Former Impact Knockouts Champion At Today’s WWE Performance Center Tryout (Photo)

Chelsea Green, who is best known for her work with Impact Wrestling under the ring name Laurel Van Ness, where she is a former Impact Knockouts Champion, is among several athletes participating in this week’s three-day tryout at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.

WWE Recruit, the official Instagram account of WWE talent development, is posting photos and videos from the tryout. In this photo below of the participants cutting promos, you can Green in her ring gear (swipe right to see the shot).

Canadian native Green, who made her wrestling debut on May 31, 2014, and was trained by former WWE Superstar Lance Storm, has appeared for WWE in the past. During the feud between Brie Bella and Stephanie McMahon, she appeared on the August 11, 2014, episode of Raw as Megan Miller portraying Daniel Bryan’s physical therapist, where she confessed having an affair with him before an infuriated Brie stormed into the ring, slapped her and attacked McMahon.

In the summer of 2015, Chelsea reappeared under her real name, as a contestant on the sixth season of the re-launched Tough Enough finishing in fourth place for the females.

During an interview last month with the Women’s Pro Wrestling Weekly podcast, Green revealed her reaction to be booted off Tough Enough.

She said, “What happened was, I did Tough Enough, and when I got kicked off and didn’t get a contract, I thought – and this was naive of me, but I assumed that they would see how much that I loved this and how quickly I learned, and that no matter what even when I left I would be receiving a contract.

“So when I left Tough Enough and sat on my couch for about a month or two as I waited and waited and never received a call, I kind of had to think outside the box and had to think, ‘okay, now what?’ I am now stuck in Canada. I am not legally allowed to work in the United States. I really don’t know what I am doing, and for the amount of time that I spent being on Tough Enough, I really wasn’t wrestling. I had to come up with something different.

“I asked myself where are people going to generate a buzz to make a name for themselves? The two places I thought of were Mexico or Japan. 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 still didn’t really know what I was doing, but with the language barrier over in Japan, they don’t know that you don’t know what you are doing, so every crazy move that I wanted to try, they were like, okay, let’s try it. That is how my confidence and movesets grew by trying things that I wouldn’t have tried had I been here in the United States.”

It did not take long for Green to make a name for herself outside of WWE as she began appearing for Impact Wrestling in January 2016. She signed a contract in June 2016 and then in March of last year, started a maniacal gimmick, competing in a trashed wedding dress, wrestling barefoot and carrying a wine bottle.

On the December 14, 2017, episode of Impact, Van Ness defeated Rosemary in the finals to become the new Knockouts Champion. Reportedly, after winning the title, Green asked for her release from Impact Wrestling, but the company turned down to release her with the title. On January 15, 2018, Green was officially released from her Impact Wrestling contract after she finished out the January 2018 tapings, where she lost the Knockouts Championship to Allie.

Since then, Green has been keeping herself busy on the independent scene as she wrestles almost every weekend. She seems to be a top candidate to appear in this year’s Mae Young Classic but said she had not been contacted (as of May).

“I have not been contacted yet,” Green said when asked.

“I don’t know if you know who Britt Baker and Santana Garrett are. We stay in contact and there are no secrets with us girls. We tell each other exactly what is happening. What conversations we have had with WWE, but none of us have heard anything. I know that a lot of girls, a lot of buzz about it, where they have heard from people in the Performance Center, but I have not heard anything about it. I am keeping myself really busy at the moment, and it is really full. That way, if they don’t call, I am not worried about it, and if they do call I would be totally excited, but either way, I’m happy because I am busy.”