Zelina Vega was interviewed by Freddie Prinze Jr on the latest “Wrestling With Freddie” podcast. We have some transcribed highlights below. Scroll down to listent o the entire interview.
Zelina Vega on getting into wrestling:
“Amazing Red, he’s my cousin. I started training with him when I was 17. I was supposed to be 18, whatever, but I started training with him at 17 and then it just kind of progressed from there. I met Tommy Dreamer, my gosh, that was 2010, and he got me my first tryout in TNA. I got signed after that and it just kind of continued to roll. What people don’t know is the things that we had to go through, especially, I want to say my generation of wrestling, but like my age group, especially people that I knew around that time. From my grandmother’s house in Queens, I would take the train from there into the city and then hop on the bus all the way to North Carolina for nine hours to train with the Hardys and then make it all the way back. That’s the kind of stuff like sleeping in cars, doing all these things, traveling, doing shows for 20 bucks and maybe a hot dog or something, that’s the stuff that people don’t know. Now you get to go to these beautiful performance centers and get to get the A-plus treatment since jump street, but what they don’t know is that people like me had to suffer for it and loved every minute of it. I loved suffering every minute of it because it brought me into now. I didn’t train to be a manager. That was something that Triple H just said, ‘Hey, I think this is going to work.'”
Zelina Vega will be joining the Street Fighter 6 commentary team:
“Even how that came about is such a crazy journey. Back in the day, I didn’t really have friends necessarily. I kind of just had people I hung around with. My brother was my partner in crime. That was the person I played video games with all the time and I would watch Anime with. He’s my best friend outside of my husband now. He had a big influence on me when it came to fighting games. When he introduced me to Street Fighter, I was like, ‘Oh my god. This is so cool’, and I loved Vega. That’s why my last name is Vega. That’s why I picked it.”
On giving Sasha Banks a receipt during the 2022 Women’s Royal Rumble match:
“There was a point back when Sasha had just come out to save Bianca from Carmella and I. She had hit me with the Meteora and dude, I felt like my orbital bone broke. I was like, oh my God. Of course, she was super apologetic and whatever, but then I was like, girl you got a receipt coming. I was so mad. She’s like, okay, cool, whatever. Royal Rumble happens and I knew I was gonna eliminate her and I was like, this is my moment. I think I kicked the soul out of her. I kicked her so hard. She flew back and she landed on the floor. I see her just shaking her head and I knew she knew that was what I was waiting for. Of course, we were fine afterwards and it was funny, but I remember Rhea going, ‘She was waiting for that one.’ Yep, that’s the one.”
Her thoughts on being put Santos Escobar:
“I wondered if he’s thinking what I was thinking when I first heard it. I was like, ‘He doesn’t need me though because he’s a great wrestler and a great promo, like, why does he need me?’ The way that it was explained to me was, ‘Well, the group is new to the main roster. You’re very well known by the SmackDown audience. By putting him with you, people go, ‘Okay, what’s this about? We already know her to be the heel manager. We know her to be the heel wrestler. If she’s introducing them, then that means that’s what they’re about.’ So I think it was just really to help make the transition for the fans easier to go, ‘Okay, that’s who they are’, which I was like, okay. I think since then it’s evolved so much that it started there, and I didn’t even really do all of that much talking to be honest, but like, it’s evolved so much since now being with Rey, first of all, is a dream come true. What the hell? Eight year old Thea is just like, what is life, but now having Rey on our side and having LWO be a thing again, it’s crazy, especially because Rey’s like, ‘Well, you’re gonna be the first female ever in the LWO.'”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit Wrestling with Freddie with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
