Queen Zelina Recalls Vince McMahon Personally Apologizing for Pulling Match From Super SmackDown Event

11/21/2021 05:45 pm EST

The Sept. 10 edition of Friday Night SmackDown had a special "Super SmackDown" theme at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The show also served as a tribute to the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack, but WWE has hit with some public backlash when a tag match involving Zelina Vega, Carmella and Liv Morgan was scrapped. Vega's father died during the terrorist attack, and the future Queen of the Ring's plan to honor him with special ring gear never saw the light of day. 

In a new interview with TalkSport's Alex McCarthy this week, Vega revealed that Vince McMahon personally reached out to her to apologize for the match's cancellation. 

"A lot of people were really upset, but I felt like a lot of the anger was misguided," Vega said. "I was disappointed, but I also knew it wasn't a personal thing. If you knew, and obviously a lot of the fans don't know that the show goes in an order, the way that it went timewise, it got too close and they had to cut it.

"When it got cut, Vince McMahon called me and apologized because he wanted to make sure that I knew, 'Listen, this wasn't done to you personally or anything, it was literally just [the time], I had to make that call and I'm so sorry.' And people don't know that side either," she continued. "I love and appreciate my fans so, so much. I wish I could just squish their little faces. Because sometimes people can feel like they're part of the machine and it's no big deal, and the fans probably don't give a crap, but the outpouring of love I felt that day -- and a bunch of other days too — is incredible. Without the fans, we'd literally be nowhere. Just know it wasn't something done personally to me. To have a boss to care enough to call you and go 'Look, I'm sorry' that's important."

Vega was released by the WWE late last year, but was brought back to the promotion over the summer. She became the company's first Queen's Crown tournament winner last month by beating Doudrop at the Crown Jewel pay-per-view and will compete as a member of Team Raw at Survivor Series tonight. 

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