Michael Hayes Defends His Comments About Chelsea Green on WWE: Unreal Season 2

WWE Senior Producer Michael Hayes opened up about his recent comments on Chelsea Green during an appearance on The Undertaker’s Six Feet Under Podcast. On WWE: Unreal Season Two, Hayes commented on Chelsea Green’s role in the company. He said that the inaugural Women’s United States Champion’s job is to build the likes of Tiffany Stratton into a top star and not be one herself.

The comments caught fire on social media, with Chelsea also expressing her disappointment with the ceiling placed on her during media interactions. The Undertaker brought up Hayes’ comments during the podcast, and the latter clarified by claiming that at the beginning of the interview, he had called Green a talented and entertaining talent, but those remarks were edited out.

However, the veteran producer then doubled down on his claims that Chelsea’s job is to elevate other wrestlers. He said that while Green enjoys a massive fan following, she has still not reached a stage where the company should get behind her, as it did with Daniel Bryan and Kofi Kingston.

Hayes claimed that if WWE creative starts pushing the Canadian, there will be pushback from fans. However, he agreed with The Undertaker’s view that Chelsea is massively underutilized and that she has the IT factor to be a “top, top player.” Here’s what Michael Hayes said about his comments on Chelsea Green:

On how Netflix Edited His Full Quote About Chelsea Green:

“I’ve talked to Netflix about this because when we did that interview, and I recalled this specifically, when we started that interview, the first thing I said was, ‘Chelsea is as good or as talented and entertaining as anyone we have.’ Of course, that never saw the light of day. That was the cutting room floor because if you’re going to make me a heel, the best way to do it is to say she’s not good enough. That’s not really what I was saying. I don’t regret what I said because her role, at the time I said that, and even right now, is not the top role. It is to help make other people. As we all know, we’re only as good as the people who help make us.”

On Why He Thinks Now Is Not the Time To Give Chelsea a Big Push:

“With that said, if Chelsea caught fire because of the following and support she has, we’d go with that in a heartbeat. Look at Daniel Bryan; look at Kofi Kingston. When they both caught fire, we went with it. Whether some people at the top agreed with it or not, they went with it because that’s what the people wanted. We’re not there right now with Chelsea, and quite frankly, I feel, just my opinion, the people that support Chelsea now, if we start pushing her, would fade because she’s getting pushed from the machine. If she’s getting a push from the machine, that doesn’t help.”

On How Chelsea Knows Her Role:

“Intricately, I feel that the fans love it when they know that their support makes a difference and can change a career. Take a look at NXT, especially in the Full Sail days. Those people knew their support had power because it could change or make the start of someone’s career. It’s still that way, to an extent, at the Performance Center. You see, people get behind people that the office isn’t getting behind because they feel they can make a difference and make a change. Chelsea is amazingly talented and amazingly entertaining. She can handle anything, but that’s the role she’s in right now. Not necessarily her fault. To her credit, she knows her role, she does it, and she plays it with a smile.”

On How He Spoke the Truth:

“I spoke what I felt to be the truth. All the truth is not out there; that’s okay. People have hated me since the beginning of time, and if you ask me a question, I’m going to try to tell you the truth. I still fear that if get behind her, it hurts the rebel support.”

Listen to Michael Hayes’ comments [from 1:10:40 onward] below:

Please credit The Undertaker’s Six Feet Under podcast and give an H/T to 411Mania for the transcription if you take quotes from this article.