Zelina Vega’s career in the ring would have ended long ago, if not for the intervention of Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson.
This weekend, Vega will challenge SmackDown Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley at Backlash 2023, WWE’s first PLE in Puerto Rico in over 18 years.
Speaking to “Busted Open Radio” recently, Vega recalled being close to quitting wrestling before being cast in WWE Studios biopic ‘Fighting With My Family.’ She said,
“It’s funny because I was about to quit. When Dwayne [Johnson] and I spoke about it, right after I had a WWE tryout for the seventh time…at that point, I was like, ‘I’ve given it my all. They haven’t seen what they’re looking for. I can’t do this.’
“There was a movie that I had auditioned for that I didn’t get, too. I was just so down and out. I was thinking, ‘Do I just give up at this point?’ Dwayne goes, ‘Give me three days. I’m working on something. Don’t give up.’ I was like, ‘Okay.'”
Vega was cast as AJ Lee in the biopic about the career of Paige/Saraya and realizes she owes a lot to the People’s Champion. She said,
“To go from that to training at the Performance Center, it’s been a dream come true,” Vega admitted. “Had I not said anything to him [The Rock], to not be able to live this dream…it’s crazy how these little things [work]. If one thing had just changed, none of this would have happened. I owe a lot to him.
“It’s mindblowing to think had that one instance changed, everything else would have.”
Vega recently spoke about being nervous ahead of challenging for the SmackDown Women’s Championship this weekend.
"If one thing would have just changed, none of this would have happened."👀
As @ZelinaVegaWWE prepares for #Backlash, she tells @davidlagreca1 about how @TheRock profoundly changed her career from the path to quitting.
FULL Interview up ON DEMAND on the @SIRIUSXM APP! pic.twitter.com/9eKnoZ3OJ7
— SiriusXM Busted Open (@BustedOpenRadio) May 1, 2023
