In a moment straight out of the “oops-but-make-it-WWE” playbook, Chelsea Green, the reigning Women’s United States Champion and fashion-forward chaos agent, got herself legitimately counted out on SmackDown in a match against Zelina Vega — and no, this wasn’t the plan.
According to a new report from PW Insider, the quick count-out wasn’t written into the script. Instead, referee Ryan Tran made the call on the fly, because when the cameras are rolling and someone forgets where they are in the script, the ref becomes the director.
Let’s break down what happened like it’s a courtroom drama:
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Green got kicked out of the ring by Vega.
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Instead of immediately returning, she did what Chelsea Green does best: complained to the announcers with Emmy-worthy conviction.
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While she was ranting about her missing Secret Service detail, referee Ryan Tran was doing his job and counting.
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Green may have thought the count paused when she tossed Vega back in the ring. Spoiler: it didn’t.
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Tran hit 10, and that was that — Zelina Vega wins by count-out, and somewhere backstage, a producer threw their headset.
Apparently, the match was supposed to continue and Vega was supposed to win — just not that quickly or that way. But with WWE on live TV, there’s no instant replay, no do-over, and definitely no “can we run that back?” So Tran did what any good referee would do: committed to the bit and called it in real time.
To her credit, Green played it off with signature post-match confusion, standing in the ring like someone just spoiled The Bachelor finale for her live on air.
WWE brass isn’t sweating it, though. No heat backstage, no injuries reported, and everyone involved is moving on like it’s just another day at the suplex office. In fact, Green’s already booked for next week’s SmackDown, where she’ll team with her Secret Service squad (Piper Niven & Alba Fyre) to take on Zelina Vega, Kayden Carter, and Katana Chance in a tag match.
Hopefully with a little more in-ear communication this time.