WWE dropped a banger of a premium live event last night from Puerto Rico, and fans will be talking about both the entire PPV and several individual moments for years to come. Megastar Bad Bunny delivered an iconic entrance, followed by maybe the best celebrity match wrestling has ever seen alongside Damian Priest. We got surprise appearances to enormous pops for Puerto Rican legends Carlito and Savio Vega, but for me, the single moment I’ll remember most fondly was an overwhelmed Zelina Vega crying in the ring while fans applauded her like she was a prime Stone Cold Steve Austin.
The thirty-two-year-old Vega has had a really nice career both inside and outside WWE up to this point. She’s a former Tag Team Champion, has won Queen Of The Ring and has had really nice moments as both a manager and an in-ring performer. But what happened last night will almost certainly be the image fans remember her by. Appearing in her family’s native Puerto Rico, dressed in the Puerto Rican flag and dedicating the match to her father who passed away during the terrorist attacks on 9/11, Vega got the ovation of a lifetime. You can watch the beautiful moment below…
The wrestling business is, of course, about talent and hard work, but it’s also about sharing the stage with the right performers during the right moment. And everything came together perfectly here for Zelina Vega. Fans are loving the relaunch of the Latino World Order, which she’s a central part of, and the group’s feud against Judgment Day has now produced three PPV matches fans loved. We saw Rey and Dominik Mysterio give us one of WrestleMania 39's best, and then Backlash gave us the A+ San Juan Street Fight between Bad Bunny and Damian Priest and Zelina Vega’s tussle with Rhea Ripley, which also overdelivered in a big way. I also spoke with a grandma who angrily told me she wanted to beat Dominik Mysterio's ass, which is a personal highlight of this feud for me.
It’s obvious when you’re watching the intro how much the moment meant to Zelina Vega, but if there was any doubt, she cleared that up when she hit up social media after the match. She thanked fans for what happened and said she’s still crying. You can read her quote below, as well as an additional one she left in another tweet…
Thank you 🥲🇵🇷 you’ll never know what tonight meant to me. I love you all so much. Still crying... I wish that I could have this moment for life 🎶
Fortunately for Zelina, her pre-match ovation wasn’t the only thank you she got from fans. After she lost her match to the dominant Rhea Ripley, fans gave her a standing ovation as she departed from the ring, which was similar to what Sheamus got at Clash At The Castle). You can check out that ovation below…
Zelina Vega got a standing ovation from Puerto Rico, insanely beautiful scenes. #WWEBacklash pic.twitter.com/izzpDQbLRpMay 7, 2023
As wrestling fans, we focus a lot on who is at the top of the card. So much of the discourse is around Roman Reigns, Cody Rhodes, Brock Lesnar, Rhea Ripley, Bianca Belair and others, but when WWE is truly going well, there’s a thriving mid-card filled with performers who fans love and appreciate. Zelina Vega, like The Miz and Chad Gable and so many others, has played her role exceptionally over the years, doing whatever has been called for her and doing it well. It’s so nice to see her get her flowers. Well deserved.
