WWE veterans don't understand why 34-year-old female star is currently a champion (Exclusive)

WWE introduced two new belts towards the end of last year for their extremely stacked and talented women's division. For the first time in the company's history, they introduced singles midcard championships for the women, the Women's Intercontinental and the Women's United States Championship.

SmackDown superstar Chelsea Green would go on to become the inaugural WWE Women's US Champion, and she would hold the title through WrestleMania 41. However, on the first SmackDown post the Show of Shows, she would lose the title to long-time rival Zelina Vega.

Speaking about the current Women's US Champ during the latest episode of BroDown, former WWE manager Dutch Mantell didn't seem too pleased with the former Queen of the Ring holding the belt. He stated that Zelina Vega doesn't feel like a champion.

"No, I don't. I really don't [think she feels like a champion]. She's the smallest girl there. And you can say about women, but it seems like the biggest woman either Nia Jax or [any other] the big girl, they should be the champions because they're bigger than everybody else. But this girl, I don't know. I guess are they going by the merchandise selling? But I don't know what her merchandise would be selling anyway," Mantell said. [13:51 onwards]

Vince Russo agreed with the former Zeb Colter, stating that he can't get past Vega's 'size' when compared with past champions in the WWE.

''I just can't get past the size. You know, this this is supposed to be the greatest wrestling company in the world. You need somebody who like you look at and say, "That's the champion." Like Dutch said, you know, Nia Jax, Ria Ripley, you know, we we we did it with an awesome Kong, even even a Charlotte Flair," Russo said. [14:40 onwards]

Zelina Vega only recently won the US Title on SmackDown, and she has the fan support behind her. She is currently feuding with Chelsea Green over the title, and it seems like she's heading into a feud with one of SmackDown's newest superstars.

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About the author

Faiz is a WWE writer at Sportskeeda Wrestling. He is a BBA graduate who is passionate about sports and wants to make a career in that field. This passion led to a postgraduate degree in Journalism, which helped him pivot into becoming a sports writer. When writing, he puts the utmost importance on accuracy and thorough research.

Faiz has six years of work experience across four companies. He started his career with Zomato and then moved to Amazon. He shifted to becoming a football writer at TV9 Digital and is now with Sportskeeda. He covered the Wrestling Xtreme Mania event in Gurgaon in 2025, where he had the opportunity to interview Raj The Maharaja, fka Jinder Mahal. At the same event, he also got quick interviews with former WWE Superstar Dijak and Japanese Joshi legend Emi Sakura.

When it comes to his favourite wrestlers, Faiz has two names in mind. He loved to watch Triple H before the current WWE CCO retired, and he is a huge fan of Roman Reigns. Being a loyal fan since the Tribal Chief's SHIELD days, Faiz credits Roman's mic skills and unmatched in-ring storytelling for his mega success. When he was young, one in-ring story left a lasting impression on his mind and eventually got him hooked on WWE. That match was Shawn Michaels vs. Ric Flair at WrestleMania 24. Apart from that, he is also a fan of RAW.

When Faiz is not writing for Sportskeeda, he loves to keep up with other sports. He is an avid cricket and football fan, a huge gamer, and loves playing some RPGs on the PlayStation.

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Edited by Rahul Madurawe