Xelina, formerly Zelina Vega, says her exit from WWE has been far harder emotionally than simply closing one chapter and starting another.
Speaking with Ring the Belle, she explained the emotional weight behind the cinematic video she released after her departure. It looked back at the different versions of her character over the years before she closed the door on that part of her life. She said leaving has followed her into her sleep, and that she has had nightmares about it every night.
I’ll be honest, I’ve had nightmares about leaving WWE every single night. Like it’s, it’s trash. Like it is.
Vega said people often treat a WWE release as the end of a job, but it wasn’t that simple for her. She spent nearly a decade with the company, and her wrestling career was tied to deeper parts of her life, including her late father and the wrestling dream she carried from childhood.
She said there’s a real mental health side to leaving that outsiders don’t see, and that the circumstances around her exit made it harder.
But I think that’s the other thing that people don’t understand that there’s such a mental, mental health part of it because it’s not just, ‘Oh, you’re leaving WWE.’ It’s like my life was tied to that.”
“I was there for almost 10 years. Like my dad and his memory and the wrestling thing there was all tied to there. So it’s, it was very difficult to, to go and, and obviously everything that happened.
That’s why the video mattered to her. She wanted to confront the earlier versions of herself and feel good about what she built in WWE, then close that chapter and be ready for the next one.
She described wrestling as deeply rooted in her life, and said she went through depression and denial as a kid before she was able to put it into a positive space. She also said she tied the dream to her father’s, not just her own.
WWE released her during the post-WrestleMania roster cuts. She has since taken independent bookings and started a new chapter under the Xelina name. She has reportedly been drawing interest from several promotions as well.
