LOS ANGELES – When you see Zelina Vega this weekend at WrestleMania 39, it’s likely going to be during the Rey Mysterio vs. Dominik Mysterio match, where Legado Del Fantasma has pledged to keep The Judgment day from interfering. But Vega will also be keeping a keen eye on another match featuring a member of the latter group for a very personal reason.
During WWE’s first media day of WrestleMania week, Vega told Wrestling Junkie that the SmackDown Women’s Championship match, which like the battle of the Mysterios, will take place on Saturday, April 1, is the one that’s got her attention.
“So the reason I have this one in my mind the most is I want to know what comes afterwards, and it’s Rhea Ripley vs. Charlotte [Flair],” Vega said. “Only because of the history that’s happened between me and Rhea.”
The history that Vega is referring too is primarily from her time as Queen Zelina, when she and Carmella won the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship. They did so by defeating Rhea Ripley and then-partner Nikki A.S.H. for the titles on a November 2021 episode of Raw, then held them off in a rematch on Raw two months later.
Even after Ripley changed partners to Liv Morgan, Vega and Carmella were able to keep them at bay, eventually losing their championship to Sasha Banks and Naomi in a Fatal 4-Way match at WrestleMania 38. It may surprise some to recall that in the midst of that rivalry, Vega held her own against Ripley in singles action as well, going 1-1 with her in two matches on Raw.
That was before Ripley joined The Judgment Day and turned herself into an even more formidable force. Yet Vega still has her sights set on her should she leave Los Angeles with the title, because the next WWE premium live event is somewhere especially meaningful to her: WWE Backlash in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
“If she does come out of this as champion, she knows that I’m gunning for her next,” said Vega, who is of Puerto Rican descent. “She knows that Puerto Rico is next, and if she and I get the chance, I’m not leaving there without the title. I’m not leaving there without any kind of sense of accomplishment and that I did this.
“This is what I’ve wanted since I started this, you know? But I do understand that tackling such a mountain as Rhea Ripley is no easy task. … But I kind of do hope Rhea wins this one, because if she does, then I know what’s ahead of me.”
So count Vega in as someone who will be pulling for Ripley to make good on her quest to dethrone Charlotte Flair, if only so she can be first in line to try to knock Ripley off herself.