Zelina Vega is one of the rarest talents on the WWE Smackdown roster to have a lifetime terrifying memory from the 9/11 incident in the United States. In the tragic terrorism incident, she lost her father more than two decades ago, and she’s openly talked about it since joining the WWE. We have seen her paying tribute to him in the past while the latest one was something special.
Just a week ago on WWE Smackdown, Vega accomplished one of the long goals in the company and that’s to become a singles champion. Soon after the achievement, the superstar, real name Thea Trinidad Budgen had a special stop to make in honor of her late great father, Michael Angel Trinidad.
Following WWE Smackdown on the April 26 episode, Thea AKA Vega flew down home to New York City and paid another tribute to her late father, who passed away in 2001 while working for Cantor Fitzgerald in the World Trade Center during the 9/11 terror attacks. Vega and her father shared a special bond over their love of WWE programming when she was growing up.
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Zelina Vega visited the 9/11 Memorial after monumental win from WWE Smackdown
Henceforth, a proud Vega brought her newly won Women’s United States Championship belt to the 9/11 Memorial following WWE Smackdown, this week so she could place it in his name. The whole visit was documented in a video and was released on her YouTube channel. In her comments below, Vega let everyone know how happy she was to be there,
“It’s kind of mind-blowing honestly to see this right now, to actually have it here physically. Because I’ve said that I wanted to do it for so long. In a way I came here really happy — but it kind of makes it real. That’s why I kind of don’t come here that much. But if this is the closest that I can get to him and doing this, then I’m happy to do it.” (quotes courtesy Wrestling Observer)
WWE Smackdown: People Reportedly Happy Over New Champion’s Crowning Moment
In the third match of WWE Smackdown during the post-Wrestlemania 41 edition, Zelina Vega defeated Chelsea Green (c) to win the Women’s United States Championship. The title match came just a week after Vega pinned the champion, the week before, during the go-home PLE episode in a non-title matchup. Follow-up reports claimed that a lot of people backstage were happy for Vega after her maiden solo title win in the WWE as she’s a deserving candidate for the accolade, after all.