Originally published to 8 News Now on March 10, 2025.

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Chelsea Green, WWE’s first-ever Women’s United States Champion, is headed to Las Vegas to kick off the Pennzoil 400 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway before coming back a month later for the granddaddy of them all, WrestleMania 41, at Allegiant Stadium.

According to a Monday news release, Green will kick off the 400-mile race in the Toyota Supra pace car, making history as the honorary pace car driver. Green is no stranger to making history. Her long past in professional wrestling has led to Las Vegas and WrestleMania 41 at Allegiant Stadium, where she could become the first woman to defend that title on the grandest stage of them all.

“To potentially be the first woman to ever defend the United States Championship at a WrestleMania — on the grandest stage of them all. It’s just surreal, and the fact that WrestleMania is in Las Vegas is so fun to me. I have so many ties to Las Vegas.”

It turns out those ties are more than professional. Green and her husband, professional wrestler Matt Cardona, were married at Tropicana Las Vegas. That resort was demolished on Oct. 9, 2024, to make way for a Major League Baseball park, the potential home for the future Las Vegas A’s.

“R.I.P. The Tropicana is gone,” Green said. “I’ll have to go to the MLB games and watch the team there, and we’ll celebrate our anniversary watching baseball.”

While the “Trop” may be a relic of the past, Green’s career is very much of the now. A veteran of the professional wrestling industry, Green has a distinguished body of work in promotions like Lucha Underground and Stardom. Recently, the WWE Universe has received a taste of what Green can truly do in the ring, and it’s blowing the minds of wrestling fans worldwide.

“This is just been the story of my career, and I’m so proud of it,” she said, adding that even fellow WWE superstars are still discovering her legendary matches with Penta and Kairi Sane. “I sat down with Big E and Tyler Breeze, and we were speaking about it, and Big E was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I just had no idea that you’ve done this much in your career.’”

As the clock ticks down to WrestleMania and the WWE Universe flocks to Las Vegas, Green said she’s excited for WWE World, a fan experience set for WrestleMania week at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The so-called “hot mess” made it clear that the chance to connect with fans is one of her favorite parts of being a WWE Superstar.

“When you come to meet us, we’re so thankful because you’re the reason that we’re here,” Green said. “Your cheering, your booing, your participation in the audience directly correlates with our success, and we know that.”

The superstar encouraged fans to come and meet her during the fan experience, saying that the event will feature meet and greets and signings and will be “kind of historic.”

A historic event to cap off a historic year for the “Lunatic Lush,” whose iconic ring announcement, created by former WWE ring announcer Samantha Irvin, has defined her meteoric rise in the company.

“I love it. It never gets old,” Green said. “It gives me a feeling, and I love it. That’s the whole point of wrestling, right? Like the point is to feel something, feel anything, whether it’s good or bad, just feel something.”

Las Vegas is ready to feel … a lot … as WrestleMania week invades the sports and entertainment capital of the world in April. The WWE World fan event, Smackdown, NXT Stand and Deliver, Raw, and of course the granddaddy of them all, WrestleMania 41 nights one and two will keep pro wrestling fans glued to The Strip. Tickets are available now.

The Pennzoil 400 speeds through the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday. Weekend and single-day tickets are still available at the speedway’s website.