Published: Aug 10, 2026 by Connel Rumsey | Last Updated: Aug 10, 2026 by Connel Rumsey
Connel has over five years of wrestling journalism experience writing about some of the biggest stories from across the wrestling world. Being a fan for 20 years, Connel has an expansive knowledge from a wide range of various wrestling promotions, including WWE, AEW, NJPW, TNA and Joshi.@connel1405
WWE
Interim WWE Women’s Champion Chelsea Green has opened up on dedicating her SummerSlam victory to Michael Hayes.
When WWE Unreal Season Two premiered earlier this year, one of the main talking points coming out of the season was a comment Michael Hayes had made about Chelsea Green.
Hayes noted that Chelsea’s role was for her to ‘elevate’ the bigger stars in the company, and that she herself isn’t going to be featured at the top of the card.
However, Chelsea would become Interim WWE Women’s Champion at SummerSlam 2026 last weekend, winning the title in a five-way Ladder match.
Chelsea Green Had Come To Terms With Never Being World Champion
Speaking to Nikki Bella on the Nikki & Brie Show, Chelsea noted that prior to SummerSlam, she had come to terms that she would likely never become world champion in WWE, and that was better than she would have ever imagined.
She said:
“So many people were like ‘it felt like you were doing this for me too, for everyone that hasn’t been seen. Everyone who tried to get that promotion and hasn’t.
“I was just telling the production team that it was even better than I had dreamt of. When I dreamt of it, it was so farfetched, it was ‘I hope this happens, I wish it would happen, but it probably won’t’, and I had come to terms with that too. I’ve come to terms with the fact I done enough to make myself and my future family proud.
“Then when it happened, it was so much better. Every face in the crowd was smiling, everyone was cheering, everyone was screaming, I heard my mom from across the ring like ‘get up Chels!’ I heard it all.”
If you use this transcription or any portion of it, please credit WrestleTalk.com and link back to this page.
Chelsea Green Says She Knew Fans Wanted Her To Respond To Michael Hayes
Addressing Michael Hayes’ comments during the interview, Chelsea noted that she wasn’t bothered by Hayes’ comments, but she knew that her fans wanted her to respond to him.
She said:
“Michael Hayes is never gonna live this down. Until the end of time it’s going to be me in the history book with a little picture of him beside it. My number one opp.
“I was so emotional that entire day, and I had seen Michael Hayes and he had given me words of encouragement.
“I watched (Unreal) and didn’t think anything of it, then when I started getting flooded with texts, I changed my mind like ‘oh yeah that is kinda mean, that is kinda rude’. It was so engrained in me. They’re putting you in this box when you’ve constantly fought to get out.
“So when I went on the post-show, I was like I have to do this, even though I don’t feel any way about it, I have to dedicate this win to him, because I’m the petty queen that I am, and the fans need to see that, they did this for me.
“That’s what they wanted to hear, whether I cared about it or not, they needed the moment of me saying (f**k you), and Michael Hayes is such a good sport.”
If you use this transcription or any portion of it, please credit WrestleTalk.com and link back to this page.
Chelsea Green was injured on last week’s WWE SmackDown show.
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