WWE Backlash 2023: 10 Things That Must Happen

8. Zelina Vega Has A Nearly Moment

WWE Backlash 2023 Cody Rhodes
WWE.com

Look, everyone and their granny knows that Rhea Ripley is retaining her SmackDown Women's Title against underdog challenger Zelina Vega. It doesn't matter that Rhea has been drafted to Raw either, because WWE will book one of those unwanted belt swap angles with Bianca Belair soon-ish.

Vega facing mission impossible doesn't mean she can't come close.

The angle both worked on last week's episode of SmackDown left the champ wondering if she's 100% guaranteed victory in Puerto Rico. Zelina blasted Ripley with a DDT out of nowhere, then company cameras caught Rhea looking all confused as she clutched her title like "my precious".

It's crucial that Zelina gets at least one convincing near fall moment during the title match this weekend. These women will deserve medals if they can trick the live crowd into thinking Vega might pull it off and take the gold, and the announcers can feed into that by repeatedly bringing up Ripley's Raw status.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.