Zelina Vega discusses being an in-game commentator in the Street Fighter 6 video game.
During WWE Royal Rumble 2023, WWE announced that Vega had been added to Street Fighter 6 as an in-game commentator. At the premium live event, Vega cosplayed as Juri from the popular franchise and competed in the Women's Royal Rumble match.
Speaking on Out of Character with Ryan Satin, Vega described how the opportunity came together and stated that it started when the company saw her doing some commentary for one of Andrade's matches.
“They said I’m like the Michael Cole of the game. So basically, when the game starts, you get to pick, there’s the real-time commentators, which is one of me. There’s two people you can choose from, and there’s the other commentators, who are more on the technical stuff. They’ll tell you this specific move at this time with this amount of power. They know all the stats. Me, I’m just more of the screamer and the reactions. But what’s funny is they saw me doing commentary for one of Andrade’s matches, and that’s what made them go, ‘We want that.’ Actually, rewinding past that, they see me cosplay Vega, and they’re like, ‘Oh, she’s a fan.’ Then it was like Vega cosplay to then seeing me on commentary for Andrade’s matches, and then they were like, ‘Okay, we want her,'" Vega said.
Satin stated that being part of the game must be dream come true, and Vega agreed, as she stated that her younger self is still screaming out of excitement. Zelina pointed out that her ring name comes from the Vega character from Street Fighter, and she looked back on getting in trouble for cosplaying as Vega at WWE Royal Rumble 2019.
“100% it is, and of course, younger me is still screaming internally, but in the best of ways. I mean, Vega, that’s where I got the last name from is from Street Fighter Vega. I was like, ‘This would be a really cool thing.’ I got in so much trouble that day, though. I remember some person was just like, ‘They’re going to take you out of the DVD, this is so bad, you could get in trouble.’ Then all of a sudden going, ‘Actually, yeah, that was a really cool thing you did. Good for you.’ Then everybody started doing that," Vega said.
When Satin wondered how taking inspiration from a character worked, Vega stated that she didn't know it would be a potential problem. She noted that Xavier Woods tried to warn her after the fact, but she had already worn the gear out to the ring.
“I didn’t know, though. I thought that you could. I didn’t know that was a thing, and then I remember [Xavier] Woods going like, ‘No, no, no, that’s too close.’ I was like, ‘Well, I already did it. I was already out there. Way to give me a heads up now.’ I was walking around in the mask all day and no one said anything. I think they were just like, ‘Oh, that’s Zelina just being weird.’ So I don’t know," she said.
After noting that she has recorded her lines for the game, which comes out on June 2, Vega then recalled how she went to the Capcom headquarters and meet the team behind the game. Vega called it a mind-blowing experience and noted that she's one of the three people who have seen Street Fighter 6. She went on to express her belief that the game is going to shock people in the best way.
"When I was in Japan, I got to go to the Capcom headquarters, which was mind-blowing, and just to be with the people there that, first of all, are the coolest people ever and in charge of everything, whether it’s the directors or the creators, the people that came up with the styles and everything, just insanely nice people. Then I see the game in its entirety, which, I think only three people actually have, and I’m one of those people, so it’s really cool. Once I saw everything, I’m like, ‘This game is insane.’ It’s not just what people think it is. There’s so much more to it. Everyone’s gonna be super shocked in the best way," Vega said.
In the same interview, Vega discussed working with Rey Mysterio. Check out her comments here.
Vega previously stated that her dream is to voice a character in a video game and cosplay them in the ring. Click here to see what she had to say.
Vega will challenge Rhea Ripley for the WWE SmackDown Women's Championship at WWE Backlash. More information is available here.
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