WWE SmackDown Star Praised For Working Through Illness

This star worked Friday's SmackDown tapings while sick.

by Andrew Pollard
Zelina Vega WWE
WWE.com

While anyone who watched WWE SmackDown on Friday would have likely had zero idea, Zelina Vega was dealing with an illness during the latest outing for the company's blue brand.

Per Mike Johnson over at PWInsider.com, Vega worked the double SmackDown taping from Green Bay, Wisconsin while sick. This report notes how Zelina was praised for being willing to gut through not one but two matches - one taped for next week's SmackDown - while dealing with an unspecified illness.

As for next week's SmackDown, Zelina Vega will be in action in a Holiday Havoc plunder war pitting Zelina, Bianca Belair, Shotzi and Michin up against Damage CTRL.

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Vega is currently in her second run with WWE, having returned to the company in July 2021 after previously being released towards the end of the prior year. Since that return, we've seen the New Yorker go from Queen Zelina to now a key part of the Latino World Order alongside Rey Mysterio, Joaquin Wilde, Cruz Del Toro, and Carlito. Of course, Santos Escobar recently turned his back on the LWO, attacking Rey-Rey and later taking out Carlito, Del Toro, and Wilde.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.