Chelsea Green shared new details regarding the orbital bone fracture she suffered on the August 7 episode of WWE SmackDown, noting she knew right away that something was broken.
Speaking with Chris Van Vliet on Insight, the current WWE Women’s Champion called it the most painful injury of her career.
“Immediately, it happened. I looked at the ref, and people have spotted this. I looked at the ref. I said, ‘My face is broken,’ and that was it. I knew. I always know. Wrestlers are very in tune with our body. Athletes are very in tune. You know immediately when something’s wrong, even if it’s like a minor little thing. But I’ve had quite a few things broken. I did think it was my cheek.
“I didn’t think it was my orbital bone. I thought I had cracked my cheek because I’ve had that before with a broken nose. But I heard kind of a crack, and then I heard a crack, and then I felt a whoosh of heat. Whenever you break something, it’s just your adrenaline takes over, especially in front of a live audience. I should say, when you have 10 to 20,000 people watching you, usually you don’t feel the pain; you feel a big rush of heat. But this was my most painful injury to date, and that should tell you something.”
The injury took place at the Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia during a WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship match, where Green and Tiffany Stratton challenged Fatal Influence for the titles.
The fracture came just five days after Green captured the Interim WWE Women’s Championship at SummerSlam, defeating Stratton, Charlotte Flair, Jade Cargill, and Lash Legend in a ladder match to secure her first world title in WWE.
On the following episode of SmackDown, General Manager Nick Aldis initially asked Green to vacate the championship due to the injury. Aldis reversed course, however, granting her a 30-day window to receive medical clearance and defend the title.
Green returned to the ring on August 28 wearing a protective face mask, teaming with Stratton in a loss to Nia Jax and Legend.
Green also told Van Vliet that she sought medical attention while still in Philadelphia and later consulted a surgeon in Orlando to establish a safe timeline for her return.