Zelina Vega opens up about her disappointing finish at Backlash in Puerto Rico

A year ago, Zelina Vega was on top of the world.

After bouncing around the WWE Universe from managing to tag teaming, to working as a singles star, and even joining a legendary faction in the LWO – not to mention an eight-month period from 2020-2021 where she was a free agent – Vega was in a main event match for the SmackDown Women’ Championship in Puerto Rico, with a chance to finally secure a singles belt and legitimize over a decade of hard work.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be, as Rhea Ripley smashed Vega in front of her countrymen and turned what could have been the ultimate babyface-making moment into yet another win on the “Erradicator’s” illustrious resume.

Discussing the match in a special appearance on The Bump, Vega revealed that she felt the match was a missed opportunity, as it could have turned her into an absolute star.

“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,” Zelina Vega said on The Bump via Fightful.

“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.”

Now, to be fair, everyone who loses a huge match will feel like it’s a missed opportunity, as Drew McIntyre still talks about losing to Roman Reigns in Scotland last fall, and LA Knight still has a chip on his shoulder for missing WrestleMania 39 in his adoptive hometown of Los Angeles. Still, it’s worth wondering what could have happened if Vega came out on top, as it quite literally could have changed everything for both the performer and the LWO as a whole.