Zelina Vega is embarking on a new chapter of her WWE career as a babyface alongside Rey Mysterio and the LWO.
WWE SmackDown Superstar Zelina Vega was a recent guest on Out of Character with Ryan Satin to discuss a wide variety of subjects. When asked about being paired with Legado del Fantasma (now known as the LWO), Vega said it came as a surprise to her because everything really came together the day before it happened.
“I mean, I was surprised, if I’m being honest. Like it was a surprise for me because it wasn’t exactly the plan, it only became the plan literally the day before,” Zelina Vega revealed. “But for me, I was like, okay, this is like a whole new challenge. This is because, again, I had just been with Andrade forever. That’s what people had known me for. And then, obviously, there was that time with [Angel] Garza, and then people forget about the fact that I had [Austin] Theory on our team as well.
“But it was just completely different because now it’s not just pushing for one person. It’s pushing for a team. And again, I like to say this because people will get a little confused. I’m not just a manager or just a wrestler. I’m probably the only one who wears every single hat that there is to wear in WWE. So I’m not a manager managing wrestlers. We’re a group of wrestlers that are all pushing to be the best. So, of course, for me, I’d love to see all of us draped in gold because that’s the vision. That’s the goal right there.
“I think what they needed really was just somebody who kind of knows the landscape to come up and introduce them to the SmackDown audience because I was really the only one that was known as far as that goes. There’s such a big difference between NXT crowds and the main roster crowds. So with that, it was just like, hey, WWE Universe, look at this amazing team that I have, and just wait til you see what they can do.
“And I think that was the exciting part for me is like, where do I fit in this, and how do we make it different and just do something exciting and new? Because one of the things that I’m really big on is just freshening it up every time because most people go, ‘Oh, yeah, you’ve done that before.’
“But never this way. And especially not as a babyface. I’ve never been a babyface on TV ever, like in my whole 14 years of doing this, like ever. So it’s very, very cool, very different, and to add parts of Rey Mysterio into the match that I had with Rhea [Ripley] and Dom [Mysterio], that was really fun for me.”
Prior to being called up to the WWE main roster, Legado del Fantasma was paired with Elektra Lopez, but she remains in NXT, and Vega has taken her place. Vega teased there might be some crossover there at some point in the future.
“It’s cool because they’ve actually never had someone like me, and they’re getting used to me and my craziness, but that’s okay. Because they had been with Elektra previously,” Zelina Vega said. “I have no idea how or why or what happened there.
“But it’s fresh for everybody because now she’s doing her thing in NXT with her group and how she’s running that. And then we have ours here. So who knows, there might be a crossover there at some point. I mean, she might be super pissed at me and wanna come and hit me, and then there’s something there. But I don’t know, and I think that’s the cool thing is that you don’t know. I don’t even know.”
When asked about being a babyface for the first time in her pro wrestling career, Vega said she believes not caring if the WWE Universe cheers for her or not, in a way, endears her to them.
“I’ve always said that I’m never the cheer for me kind of person,” Zelina Vega admitted. “That’s why I always tell Liv [Morgan] you got it. Like you got it down pact. I don’t know what you do — you genuinely care, right? I don’t, but I think that’s also what makes me kind of sort of likable sometimes is that other people don’t like other people.
“So you can kind of be like, you know what, I feel that, and I feel that you got seven cats. I rock with that. You know what I mean? So or it’s like oh, she’s she loves anime. I do too. I may not be stoked on her, but her anime references are dope, so it’s like you find reasons to like me. Plus, you can’t hate me when I’m on Rey Mysterio’s side, and I know that we’ve had our differences or whatever. But we’re good now. He forgives very easily.”
As a babyface, Vega now finds herself aligned with WWE Hall of Famer Rey Mysterio, who is one of her inspirations to become a wrestler in the first place.
“Oh my god. I feel like me and Rey have the most complicated relationship in the history of ever,” Zelina Vega said. But yes, since watching him as a kid, I mean, Halloween Havoc 97, him and Eddie [Guerrero], like that was the match that made me go, I want to do this, and it’s crazy to go from that point to meeting him as a chubby little fan girl at 15. And then now to be working with him alongside him at WrestleMania, I mean, I feel like there’s no better storybook than that.”
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What do you make of Zelina Vega’s comments? Have you enjoyed her run as a babyface so far? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.
If you use any of the quotes above, please credit Out of Character with a link back to this article for the transcription.
