Thea Megan Trinidad Budgen (Born: December 27, 1990) is a professional wrestler, actress, and Twitch streamer. She was fired by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), where she worked as Zelina Vega, for refusing to shut down her Twitch stream and subsequently opening an OnlyFans account that featured her cosplay work. Since her firing, Thea has become an advocate for unionization in pro wrestling, even drawing support from Democratic Presidental candidate Andrew Yang and the President of the Screen Actor’s Guild, Gabrielle Carteris.
Thea Trinidad Early Beginnings
Thea Megan Trinidad was born in Queens, New York, to Monique Ferrer and Michael Trinidad. She also has a younger brother named Timothy.
As a child, Thea, her brother, and her father would watch World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and WWE. The family was enamored with Rey Mysterio (Rey Mysterio, Jr., Rey Misterio, Jr.).
Thea Trinidad’s Dad Killed During 9/11
Her parents divorced when she was young. However, Thea remained close to her dad. Unfortunately, he was killed during the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Thea’s dad worked in New York City as a telecom analyst. He was employed by Cantor Fitzgerald inside the World Trade Center. His office was on the 103rd floor, and died when the building collapsed.
The future Zelina Vega got her first taste in front of the camera discussing this heartbreaking experience. She was interviewed for Children of 9/11 on NBC. This special aired just four days after the attacks.
Thea Trinidad Volunteerism
Since then, Thea became a volunteer to mentor children who grew up without parents due to 9/11. She also worked with Habitat for Humanity post-Katrina.
Her mother, Monique, also collaborated with StoryCorps to commemorate her ex-husband. They created a cartoon depicting his life called Always a Family.
It was important for the Trinidads to honor his spirit. Thea would credit him for getting her into the wrestling industry.
Thea Trinidad Starts Professional Wrestling
Thea was always an athletic person. So, she took to wrestling right off the bat. She started training at the ripe age of17 under the tutorial of T.J. Perkins (TJP), Javi-Air, and Azrieal.
Her first ring name was Divina Fly. Divina made her debut on February 20, 2010, for National Wrestling Superstars (NWS). She lost to Brittney Savage.
Shortly after, Thea would move to Women’s Superstars Uncensored (WSU). She would continue losing to Brittney Savage. However, Thea would earn her first win against Candi Cartwright.
Since then, Cartwright has had trouble making it in the business because she had an affair with Matt Riddle. Cartwright has also claimed Riddle sexually assaulted her. Since Riddle is now in WWE, she is in a legal battle with Riddle and the company. This drama would foreshadow the drama between WWE and the future Zelina Vega.
Thea Trindad Rosita Joins TNA
Next, Thea Trinidad joined Total Non-Stop Action (TNA) Wrestling. She wrestled under the name Rosita. Her troyout match was against multiple-time TNA Knockouts Champion Angelina Love.
Rosita was the storyline cousin of TNA star Sarita. They would pick up victories against noted TNA stars, such as Mickie James, Velvet Sky, Angelina Love, and Winter (Katie Lea Burchill).
Thea would win her first wrestling Championship in February 2011. Rosita and Sarita would defeat Angelina Love and Velvet Sky to win the TNA Knockouts Tag Team Championship.
Sarita and Rosita would team up with Hernandez to create the faction known as Mexican America.
The Tag Champions would lose the Tag Titles on July 12th to Brooke Tessmacher (Brooke Adams) and Tara (Victoria). Thea’s contract with TNA would expire on January, 19, 2013. The company did not renew.
Thea Trinidad Goes to Mexico
While in TNA, Thea would go to Mexico. She first checked out Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). Sarita wrestled here as Dark Angel.
Thea worked with the people of CMLL to hone her lucha libre skills. They offered her a contract in 2011. However, she was under TNA contract at the time. During this time period, TNA had a working relationship with a rival promotion to CMLL known as AAA.
She even appeared on AAA television, saying she was taking over the company on behalf of TNA. Funny enough, her contract with TNA prevented her from going to CMLL as she wanted. Down the road, WWE would try contract games with the future Zelina Vega. She wasn’t going to let this happen again!
Thea Trinidad Gets Engaged to Austin Aries
Two years after leaving TNA, Thea would travel the independent wrestling circuit. She made her Ring of Honor (ROH) debut on July 15, 2015. Here, she met her future fiance, Austin Aries.
The two would be together for a few years. They had a vicious breakup that Thea has went on record saying she would love to forget.
Thea Trinidad Gets Cast in Fighting with My Family. This movie was about WWE superstar, Paige (Saraya Knight). Trinidad was cast in the role of WWE Champion AJ Lee (AJ Mendes, AJ Brooks).
This movie was produced by Seven Bucks Productions, owned by former WWE Superstar Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. It opened the door for Thea to join WWE.
Ironically, Lee would leave WWE after her husband CM Punk quit for being forced to wrestle while sick and concussed. Then, Paige and Vega would end up getting into trouble with WWE for having Twitch accounts.
Zelina Vega Debuts in WWE NXT
Thea would do enhancement work for WWE, acting as one of Adam Rose’s (Leo Krueger) Rosebuds. She would also lose to the undefeated Asuka on an episode of NXT.
Eventually, she was paired up with Andrade “Cien” Almas. Now she was under the name Zelina Vega. They knew each other from her training in CMLL. Immediately, the act caught on with Vega as his mouthpiece. She made her official debut on July 19, 2017.
On November 18, 2017, Zelina managed Andrade against NXT Champion Drew McIntyre at the War Games event. Zelina would interfere, giving McIntyre a hurricanrana. This interference would cause Andrade to win the NXT Championship.
Zelina Vega Debuts on Main WWE Roster
In 2018, Andrade made his WWE main roster debut at the Royal Rumble. Vega accompanied him to the ring briefly. They would go back to NXT to finish up a program with Johnny Garagano and his wife, Candice LaRae.
On April 17, 2018, Zelina and Andrade were officially drafted the WWE Smackdown brand. They started appearing regularly for the company. They would stay together until Zelina’s release.
Zelina Vega Starts Twitch
During the pandemic, wrestlers were working less. So, they supplemented their income by joining Twitch. WWE got upset and asked wrestlers to take down their channels.
Zelina and Paige refused. They said they were independent contractors. Plus, Zelina started making more money on Twitch subs than she was making for WWE.
WWE said Zelina had breached contract when she didn’t take her stream down in thirty days of being asked. She also opened up an OnlyFans, which upset the company. When she got fired, Zelina asked to talk to Vince McMahon, WWE owner. Talent relations denied her request and escorted her out of the building.
Zelina Vega took to Twitch and cried about her release. She said all she ever wanted to be was a wrestler. However, she thanked WWE because she was able to “do it for her dad.”
Since then, Andrew Yang and Gabrielle Carteris have supported Zelina and are fighting for unionization.
Thea Trinidad Marries Aleister Black
In 2019, Thea married fellow WWE Superstar, Aleister Black. They had a Twitch show named A to Z. However, that stopped because Black is still a contracted WWE Superstar.
