It has not been the easiest time for World Wrestling Entertainment. As the world still struggles with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, WWE has seemingly been pressed with bad news. Yet, with plans being swayed by the day, some WWE superstars are using the downtime for some video gaming fun.
One video game aficionado within the WWE ranks is wrestler Zelina Vega. Vega got her hands on the recently released Pokemon Sword and Shield Isle of Armor expansion and found a special way to celebrate her enjoyment. The wrestler took to Twitter to not only express her love of Isle of Armor, but take the time to show some love to her favorite character.
As the video starts, the camera is zoomed in on skew gameplay footage of Isle of Armor's new location. After just one second Vega pulls back the Switch to reveal her full body Nessa cosplay. The outfit is based on the design of Water-type Gym Leader Nessa who became a fan favorite even before the launch of Sword and Shield.
While the cosplay is a fantastic display, Vega has a long history of doing video game homages both in and out of the ring. At this year's Royal Rumble, Vega entered the women's variant of the titular match as Sindel of the Mortal Kombat series. Before this Rumble, Vega came to the ring as another classic fighting game character albeit from a different franchise.
In 2019, she came in as entrant number 20 of the match donning the mask and claw of Street Fighter's Vega. Between both of those, she and her wrestling partner Andrade Almas had the time to cosplay as Pokemon's Team Rocket.
Vega is just one example of wrestling's close cultural relationship to video games and geek culture in general. Another female superstar to wear pop culture-inspired gear is wrestler Alexa Bliss. Bliss has used pop-cultural references for her gear since starting at the WWE. Some examples include horror icon Freddy Kruger, and comic book favorites Harley Quinn and Iron Man. She recently posed the idea of her new ring gear being based on Tifa from Final Fantasy 7 Remake.
One of the earliest pioneers of incorporating pop culture into wrestling was Rey Mysterio. The beloved masked cruiserweight would often arrive at big events in a costume homage to a comic book hero. These costumes date back to 1997 with his Phantom inspired gear at WCW's Halloween Havoc.
While Vega shares her love of the franchise's first foray into expansions, some players are finding significant issues. The biggest complaint running through the Pokemon fanbase is Isle of Armor's short story length. This issue doesn't seem to be slowing Vega down, who we can only hope brings this outfit to the ring soon.
Pokemon Sword and Shield's first downloadable expansion, Isle of Armor, is available now on Nintendo Switch.