The United States of Zelina

Even now, many hours later, I'm still so over the moon over this!

I said it before, and I'll say it here. The mission regarding the instillation of the Women's Intercontinental and United States Championships in the end of 2024 was to give chances to the women who were lost in the shuffle for so long. Despite WWE having a very deep women's roster, only a select view are valued when it comes to the top titles. Fans had been begging for midcard titles for the women for a long time, and we finally got them. The titles were introduced in the fall of 2024, and on Saturday Night's Main Event in December 2024, Chelsea Green became WWE's first-ever Women's United States Champion. A month later on January 13, 2025, Lyra Valkyria became WWE's first-ever Women's Intercontinental Champion.

Regarding the Women's United States Championship, Chelsea had Michin after her for the title, so much so that having Piper Niven as her backup wasn't enough. In a shocking addition, Alba Fyre became a new addition to Chelsea's group, which was good for Alba following the release of her longtime Unholy Union partner Isla Dawn. Though the newly formed "Secret Her-Vice" did help Chelsea eliminate Michin, a new foe would come in: Zelina Vega.

Zelina was coming off being moved to SmackDown afer being on Raw as the lone female member of the current iteration of the LWO, led by WWE Hall of Famer Rey Mysterio. This actually began a run as a babyface, her first time being a heroine in WWE, and it has seen her shine, but not yet collect singles gold. Before all of this, Zelina had the honor of being WWE's first ever Queen of the Ring, and also held the Women's Tag Team Championship with Carmella. Zelina's pursuit of Chelsea's title was a shaky one, as she was actually defeated by Piper in singles action. However, a weird countout win over Chelsea placed Zelina in the picture, and after a rematch saw the Secret Her-Vice banned from ringside, Zelina won again.

Zelina's title opportunity came on the April 25, 2025 edition of SmackDown, and Chelsea had Alba and Piper with her. The duo definitely did their damnedest to get involved, but they inserted themselves one too many times for the official's liking. The Secret Her-Vice was ejected, but it still seemed academic for Chelsea... until Zelina countered the Unpretti-Her with a Code Red for the big victory!

I am so very, very happy for Zelina! I've been an uber-fan of Zelina Vega ever since her TNA days as Rosita, and I watched her in the indies prior to her joining WWE via NXT. I loved that prior to her match, Zelina mentioned Rey Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero as past U.S. Champions, and that lineage and that Latinx representation is why I was pulling for Zelina to become WWE's first ever Women's Intercontinental Champion, as she would join that Mysterio, Guerrero, Carlito, and Pedro Morales in that historic group of Latinx IC Champions. I am happy that Zelina is now the second-ever Women's United States Champion, as she is on the receiving end of the title's first-ever change of possession.

As for Chelsea Green, she's still forever etched in history as the first ever Women's United States Champion, holding that title for 132 days--almost 20 weeks. This is what the midcard titles were meant to do: give all of the women a chance. We have seen a lot of that in the last few months. Lyra Valkyria is shining as Women's IC Champion. Chelsea Green got over even more so as Women's U.S. Champion. But right now, it's time to pledge allegiance to the United States of Zelina!