UPDATE: 2023/12/10 07:30 EST BY BENJAMIN VIEIRA

Zelina Vega has ascended up the card in WWE in a way her career has never seen before. She joined forces with Rey Mysterio and Legado Del Fantasma to reform the old WCW faction, the LWO. Since then, her career has skyrocketed. From challenging Rhea Ripley in Puerto Rico for the WWE SmackDown Women’s Title to being involved in the rivalry now between Mysterio and Santos Escobar, things have been looking up for Vega. With this trajectory now, she will certainly be a major asset going forward. There is a bright future ahead for Vega and her WWE career now.

This last year has easily been the best of Zelina Vega’s WWE career. Her involvement in the LWO storyline has finally allowed her to shine after years of struggling to find her place on the main roster. Vega is now in a position where she is featured in prominent storylines and has been seen as a legitimate contender in WWE’s women’s division. She has spent years in the professional wrestling business. She truly possesses a lot of talent when it comes to both in-ring competition and her top-notch skills when delivering promos. Let’s take a deeper look at Zelina Vega, whose real name is Thea Megan Trinidad Büdgen, and some facts about her life.

9 She Has Been In The Business For Over A Decade

She Wrestled For TNA And National Wrestling Superstars

Rosita

WWE's roster has quite a few women who can cut great promos, and Zelina is fairly good on the mic too. Unlike other women on the roster, Zelina has had years to develop her mic skills, and that is because she has been in the business for over a decade.

She debuted on February 20, 2010 for a promotion called National Wrestling Superstars, and she went by the name Divina Fly. About a year into her career, Zelina signed with TNA, where she won the Knockouts Tag Team Championship as Thea Trinidad.

8 She Was Born On December 27th, 1990

She Will Be 33 Years Old Soon

Zelina is not the only wrestler who made a surprisingly fast return to WWE, but what makes her return really surprising is the fact that WWE decided to bring back a woman who is no longer in her 20s. She was born on December 27, 1990, which means that she will be turning 33 this year.

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Fans saw how an older performer like Mickie James was treated, and the WWE Universe has seen several younger women like Tegan Nox and Toni Storm get their main roster callups, so it will be interesting to see how much screen time Zelina will receive in the next few months.

7 She Is 5'1"

She Is One Of The Shortest Members Of The WWE Roster

Zelina Standing With Taller Women

The main roster is filled with relatively tall superstars, and many of them tend to receive the most screen time and championship opportunities. As far as the women are concerned though, many of them are either short or of average height.

Zelina is one of the roster's smaller members, as she measures roughly 5 ft 1 in. When she made her return on SmackDown, her short stature was clearly visible when she stood in the ring with Sonya Deville and Liv Morgan.

6 She's Been Trained By Several Wrestlers

She Was Trained By Various Names Across Her Career

Zelina & T.J. Perkins In The Ring

Many of the wrestlers currently on the main roster were trained by coaches at the WWE Performance Center, but a lot of them were also trained by seasoned veterans outside of the company. Zelina learned a few things from the Performance Center, but the bulk of her in-ring work was developed elsewhere.

One of her trainers was WWE's inaugural Cruiserweight Champion and boxing aficionado, T.J. Perkins, but she also learned a lot from Arturo Beristain and Tony Salazar, both of whom are retired Mexican Luchadors.

5 She's From New York

She Was Born And Raised In Queens, NY

Zelina's MSG Debut With Andrade

Every single WWE superstar has a hometown that's usually their Achilles heel, because most of them lose whenever they go home, it is still a special moment for them and their local fans. New York City has always been a major wrestling spot, and Zelina knows just how passionate the New York fans are, because she is one of them.

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Zelina was born and raised in Queens. In 2019, the WWE Universe got a glimpse of Zelina's upbringing when cameras followed her to her grandmother's house prior to her hometown debut at Madison Square Garden.

4 She Lost Her Father On September 11th, 2001

He Was A Telecom Analyst At The World Trade Center

Young Zelina With Her Dad

Like many WWE superstars, Zelina became a wrestling fan at a very young age, and it happened because she watched it on TV with her younger brother and father. Her father's name was Michael Angel Trinidad, and she lost him when she was only 10 years old.

He worked as a telecom analyst at the World Trade Center, and he was in the building during the horrible events of September 11th. Before the building collapsed, her father called their home and told Zelina's stepfather to take care of his children.

3 She's Currently Married

Her Husband Is AEW's Malakai Black

Zelina Vega & Aleister Black As A Couple

At the end of the day, WWE superstars are human beings, which means that they will eventually find themselves in intimate relationships. Zelina was once in a relationship with former superstar Austin Aries, but things just did not work out.

In 2018, WWE fans were shocked to hear that Zelina tied the knot with one of her co-workers, and they were even more shocked to learn that Aleister Black was that co-worker. The two have been married ever since, and although Black is now signed with rival promotion AEW, these lovers find a way to make it work.

2 She's A Huge Gamer

She Shares Her Love For Video Games Across WWE And Social Media

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEne50nW__4&list=PLqV7EcKaKaH4trQvCFV9Pl-o245GBIRZ-&index=6

Zelina was reportedly released because she was not in favor of WWE taking control of superstars' third-party platforms, and the only reason why this became an issue is because multiple superstars were streaming games on Twitch. Zelina's channel is still up and she continues to stream herself on the platform.

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Zelina is a real gamer, and based on some of her best cosplays, she is a massive fan of fighting games like Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter. She is also a fan of the Pokémon games.

Professional Wrestling Debut

February 20, 2010

WWE Debut

June 9, 2017

Notable Accomplishments

TNA Knockouts Tag Team Champion, WWE Women's Tag Team Champion, 2021 WWE Queen's Crown Winner

1 She's An Anime Fan

Anime Has Been Heavily Influential In Her Career

Anime has always been considered a niche brand of entertainment, but it has become far more popular in recent years. When WWE released her, Zelina had a fair amount of free time on her hands, and she used that time to get hooked on anime.