Tag: Zelina Vega

Malakai Black gives details on his AEW debut and character

Posted on by Ethan Renner

Malakai Black took to his wife Thea Trinidad’s Twitch channel on Thursday to discuss his AEW debut, offering details on his ideas for his character, ring music and future plans. 

h/t to Fightful for transcription.

Black said that only a handful of people knew that he was set to debut at the Road Rager episode of Dynamite, a fact only made possible due to a WWE clerical error that left him free to sign with another company. 

“Once I found out that my contract was a tad different than the usual, I just came up with this idea,” said Black. “We made it a thing to make it available to as limited people as possible because that’s how you keep it under wraps. Security, Cody Rhodes, and a few others. It may have been five or six total people.”

“It was all very last second. I feel like, in modern day wrestling, there are few moments to make a genuine surprise and get people to look your way. For me to sneak in, not be seen, dip and dive so they wouldn’t see me, that took some skill.”

Black said that his creative vision for his character involves playing a heel, an idea he had wanted to use since debuting in NXT. He said that Triple H envisioned him as a babyface in NXT, so the character was shelved. Black said that he has new entrance music and ring gear set to debut as well. 

Regarding the blackouts that teased his eventual debut during Road Rager, Black said that they were his idea. 

“I pitched that idea and said, ‘What if we do multiple blackouts throughout the show and insinuated the technical difficulties?’ Commentary did a great job getting that over and it came off great,” said Black.

“It feels good where I’m in a place where my creative mind can be utilized instead of stopped and controlled and knowing that things weren’t going to work.”

Black stated that his decision to go to AEW was made for a combination of reasons, and that his debut was one of the highlights of his career. 

“It was the right move for me to make for me, my family, my career, the state of mind I’m in. It’s just a really good company. I can’t say enough good things about it. They have a bright future.”

“Last night was top three one of my favorite moments of my career… It was the cumulation of months and months and months and having this big payoff was worth the pain, chaos, and perseverance,” said Black.

Black also spoke of AEW owner Tony Khan in glowing terms in response to a fan question on the Twitch stream. 

“My first impression of Tony is great. What a f—ing wonderful dude. Really nice guy. Loves his company, loves wrestling.”

An archived video of the entire stream can be found here.

WWE SmackDown video highlights: Owens vs. Zayn, Vega returns

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Image: WWE

Two new Money in the Bank participants were revealed on last night’s episode of SmackDown.

Kevin Owens secured his Money in the Bank spot by defeating Sami Zayn in a wild Last Man Standing qualifying match. Owens joins Ricochet, John Morrison, Riddle, Drew McIntyre, and Big E in this year’s men’s Money in the Bank ladder match.

Two qualifying matches on next week’s SmackDown will determine the final men’s Money in the Bank ladder match participants. Seth Rollins vs. Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Baron Corbin are the qualifying matches.

After being released by WWE last November, Zelina Vega made her return last night and was announced for the women’s Money in the Bank ladder match. Asuka, Naomi, Alexa Bliss, Nikki Cross, Carmella, and Vega are the first six wrestlers set for the match.

Liv Morgan, who has been trying to get her own Money in the Bank spot, confronted Sonya Deville and Vega after the announcement. Morgan then defeated Vega in a match.

A SmackDown Women’s Championship match was also added to the Money in the Bank card last night. Bianca Belair will defend her title against Bayley in an I Quit match at the Sunday, July 18 pay-per-view.

More coverage from last night —

WWE SmackDown video highlights —

WWE recaps Edge’s return from last week

Edge addresses Roman Reigns

Big E & Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Apollo Crews & Baron Corbin

Bianca Belair and Bayley go face-to-face

Last Man Standing Money in the Bank qualifying match: Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn

Zelina Vega returns

Liv Morgan vs. Zelina Vega

Angelo Dawkins vs. Otis

Jimmy Uso calls out Edge, gets beaten down

SmackDown fallout: Kevin Owens reacts to defeating Sami Zayn

SmackDown fallout: Liv Morgan sends a message to Sonya Deville

SmackDown fallout: Carmella isn’t worried about her Money in the Bank competition

SmackDown fallout: Otis & Chad Gable want the SmackDown Tag Team titles

Zelina Vega returns to WWE on SmackDown, enters MITB match

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Zelina Vega returned to WWE tonight on SmackDown, being entered into the women’s Money in the Bank ladder match.

