Chelsea Green turned one of the biggest controversies surrounding her into a standout moment right after WWE SummerSlam. After capturing the Interim WWE Women’s Championship, Green dedicated the win to Michael Hayes, who had drawn heat for his critical remarks about her on WWE Unreal.
During the second season of the Netflix series, Hayes argued that Green shouldn’t be slotted into positions held by the likes of Charlotte Flair or Tiffany Stratton, saying her role was to help elevate talent at that level.
Speaking on The Nikki & Brie Show, however, Green revealed she wasn’t initially bothered by the comments at all. That changed once the texts started pouring in.
“I watched it and didn’t think anything of it. When I started getting flooded with texts, I changed my mind. ‘Oh yeah, that was kind of mean and rude. They’re putting you in this box when you’ve constantly fought to get out.’
When I went on the [SummerSlam] post-show, I was like, ‘I have to do this.’ Even though I don’t feel any type of way about it, I have to dedicate this win to him because I’m a petty queen and the fans need to see that. That’s what they wanted to hear, whether I cared about it or not. They needed the moment of me saying it. And Michael Hayes is such a good sport.”
The controversy carried even more weight given what actually played out at SummerSlam. Green won the title in a Five-Woman Ladder Match over Charlotte Flair, Tiffany Stratton, Jade Cargill, and Lash Legend — beating two of the very names Hayes had used in his comparison on WWE Unreal.
Green had already made clear after the event that she holds no ill will toward Hayes and believes the editing on WWE Unreal made his comments come across worse than they actually were. Hayes, for his part, was a good sport about the whole thing and laughed when he found out about the dedication.