Backstage News On Zelina Vega Replacing Elektra Lopez In Legado Del Fantasma

Legado Del Fantasma has been one of "WWE NXT's" premiere factions for years, but they're not in "NXT" anymore. On the October 7 edition of "WWE SmackDown," Legado Del Fantasma made their main roster debut — albeit with a major change to the group. In "NXT," the faction consisted of Santos Escobar, Cruz Del Toro, Joaquin Wilde, and Elektra Lopez. But upon the group's arrival on "SmackDown," Lopez was replaced by Zelina Vega, who had managed Andrade El Idolo to the "NXT" Championship and the United States Championship in the past.

According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Lopez was originally told by WWE that she would remain part of the group moving forward, even having a flight out to Worcester arranged. However, WWE ultimately decided to go with Vega in the place of Lopez, primarily because LDF's first main roster feud is set to be against Hit Row, and WWE wants the women in the two factions to get in the ring. Lopez is relatively new to wrestling, however, while Vega is much more experienced, with a career that has spanned over a decade, and according to Meltzer, it was determined that she would be the better opponent for Hit Row's also inexperienced B-Fab.

Meltzer also goes so far as to suggest that Vega, who has been off WWE television for some time, was originally planned to reunite with one of two potentially returning AEW stars — either El Idolo, her former client, who recently got physical backstage with Sammy Guevara in a move that some see as an attempt to get fired, or Malaki Black, Vega's real-life husband, who is on hiatus from the company in the midst of a storm of rumors about his alleged desire to go back to WWE.