Sonya Deville introduced Vega as the next woman on SmackDown to be entered into the ladder match. Liv Morgan came out and argued that she should be in the match, as Vega hadn’t appeared on television all year while she has defeated Carmella, who is in the match already, twice. Morgan asked Deville to make a match between her and Vega. The match then went down, with Morgan quickly pinning Vega with a roll-up.

Vega, real name Thea Trinidad, was released from WWE on November 13, 2020. She was released after WWE implemented a new social media policy that no longer allowed talent to use third party platforms such as Cameo and Twitch, a policy which Vega did not agree with. Minutes prior to WWE announcing her release, Vega tweeted that she supported the unionization of professional wrestling.

Participants already announced for the women’s Money in the Bank ladder match include Asuka, Naomi, Alexa Bliss, Nikki Cross, and Carmella.

Zelina Vega, WWE working on plan for return

Posted on by Josh Nason

Less than a year after being released, Zelina Vega and WWE are working toward her return.

Fightful first reported that Vega (Thea Trinidad-Budgen) was at the Performance Center Thursday doing filming for something and that “the working plan is for her to return to the company.” Dave Meltzer confirmed the report.

The 30-year-old was released by WWE last November following issues regarding their policies about individual deals with third parties like Twitch where she has a popular, revenue generating channel. That release sparked interest from SAG-AFTRA after she tweeted about unionization, but nothing ever came of that interest.

In March, Meltzer reported that Trinidad had signed an undisclosed short-term deal that wouldn’t allow her to work for another wrestling company. Prior to February’s Revolution pay-per-view, AEW’s Tony Khan said he was interested in talking with Vega after learning she was a free agent. It’s unknown whether the two sides ever had a conversation.

Vega’s husband Aleister Black has yet to wrestle since her release but recently was seen in late-April on SmackDown vignettes.

Zelina Vega/Thea Trinidad signs undisclosed short-term deal

Posted on by Josh Nason

Image: WWE

The former Zelina Vega in WWE is off the free agent market for now, according to Dave Meltzer in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

When talking about possibilities for the recently released Andrade, Meltzer said “the obvious choice” would be to pair him up once again with Vega, aka Thea Trinidad. However, Meltzer said that can’t happen for now.

“Trinidad has signed a deal. We don’t know with who or even that if it’s with a wrestling promotion, but the deal she signed would not allow her to work for another wrestling company and it was not with AEW. It was a somewhat short-term thing and the door wasn’t shut on her eventually working with AEW but it won’t be any time imminently,” he wrote.

The 30-year-old was released by WWE in November following issues regarding their policies about individual deals with third parties like Twitch where she has a popular, revenue generating channel.

On an episode of Wrestling Observer Radio prior to AEW Revolution, Tony Khan said he was very interested in talking with Trinidad and wasn’t aware at the time that her 90-day non-compete clause was up.

AEW interested in Zelina Vega, confirms TNT & YouTube shows

Posted on by Josh Nason

On the Thursday edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, AEW president Tony Khan said he’s interested in talking with the former Zelina Vega.

When asked about his interest in the former WWE wrestler and manager, Khan said he thought Vega (Thea Trinidad Budgen) was still under a 90-day non-compete clause and that he had been waiting for that to pass. 

“When we get through his (Women’s title eliminator tournament) and through (Revolution), I would be interested to see where she’s at,” he said.

Budgen was released by WWE in November after having issues with the company’s new policy nixing individually made deals with third party companies like Twitch. She has pushed unionization which temporarily got the attention of SAG-AFTRA. 

In the same interview, Khan confirmed that at some point this year, AEW will have two shows on TNT and two shows on YouTube. Earlier this week, they announced a new Dark show called Elevation that will be similar to the original Dark in terms of the competitors and where it fits in the AEW universe. The new TNT show has been discussed for quite some time, but there is no known anticipated launch date at this time.

