Pro wrestler Laurel Van Ness
acts unhinged, but she’s a theme-park geek at heart.
“When I first went to Diagon Alley, I knew that was where I belonged.” Impact Wrestling star Laurel Van Ness
As a wrestler, Laurel Van Ness is a psychotic jilted bride who has been known to compete while wearing a torn wedding dress and carrying a wine bottle. But in real life, her alter ego Chelsea Green can’t get enough of the theme parks.
Green — or, more accurately, Van Ness — will visit Universal Orlando this week, but it won’t be for the attractions. Starting tonight and continuing through Monday, Impact Wrestling will record episodes of its weekly Pop TV network show on a soundstage at the theme park. As Impact’s Knockouts champion, Van Ness figures to play a major role. (For information on tickets and special VIP packages, visit impact wrestling.com.)
Green, a native Canadian who has lived in Central Florida for about a year and a half, has superfan-level opinions on area attractions. She has a favorite ride at each Walt Disney World park (Avatar Flight of Passage at Animal Kingdom, Soarin’ at Epcot, the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at Hollywood Studios and Space Mountain at Magic Kingdom) but saved her highest praise for one area of Universal.
“Harry Potter is my favorite movie of all time,” said Green, 26. “When I go [to Universal], I make a quick beeline for that area and I’m like a kid in a candy shop. I always thought Magic Kingdom was supposed to be the happiest place on Earth — where everything smells like waffle cones and cotton candy — but when I first went to Diagon Alley, I knew that was where I belonged.”
Green got her big U.S. break in 2015 when she finished fourth on WWE’s “Tough Enough” reality series, which was filmed in Orlando. She joined Impact in early 2016 and took on the Van Ness name.
Last February, an Impact storyline saw Van Ness get rejected at the altar by male wrestler Braxton Sutter, sending her into a tailspin. For months, she wrestled in her wedding dress in smeared makeup, crying for her lost love. Green said the character of Van Ness took shape about an hour after the ill-fated wedding when she recorded a backstage vignette.
“[The producers] just kept telling me to make it crazier and crazier,” Green recalled. “Everybody thought I was going insane — crying, singing. Almost everything with Laurel since that first promo has come from me, from my ideas. If they don’t like something, they’ll pull me back, but I’m really proud of that character’s development. Who Laurel is isn’t at all who Chelsea is, but it’s really brought me out of my shell as a performer.”
And now, it’s put her at the top of the heap in Impact as its champion. jreddick @orlandosentinel.com or on Twitter @runninjay. For more wrestling news from The Suplex blog, visit orlandosentinel.com/ prowrestling