Real Reason Chelsea Green Was Replaced In WWE Queen Of The Ring Tournament Revealed

Chelsea Green was originally scheduled to compete in an opening round Fatal 4-Way Match in the Queen of the Ring Tournament, but ended up being replaced the day of the match by Alba Fyre.
The former Women's United States Champion did not travel to the June 13 edition of Friday Night SmackDown in Lexington, Kentucky. An angle was filmed that saw Green sitting pool side via video chat, where she informed GM Nick Aldis that she ran into travel issues.
Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select is now reporting that there was a completely different reason for why Chelsea had to miss the show, and subsequently, the Queen of the Ring Tournament.
"Green actually didn’t travel to the show, as she had been dealing with a sinus infection that caused her to experience hearing loss and be sent to the emergency room," Ross Sapp said in his report Thursday. "Green was able to heal up quickly, and appeared on the next week’s edition of Smackdown. Producers we spoke to complimented the quick turnaround."
Chelsea's sinus infection was said to be unrelated to the broken nose she suffered weeks before at Saturday Night's Main Event. Alexa Bliss would emerge victorious in the Fatal 4-Way that Green was supposed to compete in on SmackDown, but ended up losing to Asuka in the Semi-Final round of the Queen of the Ring.
The Empress of Tomorrow will face Jade Cargill Saturday at Night of Champions with the crown, and a Women's Championship opportunity at SummerSlam, on the line.
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Rick Ucchino is the Assistant Editor & Content Coordinator for The Takedown on SI. He also works full-time for 700WLW Radio in Cincinnati, Ohio as a local news and sports anchor, in addition to his time covering the Cincinnati Bengals for Sirius XM. Rick has been on the professional wrestling beat since 2019, having provided coverage for a number of outlets, including Fightful, SB Nation’s Cageside Seats and the Bleav Podcast Network. With an educational background in theater, creative writing and journalism, Rick focuses primarily on the storytelling aspect of pro wrestling, but he’s no stranger to the squared circle himself. He had the privilege of training with former WWE & WCW cruiserweight Jimmy Wang Yang for nearly two years and retired early due to back issues with a perfect 1-0 record in singles competition. Rick is a married father of two incredibly adorable children, who are budding pro wrestling fans themselves. Much to the chagrin of their mother. You can reach Rick at rwucchino@gmail.com