Khan compared the amount of programs they have to “other successful wrestling companies” that have two flagship shows and other shows that are more developmental in nature.

CM Punk discusses what it would take for him to return to the ring

Posted on by Bryan Rose

CM Punk talked to Renee Paquette regarding a variety of wrestling subjects, including unionization, Twitch, and a possible return to the ring.

Punk talked to Paquette on the latest episode of her podcast, Oral Sessions. When asked about potentially returning to the ring, Punk stressed that it was about finding the right scenario.

“Without wanting to insult anybody on any either side of the fence, any WWE talent or any AEW talent, it would take – above all – an interesting scenario. A story that would be fun to tell,” he told Paquette (H/T Cageside Seats). “Also, just the stupidest amount of money. But they could just save themselves a whole lot of money if they just presented, like, a fun storyline.”

He also expressed interest in an AEW run as opposed to a WWE one, citing the desire to wrestle new faces.

“I think there’s more interesting people on the AEW side of things for me to wrestle, but that’s just because I’ve never wrestled them before. Young Bucks, Kenny Omega. Talking about your husband. I look at that and I go, ‘Well, I wrestled him already.’ So it’s just less interesting than something new. And on the WWE side of things, I don’t know that there’s anybody there currently that I haven’t wrestled that I would be interested in wrestling.”

When asked about wrestlers potentially forming a union, Punk expressed doubt that it would ever happen. “No, and just because there’s no such thing as ‘the boys’”, he responded. “It’s a trope. ‘Oh, we’re on the road, and these people are our family,’ and like I said, once you’re out of the bubble, you don’t hear from anybody anymore. Those people don’t pay your bills. There’s always gonna be a handful of people that will undercut everybody else just to get ahead a little bit. There seems to be a lot of people that not only by nature, are bootlickers – they just love the taste.”

When it came to Twitch, Punk compared the situation between Zelina Vega’s release for keeping her Twitch account and Xavier Woods becoming a host for the G4 Network’s upcoming revival with WWE’s blessing.

“I don’t know what’s going on with his Twitch channel so I don’t want to speak out of turn on that,” he said. “I just saw he was petitioning to get a job with G4. Why is it ok for him to do that but Zelina Vega can’t have a Twitch?”

Punk and Paquette were co-hosts on WWE Backstage, a studio talk show. The show was cancelled in June.

SAG-AFTRA president says group will ‘directly engage’ with wrestlers

Posted on by Josh Nason

Image: Variety

In the wake of Zelina Vega being released from WWE, SAG-AFTRA President Gabrielle Carteris gave a statement Monday regarding how her organization is viewing those within pro wrestling.

Given to Spectrum Sports 360’s Jon Alba, Carteris said, “Wrestling is as much about media as it is sports and we are going to directly engage with members of this profession to help find ways for them to protect themselves. As more people reinvest in unions and as more working people are harassed by employers who don’t want to protect them, SAG-AFTRA is committed to doing what we can to help professional wrestlers secure the protections they deserve.”

SAG-AFTRA has 160,000 “actors, announcers, broadcast journalists, dancers, DJs, news writers, news editors, program hosts, puppeteers, recording artists, singers, stunt performers, voiceover artists and other media professionals.” The group combines the Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.

Carteris specifically didn’t mention WWE by name in the statement, so if the organization follows through with their efforts, every major organization could be affected but how and to what extent remains to be seen.

WWE’s practices with their independent contractors came under fire with their recent edict to talent about suspending third party deals with Twitch and Cameo. That got the interest of former U.S. presidential candidate and wrestling fan Andrew Yang who promised action if Joe Biden was elected president.

Shortly after Vega (Thea Trinidad Budgen) was released Friday, she sent out a tweet in support of unionization. Vega had to shutter her popular Twitch channel due to WWE’s new policy, forcing her to abandon a major source of income which Dave Meltzer said was more than what she was making in WWE. She relaunched her Twitch channel over the weekend and also has an OnlyFans account.

