Zelina Vega makes major change to WWE championship ahead of SmackDown
Zelina Vega made a huge alteration to the Women's United States Championship ahead of this week's episode of WWE SmackDown. The 34-year-old captured the title from Chelsea Green last month on the blue brand.
Ahead of tonight's show in Ohio, WWE shared a video featuring the new Women's United States Champion. She added new side plates to her championship and noted that she was very excited to have won the title.
"I finally have a singles title to myself, and from having the first-ever Queen of the Ring win, to the tag team titles, this is just another thing to show what Zelina Vega can do. And I want people to see what Zelina Vega is like as a champion, and I think this is just a little extra piece to make it official," she said.
Chelsea Green became the inaugural Women's United States Champion by winning a tournament in December 2024. She had an impressive title reign before being dethroned by Vega on the April 25 edition of WWE SmackDown.
Vince Russo claims WWE missed an opportunity with Zelina Vega
Former WWE writer Vince Russo believes the company should have referenced Zelina Vega's history after she won the title.
Speaking on Sportskeeda Wrestling's Legion of RAW show, Russo criticized the promotion for not making Vega's character resonate with fans. He noted that he had a conversation with Jonathan Coachman, who was unaware that her father had passed away during the 9/11 attacks.
"I did a show with Coach this morning. Coach watches the show like us, he has to. He has to be abreast of things. He talks about Zelina Vega bringing the title to her father's memorial. Bro, would you believe Coach did not know Vega's dad died in 9/11? How is that not part of the story? Jonathan Coachman doesn't know that. Coach doesn't know that and he's in the business." He added, "And what did they do? They showed that on a YouTube video or something. This is what I'm talking about. Not having a clue about how to get people over." [From 19:40 onwards]
You can check out the video below:
Vega was a member of the Latino World Order on WWE RAW before transferring to SmackDown. It will be interesting to see how long the veteran can hang onto the Women's United States Championship moving forward.
