WWE Rumors on Zelina Vega; Undertaker’s Top Talkers Mt. Rushmore; Goldberg Called Out
Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagicBleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.
Vega Reportedly Re-Signs with WWE
Zelina Vega is reportedly in WWE for the long haul after recently signing a new contract with the company.
According to PWInsider.com (h/t Felix Upton of Ringside News), Vega agreed to a multi-year deal with WWE after Endeavor Group Holdings took control of the company and merged it with UFC to form TKO Group Holdings.
Vega is the latest of many Superstars who reportedly re-signed with WWE recently, joining Bayley, Charlotte Flair, Rey Mysterio and Dominik Mysterio.
The 33-year-old Vega signed with WWE in 2017 and began in NXT as the manager for Andrade.
She and Andrade got called up to the main roster together, and while she wrestled occasionally, she was almost exclusively a manager until her release in 2020.
Vega returned to WWE in 2021 and received a push as an in-ring performer, winning the inaugural Queen’s Crown tournament and becoming WWE’s first-ever Queen of the Ring.
She eventually joined Legado del Fantasma alongside Santos Escobar, Joaquin Wilde and Cruz Del Toro, and the group later became the Latino World Order or LWO when Rey Mysterio joined.
Perhaps the most memorable moment of Vega’s current WWE stint came in May when she challenged Rhea Ripley for the SmackDown Women’s Championship in Puerto Rico.
Vega, who is of Puerto Rican descent, received a hero’s welcome and turned in one of the best performances of her career.
Undertaker Chooses Mt. Rushmore of Talkers
After recently choosing his Mt. Rushmore of pro wrestling tag teams, WWE Hall of Famer The Undertaker created his personal Mt. Rushmore for the best talkers in wrestling history.
Speaking on his Six Feet Under podcast (h/t Upton), Taker ranked the best promo men of all time in ascending order, choosing Arn Anderson, The Rock, Ric Flair and Dusty Rhodes.
The Rock, Flair and Rhodes are fairly common picks for the best promo cutters of all time, but The Undertaker conceded that Anderson was his “dark horse,” noting that he was well-spoken and never made mistakes.
The Deadman threw a ton of support behind The Rock and Flair as well before explaining why he considers Rhodes to be the best talker ever.
Taker called The American Dream “a master on the mic” and a “true American icon.”
Rhodes, who is the late father of current top WWE star Cody Rhodes, was an anchor of NWA with Flair for many years, and it can be argued that he is the most accomplished wrestler to have never won the WWE Championship.
Choosing the best of anything in wrestling history is always a tough task, and it is inevitable that some all-time greats are going to get left out.
“Stone Cold” Steve Austin, “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, Hulk Hogan, Triple H, Shawn Michaels and “Macho Man” Randy Savage are just a few of the elite talkers who didn’t quite make the cut for The Undertaker.
Ivar Wants Goldberg’s Retirement Match
After expressing dismay last week over not being granted a retirement match in WWE, Goldberg was called out by a current WWE Superstar this week.
Ivar, who is one half of The Viking Raiders, took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to let Goldberg know that he is willing to wrestle him:
Ivar @Ivar_WWEIf you are looking, I’ll have that retirement match with you @Goldberg https://t.co/YDb7X7gGca
“I owe [McMahon] everything, until we went to Saudi Arabia and he asked me to put Roman Reigns over, and I had COVID. I remember calling him from my house and said, ‘Listen, here is the deal. I’ll do it if you give me a retirement match.’ I did what he asked.
“As a performer, I was 56 years old. As a human being, you’re conscientious about how you look in a bathing suit, especially two months prior to being in that bathing suit, you couldn’t work out because you had COVID. I put myself in a horribly s–tty situation to get what I wanted to, but to satiate him and give him what he wanted.”
Goldberg went on to call McMahon a “piece of s–t” for going back on their agreement.
Now 57, Goldberg has not had a match since losing to Reigns at Elimination Chamber in February 2022, and he is no longer under contract with WWE.
While McMahon holds a high-ranking position within TKO Group Holdings, reports have suggested that head of creative Triple H and president Nick Khan are primarily responsible for making personnel decisions.
That suggests Goldberg returning to WWE and having one more match is possible, and if that happens, Ivar is clearly willing to be the opponent.
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