Zelina Vega is in the middle of an interesting phase in her career after winning the inaugural Queen's Crown tournament and getting repackaged as Queen Zelina. She didn't reach that level very easily as she had to work her way through a roster full of equally talented female wrestlers. She started her WWE career in a managerial role before shifting her focus to her singles career.
She's been a part of WWE for over five years but has tons of experience as an in-ring performer with her stint in the independent scenes and other promotions. With that said, let's take a look at Zelina Vega's pro-wrestling career by means of pictures taken over the years.
10 Training & Debut
Zelina Vega began pro wrestling training when she was 17-years-old and trained under Javi-Air, Azrieal, and T.J. Perkins. She made her debut in 2010 for the National Wrestling Superstars promotion under the ring name Divina Fly.
From there, she went on to compete for other independent promotions like CWF-Mid Atlantic, Fight The World Wrestling, Women's Superstars United, and New York Wrestling Connection. She competed in multiple championship matches throughout her early career, to no avail, but her slump came to an end after she became part of Impact Wrestling in 2011.
9 Impact Wrestling
She got the first big break in her career when she got signed to a contract by Impact Wrestling in January 2011. Tommy Dreamer was the one to get her a tryout with the company, and she competed in a dark match against Angelina Love in an Impact taping on January 11, 2011.
She signed a contract on January 27, 2011, and made her debut as Rosita, the storyline cousin of Sarita, and formed a tag team with her. They went on to capture the Impact Knockouts Tag Team Championship from Angelina Love & Winter in March 2011 and held it for 121 days.
She became part of The Mexican America stable alongside Sarita, Anarquia, and Hernandez. She continued to compete for Impact Wrestling until 2012 and parted ways with the company after her contract expired in January 2013.
8 Return To The Indies
Following her exit from Impact Wrestling, Zelina Vega returned to touring the independent circuit. She competed in promotions like Warriors of Wrestling, House of Hardcore, and Northeast Wrestling and also made an appearance at Impact Wrestling's One Night Only event in February 2015.
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She then appeared for Global Force Wrestling and competed for them between June and August 2015. She also appeared in Ring of Honor in July 2015 and managed Austin Aries before going on to compete for Shine Wrestling and Stardom.
6 WWE Tryouts & Early Appearances
She took part in her first WWE tryout in 2013 and started making sporadic appearances as an extra in 2014. She appeared as one of Adam Rose's Rosebuds and also had one squash match with NXT Women's Champion Asuka on the October 26, 2016, episode of NXT.
She didn't get signed to a contract and had to wait for a call from the WWE officials. She continued to compete in the independent circuit throughout 2016 before WWE finally came calling in June 2017.
5 Performance Center & NXT
Zelina Vega signed her first WWE contract in June 2017 and started training at the company's Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. She entered the training facility alongside future WWE stars like Rick Boogs, Ruby Riott, Shayna Baszler, Tegan Nox, and Xia Li.
She made her debut for NXT and became the on-screen manager of Andrade and helped him capture the NXT Championship. The dup continued to work together throughout their time in NXT, and WWE chose not to break them up when it was time for them to cross over to the main roster.
4 Main Roster Debut
Zelina Vega made her main roster debut at the 2018 Royal Rumble event, where she accompanied Andrade to the ring as he entered the men's Royal Rumble match as the 7th entrant.
They got drafted to SmackDown in the 2018 Superstar Shakeup, and she remained as the on-screen manager of Andrade. She had her first match on the brand by defeating Lana and then teamed up with Andrade to defeat Rusev and Lana at that year's SummerSlam event.
She continued to assist Andrade while focusing on her in-ring career as well. She helped him to win and defend the United States Championship before they went their separate ways.
3 Relationship With Malakai Black
Zelina Vega is married to current AEW wrestler Malakai Black, who competed in WWE under the name Aleister Black between 2016 and 2021. It's not clear when they crossed paths, but it most likely could've happened during their time in NXT.
After dating for some time, Zelina Vega and Malakai Black got married on November 23, 2018. WWE chose not to use their marriage in an on-screen storyline as their characters were not compatible to be together on television.
Black got released by WWE in 2021 and went on to sign with All Elite Wrestling, where he's having a decent run so far, while Vega continues to perform in WWE.
2 Release, Return & Queen Zelina
WWE started releasing many of its superstars in the name of budget cuts after the COVID-19 pandemic hit them hard in terms of hosting live television shows and PPVs in 2020.
Zelina Vega was also on the list, and she got the call from John Laurinaitis in November 2020. However, she got rehired after eight months and made her return to WWE on the July 2, 2021, episode of SmackDown.
She then focused on her singles career and competed in the 2021 women's MITB ladder match in a losing effort. Her time in the spotlight came at WWE's inaugural Queen's Crown Tournament, and Vega qualified for the finals at the Crown Jewel PPV and defeated Doudrop at the event to become Queen Zelina.
1 Women's Tag Team Champion
After winning the Queen's Crown Tournament, now billed as Queen Zelina, she formed a partnership with Carmella and started going after the WWE Women's Tag Team Championships. They challenged Rhea Ripley and Nikki A.S.H. for the titles on the November 22, 2021, episode of Raw and went on to capture the Women's Tag Team Championships, which became Zelina Vega's first title win in WWE.
They lost the titles to Sasha Banks & Naomi in a fatal four-way tag team match also featuring Liv Morgan & Rhea Ripley and Natalya & Shayna Baszler at WrestleMania 38. Following the loss, Vega's partnership with Carmella is on the verge of destruction, and we could see both superstars go their separate ways or feud against each other in the coming days.