WWE Star Hits Out At Booking And “Missed Opportunity”
A WWE star has vented their frustration.
At Backlash in 2023, Zelina Vega challenged Rhea Ripley for the SmackDown Women’s Title. The Puerto Rican crowd treated Vega like a returning hero, giving her a monster reaction as she made her entrance.
Vega — who is of Puerto Rican descent, was visibly emotional as she made her way to the ring for what was the biggest match of her career.
However, when all was said and done, it was Ripley who had her hand raised continuing her dominant run.
Appearing on WWE’s The Bump, Vega said the match at Backlash should have been “the rocket,” suggesting the company “dropped the ball.”
“It feels like a missed opportunity. It feels like that should have been that should have been the rocket. That should have been the moment that I continued and went on to continue to fight Rhea.
Of course, we got split. I think that’s what messed us up, the brand split. We had to do the draft, and they went to Raw, and we went to SmackDown. That’s when everything kind of changed. Because I was to tunnel-vision, everything was so there, and then it slipped out of my hands. It just feels like constantly, we’re dropping the ball with Zelina. Constantly, it’s a thing where I’m fighting to try and get something, to get a sliver of something.
I’m salivating over the title all the time, and yet I’m always put in this position where it’s so close, but yet so far. That was another thing. Once the draft happened, so close, but yet so far. So I had obviously a great match with IYO [SKY], but again, so close, yet so far. I’m tired of it.
I am tired of constantly trying to fight and claw and scratch my way to something. It just feels like that should have been it. That was my ‘Yes’ moment. That was the moment that the fans supported me no matter what, no matter who said she wasn’t ready, she’s not this, she’s not that. They literally said, ‘Screw you, yes, she is.’
That should have been it. That should have been the moment. But it wasn’t, and it keeps bringing me now to these opportunities that almost was,”
Zelina Vega Reflects On Wild WWE Money In The Bank Spot
Continuing on, Vega turned her attention to Money In The Bank, recalling putting her body on the line during the match and coming up with nothing.
“I put my body on the line at Money in the Bank, and once that sunset flip powerbomb happened, I knew it was all or nothing. But it became nothing at that point. You put your body on the line, and as soon as it was, I just remember hearing the winning bell, and I don’t have it. So it’s one of the those things where you have to try and see what your next move is. Right now, I’m still trying to figure out what that is, but I do know, regardless, I’m the future. Zelina Vega is the future. The future is boriqua. I am taking that crowd in Puerto Rico, I am taking them with me. They have no idea what they did for me that night. That changed everything in me, and it should have changed a lot of things in other people, but it didn’t. But I’m gonna force it to be. That’s the future,”
Zelina Vega is due to take on Shayna Baszler in the first round of the Queen of the Ring tournament. Although the match was advertised for Raw, WWE has confirmed it will take place at an upcoming live event.
The finals of the tournament will take place at King & Queen of the Ring in Saudi Arabia. Vega won the Queens Crown tournament in the kingdom back in 2021.
H/t to Fightful