Zelina Vega Shares Story Of Explaining Anime To Vince McMahon Using WWE Analogies

WWE Superstar Zelina Vega recently shared an entertaining behind-the-scenes story involving her 2021 Queenโ€™s Crown run โ€” and how she had to educate none other than Vince McMahon on anime in order to get a major part of her entrance theme approved.

Appearing on the Ring The Bell podcast, Vega recalled how she wanted to feature the voice of Neil Kaplan โ€” a legendary anime voice actor best known for portraying the iconic Madara Uchiha in the English dub of Naruto โ€” in her โ€œQueen Zelinaโ€ entrance music.

But before it could happen, she had to pitch it to the boss โ€” and explain what anime even was.

โ€œI had to explain to Vince why I wanted him on the track. That was a whole interesting conversation,โ€ Vega laughed. โ€œI was literally like, โ€˜Okay, do you know, like, what Crunchyroll is?โ€™ And he was like, โ€˜Yeah, itโ€™s sushi.โ€™ And I was like, โ€˜Of course, yeah.โ€™โ€

Realizing she needed to translate the concept into Vinceโ€™s world, Vega got creative. โ€œI was like, โ€˜Crunchyroll is kind of like the Netflix of anime.โ€™ And he goes, โ€˜Okay, I get it,โ€™โ€ she continued. โ€œThen I said, โ€˜Naruto is like the WWE of anime.โ€™ And heโ€™s like, โ€˜Okay.โ€™โ€

Finally, to seal the deal, Vega made one last comparison. โ€œI was like, โ€˜Madara [the character Kaplan voices] is kind of like what Paul Heyman is to Roman Reigns.โ€™ He said, โ€˜Okay, we need it.โ€™ I was like, โ€˜We do need it.โ€™โ€

Thanks to Vegaโ€™s quick thinking, Kaplanโ€™s now-famous โ€œAll Hail the Queenโ€ voiceover was added to her entrance, giving โ€œQueen Zelinaโ€ a dramatic and unique flair during her reign.

Vega also noted that she ran into similar hurdles when trying to explain her Todoroki-inspired hairstyle โ€” referencing the My Hero Academia character โ€” to McMahon during the same period.

Stay with PWMania.com for more exclusive stories and backstage insights from your favorite WWE Superstars.