Carteris tweeted to Vega on Friday in support and asked Vega to reach out to her.

Vega, who had been with the company since 2017, is married to WWE wrestler Aleister Black. 

Zelina Vega released by WWE, tweets in support of unionization

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Zelina Vega (Thea Trinidad Budgen) is no longer with WWE.

WWE announced this afternoon that they’ve come to terms on the release of Vega: “WWE has come to terms on the release of Zelina Vega. We wish her all the best in her future endeavors.”

Moments before Vega’s release was officially announced on WWE.com, she tweeted “I support unionization.” Last month, Vega responded to a tweet from Paige about unionization with a thinking face emoji and “hmm..”

Post Wrestling reported that Vega’s release was already known about internally before her tweet from today.

Vega and Paige are both prominent Twitch streamers who would be affected by WWE’s recent Twitch edict and crackdown on talent third-party deals. Paige tweeted about Vega’s release: “This sucks..”

Vega also recently launched an OnlyFans account featuring cosplay photos with a no-nudity policy.

Vega joined the SmackDown roster last month as a post-draft signing after not being selected in the WWE Draft. Vega formerly managed Andrade and Angel Garza on WWE television. Garza is on Raw, while Andrade hasn’t officially been assigned to a brand yet following the draft. 

On SmackDown last week, Ruby Riott defeated Vega and Natalya in a triple threat Survivor Series qualifying match. Riott submitted Vega to get the win.

Vega had been under contract with WWE since 2017.

WWE announces four post-draft free agent signings

Posted on by Joseph Currier

The new rosters for Raw and SmackDown continued to take shape after the WWE Draft ended last night.

WWE announced overnight that Erik of The Viking Raiders has signed with Raw as a free agent, while Tamina, Billie Kay, and Zelina Vega have signed with SmackDown. Andrade and Mickie James are now the only wrestlers who were listed in the WWE Draft pools but haven’t been assigned to either brand yet.

Erik and Tamina are staying on the same brands they were on prior to the draft. Kay and Vega are moving from Raw to SmackDown.

Ivar of The Viking Raiders, who is out of action after undergoing neck surgery last month, wasn’t listed as eligible to be drafted. Erik also underwent surgery earlier this month to have “some hardware removed” from his arm. Erik wrote that he had been putting off the surgery for a very long time and had been working around and through the pain and limitations caused by a surgical screw protruding into his triceps.

Kay and Peyton Royce are now on opposite brands. Royce & Kay lost a match to Ruby Riott & Liv Morgan in August where the stipulations were that the winning team would get a Women’s Tag Team title shot and the losing team couldn’t team together anymore.

Angel Garza defeated Andrade on Raw last night in a match where Vega was on commentary. “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt and Alexa Bliss then laid out Andrade and Vega with stereo Sister Abigails.

Here are the updated rosters for Raw and SmackDown:

Raw —

  • WWE Champion Drew McIntyre
  • Raw Women’s Champion Asuka
  • The Hurt Business (MVP, United States Champion Bobby Lashley, Shelton Benjamin & Cedric Alexander)
  • AJ Styles
  • Naomi
  • Women’s Tag Team Champions Shayna Baszler & Nia Jax
  • Ricochet
  • Mandy Rose
  • The Miz & John Morrison
  • Raw Tag Team Champions Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods
  • Dana Brooke
  • Angel Garza
  • Humberto Carrillo
  • Drew Gulak
  • Tucker
  • Gran Metalik & Lince Dorado
  • “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt
  • Randy Orton
  • Charlotte Flair
  • Braun Strowman
  • Matt Riddle
  • Jeff Hardy
  • RETRIBUTION (Mustafa Ali, T-Bar, Mace, Reckoning & Slapjack)
  • Keith Lee
  • Alexa Bliss
  • Elias
  • Lacey Evans
  • Sheamus
  • Nikki Cross
  • 24/7 Champion R-Truth
  • Dabba-Kato
  • Titus O’Neil
  • Peyton Royce
  • Akira Tozawa
  • Lana
  • Riddick Moss
  • Arturo Ruas
  • Erik

