This past Saturday, WWE presented its first premium live event in Puerto Rico in over eighteen years, Backlash. Two of the most buzzed-about matches coming out of the show unsurprisingly featured full-time Puerto Rican WWE stars, Zelina Vega and Damian Priest. Interestingly, both of their bouts had LWO influence, with Vega repping the stable against Rhea Ripley, and the faction making its presence known helping Bad Bunny defeat Priest.
With so much history being made, it seemed fitting that the LWO members find a way to commemorate the event. Enter Lucha Libre Online’s Isa Ramos, the Puerto Rican pro wrestling journalist who has carved a notable place out for herself in the media in recent years. Ramos was introduced to Vega earlier this year at WWE WrestleMania 39 media row and used the encounter as a chance to extend the offer to help the female LWO member if she should need it when she comes to the island.
“She listened because she hit me up and she said, ‘Hey, do you have any tattoo artists? I want to get the LWO logo,'” Ramos said on today’s Haus of Wrestling episode, available now via WatchOnPremier.com and the Haus of Wrestling podcast feed. “And when she first messaged me, it was just her and I’m like, ‘Yeah, I’ll hook you up.’
“Next thing you know, LWO was in. Next thing you know, Rey Mysterio was in. Next thing you know, we’re gonna film it for a vlog and I’m like, ‘Okay, so let me find a shop that will close for them.’ I have good connections with this tattoo shop. So luckily, they did it after hours with nobody there.”
With a plan in place, Ramos went about executing the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity with the legendary NWO splinter-faction. When taking into consideration everyone’s schedules, the group decided to hit the tattoo parlor the Friday night before Backlash, following the Smackdown taping.
“So I had the craziest day Friday because it was also her brother’s birthday,” she said. “We wanted to sing him happy birthday. So, I left the community event, and the press conference to go find a cake to drop it off at the tattoo shop to then go change to go to SmackDown to then go pick her up and take them over to the tattoo shop. But this happened around 11 pm On Friday, we were at the tattoo shop until like 2 am.”
Ramos conceded that once she was at the tattoo parlor, peer pressure set in and she felt obligated to get a matching tattoo with the group.
“I love the tattoo,” she stated. “Because I got the Puerto Rican version. Some of the guys, like Joaquin Wilde and Cruz del Toro were like, ‘Oh, there’s so many Mexican versions of the LWO and only one Puerto Rican one.’ So I was like, ‘Fine, I’ll get it.’ You know? Because me and Zelina got the one with the star and the Puerto Rican flag and they got the Mexican version of it. It was an excellent night.”
It definitely sounds like an excellent night but with the festivities wrapping up in the wee hours of the morning, the biggest match of Vega’s career was only hours away. The reality of the situation gave the now-honorary LWO journalist a chance to share a real moment with the number one contender for the WWE Raw Women’s Championship.
“I could see a little bit of the nerve setting in as we left the tattoo shop,” Ramos recalled. “And now I’m taking her to the hotel to kind of get so rested and we started talking and I see the weight of what tomorrow holds for her, it started hitting her at that moment.”
Vega, entering wearing a Puerto Rican flag outfit, went on to receive a huge ovation at Backlash from the fans. And, despite her best efforts in the ring, fell short against Rhea Ripley in her quest to capture her first individual WWE Women’s Championship. With the LWO by her side, it is possible she’ll get another bite at the apple. After all, Carlito now looks to be in the LWO, and he brings a lot of apples with him.
If you use any quotes from this article please give a h/t to Haus of Wrestling for the transcription and link back