Zelina Vega remains determined to keep her promise.
September 11 marks the anniversary of the the terrorist attack on 9/11 in 2001. Zelina Vega lost her father in the attacks, and she has made it clear that she intends to honor him by winning a title in WWE. Vega is a member of the SmackDown roster, so she is not announced for the September 11 episode of WWE Raw, where Rhea Ripley will defend the WWE Women's World Championship against Raquel Rodriguez.
Speaking on Busted Open Radio, Bully Ray emphasized that he thinks Vega should be challenging for the title on Monday night, given the day's personal significance for her. He asked her if she had an answer as to why today is not her day. Vega stated that she thinks WWE wouldn't want to throw her a bone out of sympathy, and she emphasized that she would want to earn it anyway.
“I’d like to think that maybe part of it has to do with the fact that they wouldn’t want to do it just to do it because of the day. I think either way, you’re gonna get, ‘Oh, they only gave it to her because it’s 9/11 and they wanted to throw her a bone after blah-blah-blah happened at MSG,’ or ‘They just gave it to her in Puerto Rico because she’s from there.’ I’d like to think that they’d want to give it to me because I deserve it. That’s what I’m looking for. I don’t want to be thrown a bone because this is a sympathy bone that you get on the day. As much as it would be literally everything I could have wanted, I want to get it because I deserve it," Vega said.
Vega then discussed her goal to win a title in honor of her father, and she stated that she believes it has to happen. She noted how the fans are showing their support for her, and she thinks that a decision will be have to be made if they continue to rally around her.
"I genuinely believe that it has to [happen]. There’s no reason that it shouldn’t. I had a dark match this past Friday, and whether it was the dark match Friday, the live events on Saturday and Sunday, the crowd was so, obviously it wasn’t like Puerto Rico high, but they were so high for me. I feel like a part of it was because of that, but it was also just them showing them that they loved me for me. There’s just so much you can ignore the people, and what they want. I feel like if this continues that way, a decision’s gonna have to be forced at some point. So it’s just on me to keep doing what I’m doing because there’s nothing else I can do. I’m gonna do it for him," she said.
Vega was also asked to describe what keeps her going, and she made it clear that her drive to keep her promise motivates her. She stated that she feels unfulfilled because the promise has not been completed, and she genuinely believes that it will happen.
“I think a part of it definitely is feeling unfulfilled in this way. Because I started it because of him. I started because I made a promise, and even when I did get let go in 2020, I felt unfulfilled. I felt like I didn’t complete my promise, and I still don’t feel like I have until that’s complete. I think because I genuinely feel like it will happen, I still keep going. I have that, I have my husband, who supports me so much, and my family that do. I feel like I have so many reasons to look forward that I don’t feel like it’s complete yet. One of the things that happened that really made me feel like, ‘Wow, this is real’ was when Dwayne [Johnson] went to the 9/11 memorial with Simone. When they went there and took a picture and I said his name, knowing that that was his favorite wrestler, I felt like that was such a ‘wow’ moment, I’m like,’I have to keep doing this. I have to keep pushing forward.’ I know, it’s just something in me that just feels it has to. It has to. There’s no reason why, like why not?" Vega said.
Vega previously reflected on losing her father. Click here to see what she had to say.
Click here to see what Vega had to say about the crowd's ovation for her at WWE Backlash.
Check out the card for the September 11 episode of WWE Raw here. Fightful will have live coverage of the show as it airs.
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