SmackDown —

  • Universal Champion Roman Reigns
  • Seth Rollins
  • Sasha Banks
  • Bianca Belair
  • Jey Uso
  • Rey & Dominik Mysterio
  • Big E
  • Otis
  • Murphy
  • Kalisto
  • Shorty G
  • SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley
  • SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Street Profits
  • Daniel Bryan
  • Kevin Owens
  • Lars Sullivan
  • Baron Corbin
  • Intercontinental Champion Sami Zayn
  • Shinsuke Nakamura & Cesaro
  • Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode
  • Apollo Crews
  • Carmella
  • Aleister Black
  • Natalya
  • Ruby Riott & Liv Morgan
  • Tamina
  • Billie Kay
  • Zelina Vega

Asuka vs. Zelina Vega Women’s title rematch set for WWE Raw

Posted on by Joseph Currier

A Clash of Champions rematch has been announced for tonight’s episode of Raw.

After retaining her title at Clash of Champions, WWE has announced that Asuka will again defend the Raw Women’s Championship against Zelina Vega on Raw tonight:

Asuka proved Zelina Vega wasn’t ready for her at WWE Clash of Champions, but can La Muñeca maximize a second chance?

The Empress of Tomorrow will defend the Raw Women’s Title against Vega tonight on Raw.

Vega impressed in last night’s battle at WWE Clash of Champions, deftly targeting Asuka’s left arm throughout. But one costly mistake was all the champion needed to apply the Asuka Lock for the submission victory.

Later in the evening, Asuka also answered Bayley’s open challenge for the SmackDown Women’s Title before winning by disqualification.

With Asuka having competed twice and potentially nursing an injured arm, can Vega capitalize for her first championship gold? Find out tonight on Raw at 8/7 C on USA Network!

Asuka offered Vega a handshake after their match last night. Vega instead bowed to Asuka. When Asuka bowed too, Vega attacked her with a cheap shot.

Asuka vs. Vega at Clash of Champions was originally supposed to be the pre-show match but was moved to the main card after Nikki Cross, Shayna Baszler, and Nia Jax were pulled from the show. The Bayley vs. Asuka match for the SmackDown Women’s Championship took place because Cross wasn’t cleared for her scheduled match against Bayley. Asuka won by disqualification after Bayley used a steel chair. Sasha Banks then attacked Bayley, getting revenge for the two times Bayley has attacked her in recent weeks.

WWE has said the situation with the Women’s Tag Team titles will be addressed on Raw tonight. Baszler & Jax were supposed to defend the titles against Ruby Riott & Liv Morgan at Clash of Champions. After WWE announced last night that she and Baszler weren’t cleared to compete at Clash of Champions, Jax responded to someone on Twitter today who asked if she’s okay: “Girl….I could not be better I apologize that the announcement scared some, but all is great and healthy on my end & my tag partner’s end as well (not that I speak for her, but I kind of just did).”

Raw Women’s title match set for WWE Clash of Champions pre-show

Posted on by Joseph Currier

The Raw Women’s Championship will be on the line on the Clash of Champions pre-show.

Zelina Vega defeated Mickie James in a number one contender’s match on Raw tonight and will challenge for Asuka’s Raw Women’s Championship on Sunday’s Clash of Champions pre-show. Vega got the win in tonight’s match after hitting a backstabber on James.

On Raw last week, Asuka retained her title against James. The match had an awkward finish where the referee stopped the match after Asuka put James in the Asuka Lock. Vega came out to the ring after that match and confronted Asuka. Vega said she’s ready for a shot at the Raw Women’s Championship, slapped Asuka, and then left the ring before Asuka could retaliate.

After Andrade & Angel Garza argued last week, Vega told them she can’t do this anymore and walked out on them. She wasn’t with Andrade & Garza during their number one contender’s triple threat match against Seth Rollins & Murphy and Dominik Mysterio & Humberto Carrillo on Raw tonight. Andrade & Garza got the win and will challenge for The Street Profits’ Raw Tag Team titles at Clash of Champions.

