Zelina Vega On How Close She Was to Quitting Wrestling, How The Rock Convinced Her Not To

– Zelina Vega appeared on Busted Open Radio and discussed her time in WWE, how close she came to giving it all up before signing with the company and more. Vega noted that she was about ready to quit a couple of years ago before getting cast to play AJ Lee in Fighting With My Family, and that it was The Rock himself who convinced her not to. Highlights are below:

On the biggest lesson she’s learned in WWE: “I have to say that the biggest lesson I have learned is definitely to find your way to stand out. Whatever it is that you do, take that and dial it up to 10. Because for me, people won’t necessarily think, ‘Oh, she’s the best wrestler in the world,’ but I also can do what others can’t. The second I get on the mic, that’s something that you can’t match with me. So whenever I accompany Andrade to the ring, I make sure that no matter what it was I was doing, I make sure that I was a part of it and I made sure that I stood out. And there’s always a moment that you remember when, ‘Oh, remember when Zelina did that crazy thing? Oh god!’ You know? Just finding whatever it is that you do and dial it up to 10.”

On if she ever thought she wasn’t going to make it to WWE: “Oh absolutely! Absolutely. Actually, back in — I want to say a couple years ago in February, I had texted Dwayne [Johnson] and I remember, I had gotten another ‘no’ from WWE, and I had gotten another ‘no’ from an audition. Actually, it was Spider-Man, I was auditioning for that and had gotten a ‘no’ there. And I was at the end of my rope, and I was like, ‘I think I’m just going to give up, can you give me some advice?’ I’m like, ‘I’m at the end of my rope, I think I’m going to quit everything, like I want to quit wrestling.’ He was like, ‘No no no! Just give me a couple of days, I’m working on something’ And then the movie happened. You know, Fighting With My Family. And then right after that, it was just like full speed ahead. It was, ah, it was pretty incredible. It was basically a big sign like, ‘No no, don’t stop just yet.'”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit The Wrestling Observer with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.