Zelina Vega Recalls How ‘Papa H’ Helped Her In NXT, Looks Back On ‘Magical’ Pairing With Andrade

Zelina Vega now reigns supreme as the queen of WWE, but she’ll never forget the instrumental part “The Father of NXT” Triple H played in her journey to this point.

During an appearance on Out of Character with Ryan Satin, Zelina Vega looked back on the beginning of her time in NXT, when she simply had to wing it and hope for the best, before Triple H realized that he had something special the first night she worked as Andrade‘s manager. She expressed her gratitude for Triple H’s encouragement because it gave her more direction compared to the first chapter of her WWE run.

“This all sort of happened really weird because it was like the movie, Fighting With My Family, we did that, and then right after that is when I started in NXT,” said Vega. “And there was a lot of, ‘Hey, we don’t know what you’re doing yet, but just try this promo with this guy. Talk for this guy.’ It was all for Andrade but talk for this guy. And then just cut a random promo about whatever. And I was just winging it. It was just kind of coming out. I was just like let’s see what happens. What’s the worst that could happen at this point? And then I just felt like I kept winging it but didn’t tell anyone.

“And there was a point, oh my gosh, I think it was our first promo that we did, me and Andrade, and when I got to the back, Hunter came up to us and he’s like, ‘Yeah. This is gonna work. This is gonna be great.’ And I was like oh, thank god. So that was the moment where I was like okay, now I know what he wants. Because he was very, like I needed someone to be transparent and go, ‘This is what I want from you, this is what you’re doing.’ Whatever. And then I can give you that. But figuring it out, it’s a lot of winging it and hoping that it works, and luckily it did.”

When asked about Triple H’s influence on her career, Zelina Vega explained that “Papa H” has always been there for her, both during her time on NXT and on the main roster. She specifically stated that Triple H helped boost her confidence so that she could take the next step and blossom as a performer.

“As a manager, as a person, we call him Papa H because he’s been there for everything, like every part of our career, even on the main roster,” said Vega. “And anytime we had a question, again, professionally, personally, he was always there for us. And I think too he always kind of gave me that confidence that I needed, like that extra little boost that I needed. And he would say things like, ‘We have no one like you, there’s no one like you right now, not even on the main roster.’ Like, ‘You can do this,’ and it just was little things that I needed and it helped, I feel like it helped me like propel to the next level.”

Zelina Vega went on to describe how her remarkable chemistry with Andrade was seemingly so convincing that it made Triple H think the duo was a couple. She recalled how he thought Vega meant she was marrying “El Idolo” when she told him about her looming nuptials.

“And I remember thinking, oh gosh I forget where we were backstage, but even when I told him like, ‘Hey, I’m getting married,” he was like, oh, okay, so you and Andrade are getting…?’ I’m like, ‘No, me and Aleister.’ And he’s like, what? Wait, you guys completely threw me off with that, I thought…I didn’t even think that you guys were together. And I’m like yeah, I was hiding it for a very long time [laughs]. But yeah and he was just so happy, he was like, ‘Oh my babies are getting married, but not the babies, that…you know what I mean, I’m just happy for you guys.’ So he’s really cool. He’s Papa H.”

Speaking of that chemistry, Vega looked back on her “magical” pairing with Andrade and described how they could practically read each other’s minds. In hindsight, Vega noted that this type of dynamic was incredibly rare before she shifted her focus to her mindset as a singles performer who has to prove herself. She described how she tackles the challenge of disproving her doubters, who still think of her as a manager.

“It felt like lightning struck when I met [Andrade], and we just started to almost read each other’s minds,” said Vega. “I know that sounds crazy, but I literally could look at him, and I knew what he was thinking right away. So we could just go into whatever and we didn’t even have to say anything. So that was a really magical thing that I feel like only happens once in a lifetime.

“But now the way I look at things is, it’s not just about someone else, but it’s about me and how do I want people to perceive me, and I always feel like I have something to prove, especially because I started out as a manager, people think that that was all I’ll ever be or that I ever was. So it’s like you’re constantly trying to prove yourself and now, being queen, it’s like you can shove up their butts a little bit more.”

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Zelina Vega will join Team RAW in the traditional 5-on-5 elimination match against Team SmackDown at Survivor Series on November 21. Read more about the latest news heading into the pay-per-view and the latest headlines in women’s wrestling with our Women’s Wrestling Wrap-Up at this link.

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