WWE released Zelina Vega in late 2020 after introducing a baffling - and rather selfish - new rule that meant Superstars couldn't use third-party platforms like Cameo and Twitch to make money.
After significant backlash online, it was decided that WWE Superstars could use them, provided they didn't make use of the names we hear on TV each week. However, Vega reportedly breached her contract by refusing to give up her Twitch account and by opening an account on the adult website OnlyFans where she was sharing revealing, albeit non-nude, photos.
She returned to WWE eight months later, ultimately winning the Queen's Crown tournament (Queen of the Ring, basically). Since then, she's held the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship alongside Carmella and is now a member of the Latino World Order alongside Rey Mysterio and Legado Del Fantasma (Santos Escobar, Cruz Del Toro, and Joaquin Wilde).
During a recent interview with WrestlingNews.co, Vega reflected on what led to her shocking WWE release and put it down to miscommunication.
"I didn't know that this was gonna blow up as much as it did, but I feel like there's an audience that was missing here, especially because everything is going digital now," she recalls. "Like, this is where the kids are, you know, and like, this is where we're gonna get them, and I feel like there's a way to blend the world."
"I think once they kind of figured out what I meant by that," Vega continued, "and I think that's really what was missing was the communication there and once we talked it out and we kind of figured out, 'Hey, like, this is how we can work together,' [and] that's why I'm back."
"That's why I'm back on Twitch. That's why everything kind of worked out. It's crazy how a conversation can change a lot of things."
It's great to have Vega back in WWE and she's on the road to becoming one of SmackDown's top female stars. It would be great to see her break out of the LWO in order to once again become a singles star, but that faction has so far been beneficial to most involved.