WWE releases Zelina Vega, Vega tweets about unionization shortly before announcement (w/Radican’s Analysis)

WWE announced today that Zelina Vega, a Smackdown talent, had been released. Shortly before her release was announced, Vega tweeted, “I support unionization.”

Vega, who is a streamer on Twitch and recently opened an OnlyFans account that features no nudity and only had cosplay pictures on display for members, commented on Paige’s tweet about learning a lot about unionization, with an emoji and “hmm…” It was known internally before Vega’s tweet about Unionization today that she was going to be released.

Paige, like Vega, streams a lot on Twitch and will likely be impacted by WWE’s crackdown on talent using Twitch and other third party platforms. Paige responded to WWE’s announced of Vega’s release on Twitter by tweeting, “This sucks..” with a frowning emoji.

Post Wrestling was the first to report that it was known internally that Vega was going to be released prior to her tweet.

Radican’s Analysis: Vega’s release is a clear sign that Vince McMahon is looking to pick a fight with talent over third party platforms. There isn’t a strong indication right now that WWE talent is willing to stand with Vega at this time, but perhaps that could change in time. 

You can see the relevant tweets from Paige and Vega below:

https://twitter.com/RealPaigeWWE/status/1327387345910337538?s=20

https://twitter.com/Zelina_VegaWWE/status/1327382306491928576?s=20

https://twitter.com/Zelina_VegaWWE/status/1313253348804567040?s=20