Jonathan Coachman ripped WWE for failing to protect Chelsea Green on the first SmackDown after she won the interim WWE Women’s Championship, pointing to the new champion getting pinned just minutes after celebrating her first world title.
In a video posted to X, the former WWE commentator started by calling out Michael Hayes, whom he refers to as “Machete,” before revisiting the decision to create an interim title during Rhea Ripley’s absence.
“Stop being petty, Machete. Oh, by the way, I was right. They should have not made her the interim champion because, just like I said, we don’t know how long Rhea Ripley will be out. Here comes the surgery, the rest of the year, and now you could have done it a week ago.”
Coachman also took issue with how Green was booked on SmackDown.
“The one thing that we’re always taught is when you crown a new champion, you do everything in your power to make them stronger, to make them bigger.”
The criticism stemmed from an impromptu WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship match. Fatal Influence interrupted Green and Tiffany Stratton’s celebration, and Stratton agreed to give Jacy Jayne a Women’s United States Championship match next week as long as Fallon Henley and Lainey Reid put their tag titles on the line right then and there.
In the closing moments, Henley and Reid hit Green with the Fatal Flaw to retain. Nia Jax and Lash Legend jumped Green and Stratton immediately after, with Jax standing tall over the new champion to close the segment.
“I don’t know if I have ever seen a talent take more lemons and turn them into lemonade than Chelsea Green. Every time they try to hold her back… then we’re gonna take the pin against Fatal Influence… but you also have to protect your champion. The creative team right now needs to get in the room and say, ‘Listen, why are we pissed at Chelsea Green?’ Instead of, maybe we should learn from Chelsea Green.”
The Coach @Thecoachrules Follow Some age old theories still hold true to this day. And for @ImChelseaGreen she deserves to be treated the same as any other newly crowned champion.
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5:23 PM · Aug 8, 2026 Read more on XDave Meltzer reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the internal hope is for Ripley to be back in time for the 2027 Royal Rumble, which could mean Green holds the interim title for the next several months.