I go to the gym at least 6 times per week.
— Laurel Van Ness
I was always very interested in fitness, I played a lot of sports growing up.
I have never been a massive fan of intergender wrestling.
I can compete anywhere. I can compete on 'Raw,' on 'SmackDown,' on 'Main Event.' I can compete on 205 Live if they want me to.
It's like any normal job. There are people you butt heads with. The main thing is that while you might have difference of opinion, when you get into the ring you take care of each other and you don't try to hurt the other person.
I found that when I went to the ring as a bad guy, people hated that I took care of myself. That I went to the gym, that I had hair extensions, that I put makeup on. They hated that I was a girly-girl. I thought, OK, I'm going to crank that up to 110 percent and make people really annoyed.
On 'Tough Enough' you're in a house with your competitors, living, eating and breathing with them. That's really tough.
I worked on trying to get to Mexico, which was the first thing that I really wanted to do, but a couple of my girlfriends thought that I should learn how to wrestle before I go to Mexico, so I should try out in Japan. That is how I kind of got over there in Japan.
I swear to you, any question you can have about moves, psychology, gimmicks, the history of Pro Wrestling, he knows. Lance Storm is an encyclopedia of wrestling knowledge.
It's very hard when you start working as a wrestler to try and stop doing things that are second nature. For me, when I take a move and start selling, that is second nature for me.
I love wrestling, but now wrestling is a job, it's my livelihood. Sometimes the job takes over and you forget to have fun and you forget to be creative and try new things.
I don't know if anyone can say, 'oh, I know I'm going to get signed.' You don't know what they're looking for. You might have excelled in-ring but you might not have excelled at promos. It's about giving it 110 percent, and then having NXT want you in their family.
I always love to share my workout routines on my social media.
I knew I wanted to be a wrestler, so I became the best wrestler in wrestling history.
The people that have made a name for themselves and really just can wrestle have worked their butts off to get to that place. They definitely deserve a lot of respect.
The one consistent character in all of this is Chelsea Green, and that's how people know me, even as all else changes. I can go out and be the hot mess, or go hard in matches or be silly, and that's still all me.
Nothing fazes me anymore.
I was on the computer one night, 'Raw' came on and I saw a women's match. I thought, huh, I could do that. Next thing you know, I was knee-deep in wrestling.
I might be able to high fly when I'm wrestling Pentagon, at the end of the day, Pentagon won that match. At the end of the day, I took 10 package piledrivers, so I don't really want to do that again.
And I actually had to beg for my last tryout at NXT. Yeah, I actually had to send multiple emails to say, 'I want another tryout and there's no reason you will not hire me after this tryout.' And that was the tryout that they hired me from.
I want to continue to wrestle nonstop whether I have the title or not, and I'm not afraid of whoever it is that wants to step up.
I'd say I'm friends with 90 percent of the girls I meet.
I used to live in Devon when I was 8 years old. My mum, my grandma, and grandpa are all British.
I knew nothing about wrestling! Sometimes that's a great thing, and sometimes that really annoys people in this industry but that's the truth. I had no clue how to wrestle. I had to learn everything, absolutely everything. To start from the bottom.
Lance Storm taught me everything that I know.
There's no offseason in this business. I'm just going to make sure I train my butt off in and out of the ring.
I'm going to give it my all, but I'm also going to know my worth, know that I have options, and that's the best feeling in the world.
In wrestling, I don't consider it acting because it's improv.
I love the U.K., and I think a lot of people don't realise that I actually went to primary school in England.
As Laurel Van Ness it's so much fun, and with that comes a creative outlet. You can be who you wanna be and be that particular character. I'm so thankful that Impact allows me to do that.
I don't have any influences, I influence people. People watch me.
I've seen some amazing independent wrestling shows. I've seen high quality matches, I've seen high level talent.
That's always the bucket list for me: Different countries, different experiences, different food. To be able to do that through work? I'm the luckiest person alive.
I love experiencing new cultures and new foods.
I lived in Calgary, and a lot of old WWE, WWF and WCW guys went through Calgary - whether to train or to work on the independent scene. When I lived there, I became immersed in all of this wrestling talk and it sparked my curiosity.
I could never see myself getting in a ring and wrestling Zack Ryder.
At the end of the day, if you're passionate about something, be passionate about it. And be totally and ridiculously passionate about it.
Every single year, I go through once the new year hits, I go through this moment where I kind of think about how far I've come and what's changed.
As you progress in your career, your character progresses and evolves.
The name Laurel is such a strange choice because I think when you look at me there's not one person that says 'Oh yeah, I could see you as a Laurel.'
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.
I had never seen a Pro Wrestling ring until I was maybe around grade 11.
I don't think you can understand everything that goes into being a superstar because even I don't understand everything. I think we're all learning as we go.
I am glad the world opened their eyes to female Japanese stars. I think people for so long paid attention to Mexico, Canada, Australia and England and never Japan.
I was lucky to find a way to get a visa as an independent worker, which is hard to do. On top of that, I do live in the States, which means I'm not 'taking my skills back to Canada.'
Everything in Asia is a culture shock, it's very different from North America, but it's great to be forced into a situation to meet new people and learn new techniques.
I'm the best. I should win everything.
I think - for female or male, it is very challenging on the independent scene.
I think as females, we always want to have more air time, more room time, more - longer matches and more main events. But, at the end of the day, we're going in that direction, and I'm happy with that, and I'm happy with the side everyone has taken in women's wrestling.
When I first started out wrestling in front of 100 people, I thought, 'Chelsea, you're better than this. You should be working in front of thousands!' But I was crazy.
