is our life.”
Wrestling fans yelling out sexist comments to her:
“One that sticks out to me was when I was wrestling Nicole Matthews in Vancouver. I was very new and there was some very sexual comments made by a couple of drunk fans. As we were wrestling, Nicole stopped and said something to them. It did the trick, they stopped what they were saying. There’s such a fine line between letting it affect you, but staying silent about it. I don’t think it’s right to yell at a female like that, it is our place of work and we’re trying to entertain you.
“Freedom of speech, sure, but to an extent – you have to be respectful, we are humans and we’re working essentially for you. I do have a time when I hear things in the ring, but me personally I try to ignore it because I find a lot of people are trying to get your attention by screaming profanities or saying sexual things towards women. But I have a limit as much as anyone else, and if someone did cross that line, I think I would have to say something at the time.”
Fans chanting her boyfriend’s (Zack Ryder) name during her matches:
“This is very different from the sexual comments, but another thing that makes me frustrated, and I get this a lot, is that I do get a lot of people doing my boyfriends chants at me. To me, that is very disrespectful and I don’t think people understand that. I have nothing to do with my boyfriend when I step into the ring. I’m not defined by my relationship or who my boyfriend is or where he works. So it’s very disrespectful when a fan does his chants because he’s not putting in the work in that ring, I am, so sometimes when people do the Zack Ryder chants it really affects me, and I have said some things to people. You have to figure out, do they want your attention? And if they do, don’t give it to them, do not give them what they want.”
You can check out Van Ness’ full interview with Metro by clicking this link here.