Here’s the updated card for the show:

  • WWE Champion Drew McIntyre defends against Randy Orton in an ambulance match
  • Universal Champion Roman Reigns defends against Jey Uso
  • SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley defends against Nikki Cross
  • Intercontinental Champion Jeff Hardy defends against AJ Styles and Sami Zayn in a triple threat ladder match
  • United States Champion Bobby Lashley defends against Apollo Crews
  • Women’s Tag Team Champions Shayna Baszler & Nia Jax defend against Ruby Riott & Liv Morgan
  • SmackDown Tag Team Champions Shinsuke Nakamura & Cesaro defend against The Lucha House Party
  • Raw Tag Team Champions The Street Profits defend against Andrade & Angel Garza
  • Raw Women’s Champion Asuka defends against Zelina Vega (pre-show)

Bianca Belair officially called up to WWE Raw

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Following her appearance at WrestleMania, Bianca Belair’s call-up to Raw was officially confirmed tonight.

Belair again appeared after The Street Profits defended their Raw Tag Team titles against Angel Garza & Austin Theory. Tonight’s match ended in a disqualification when Zelina Vega interfered and grabbed Montez Ford’s leg as he was going for a move off the top rope. Like at WrestleMania, Garza and Theory held up Ford so that Vega could kick him. Belair then made the save for her husband.

Vega and The Street Profits cleared the ring, with Belair then challenging Vega to a match.

“I go here now,” Belair declared. “Bianca Belair, the EST of NXT, is the EST of WWE.”

Belair vs. Vega also ended without a decisive finish due to a brawl between The Street Profits and Garza & Theory coming spilling into the ring. That led to a six-person tag match where Belair & The Street Profits won after Belair gave Vega the KOD.

Belair was last in action on NXT when she faced Charlotte Flair on February 26.

Bianca Belair appears at WWE WrestleMania 36

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Night two of WrestleMania 36 featured a possible call-up for NXT’s Bianca Belair.

Belair appeared on WrestleMania after The Street Profits retained their Raw Tag Team titles against Angel Garza & Austin Theory. Garza took out Angelo Dawkins with a dropkick after the match. Garza and Theory then attacked Montez Ford, including holding him up for Zelina Vega to kick him. Belair then ran out to make the save for her husband and Dawkins.

Belair ran into the ring and took down Vega with a spear. She then laid Vega out with the KOD while Ford and Dawkins took care of Garza and Theory. The Street Profits and Belair celebrated together after.

The finish of the match was Dawkins pinning Theory after Ford hit a frog splash to Theory’s back. Theory hit a TKO to Dawkins and was going for the pin when Ford springboarded in with a frog splash to break up the cover.

The Street Profits vs. Garza & Andrade had originally been announced for WrestleMania, but Andrade wasn’t cleared for the tapings due to a rib injury.

Belair hasn’t appeared on NXT since losing a match against Charlotte Flair on February 26.

Angel Garza debuts on WWE Raw, takes on Rey Mysterio

Posted on by Josh Nason

Image: WWE

Two weeks after losing his NXT Cruiserweight title at Worlds Collide, Angel Garza debuted on WWE Raw Monday, flanked by Zelina Vega.

As a follow-up to last week’s Raw angle where Humberto Carrillo injured U.S. Champion Andrade, Carrillo was waiting in the ring for an opponent when Garza’s music hit, surprising him. Vega did a promo introducing Garza (Carrillo’s cousin) before Garza cut a promo on Carrillo about letting their family down. Carrillo grabbed the mic away, leading to Vega slapping him and Garza attacking, eventually hitting the Wing Clipper.

Garza kept up the attack, throwing Carrillo into the ringside steps and pulling away the mats to expose the concrete floor as a callback to the Carrillo-Andrade angle. Rey Mysterio then ran out from the back to prevent it which led to a match made during the commercial break. After a lengthy match, Garza hit a hammerlock DDT on the exposed concrete, resulting in a DQ loss.

The 27-year-old signed with WWE last April and has mainly been on NXT TV and 205 Live.

Last week, Andrade was suspended for 30 days for violating the WWE Wellness Policy, leaving Vega on the sidelines.