Zelina Vega Believes Younger Wrestlers Don’t Understand The Business

WWE’s Zelina Vega has criticized younger wrestlers for not understanding what “paying your dues” means. She also reflected on her own journey as an independent wrestler.

Vega Encountered A Lot Of Rejection

During her interview with Chasing Glory, Vega recalled how difficult it was to make it as a wrestler. In fact, Zelina Vega encountered lots of rejection along the way. 

Many people do not realize that Zelina Vega did not end up in the WWE immediately. She actually spent years on the indies before she was accepted on the mainstream brand.

Vega knows all about paying dues. Encountering countless rejections from the age of 18, Zelina is familiar with this part of the wrestling industry.

“It was hard in the moment. I was 18 or 19 when I had my first tryout,” she replied. “I got turned down every year since 2010, except for 2011 – 2012, but every year after that. And then, like, around 2017, I said, ‘ok, I’m out.’ They had me as a Rosebud for, like, six months. So I was driving from New York to, like, everywhere, just to prove to them how much this meant to me.”

Her journey shows the arduous road many wrestlers have to take before they hit mainstream wrestling.

Zelina Believes Younger Wrestlers Don’t KNow What It Is Like

During her talk with Lilian Garcia, Vega had a lot to say about younger wrestlers coming up. In fact, she believes a lot of these younger wrestlers have not made the same sacrifices. 

“It’s funny. I feel like a lot of people, who are just coming up now, they have no idea what that process is [like]. They have no idea what, you know, really paying your dues to get to that point means. You know, when you’re sacrificing when you don’t have money, when you don’t have anything… I did what I had to do ’cause I knew, like, something in me just knew, that this is what I was meant to do.”

Obviously, Zelina’s comments mainly apply to those coming up in the WWE. After all, those in indie promotions such as Impact and AEW have paid their dues on the indie circuit.

THe WWE does hire athletes from other sports, including football. However, those younger sports stars have not paid their dues in the wrestling circuit.

Vega does make a point with her statements, especially where young WWE talent is concerned. Of course, nothing is stopping theses young stars from becoming excellent wrestlers down the line.

Zelina recently made her first steps in the singles division. Despite her obvious talent, she has mainly been stuck in manager roles since NXT.

One of the things that always played against Zelina was her height. After all, the wrestler only measures 5 ft 1 inch (ironically my height as well).

Evidently, height matters in the wrestling business. But she worked hard to prove herself. 

In previous interviews, Zelina mentioned how Rey Mysterio was her role model. Now it seems she is stepping in his footsteps into the big time.

We wish Zelina good luck in her future singles career.