Recently released WWE superstar Zelina Vega had much to lose from the company's ban on third-party platforms, according to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
According to Meltzer's latest Wrestling Observer Radio, Vega was among the WWE talents who earned more through their Twitch account than what they were being paid by the wrestling organization. Vega, whose real name is Thea Trinidad Budgen, apparently did not abide by WWE's controversial ban on its talent using third-party platforms in time, with Meltzer explaining this is why she was fired. 10 minutes prior to the announcement of her release on Friday, Vega tweeted support for unionization in the professional wrestling industry.
"The backstory on this and it's funny because one person kind of told me when the thing went down that there are a couple of women that are making more money with their social media than they are making with WWE and they are gonna be real interesting and one of those was Zelina Vega," said Meltzer.
Vega is married to current superstar Aleister Black (real name Tom Budgen), who was reportedly denied in his request to be moved to the NXT brand -- and outside of the control of WWE Chairman Vince McMahon. As a result of her release, Vega is subject to a 90-day non-compete clause. She will be unable to work for any other major wrestling promotion through mid-February 2021.
Vega was moved to the SmackDown brand as part of the 2020 Draft after finishing up a short feud with Asuka and concluding her role as manager of Angel Garza and Andrade. However, she hadn't appeared on the brand since the draft. Her last appearance with the company came on the Oct. 12 edition of Raw when she and Andrade were attacked by "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt and Alexa Bliss.
Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter, via WrestleTalk