Savio Vega hasn't wrestled a match in WWE since all the way back in December of 1999, when he lost a match to the Ministry of Darkness – Mideon, The Undertaker, and Viscera – as part of a team with Miguel Perez Jr. and Kane in Mexico. Though he wrestled for the promotion for an extended period in the mid-to-late 1990s, 683 matches, to be exact, Vega has since gone on to wrestle 430 more matches for promotions like IWA Puerto Rico, MLW, and beyond, and has since established himself as one of the true OGs on the indie scene right now.

And yet, though it won't show up on his Cagematch page, Vega returned to WWE on the first Saturday in May, where he not only gifted Bad Bunny a Puerto Rico-themed kendo stick, a special honor considering it's his weapon of choice, but then threw some hands in the direction of The Judgement Day, who attempted to help their pal Damian Priest in the match.

Discussing what it was like to get in the ring – or, more aptly, on the floor – for WWE once more in an interview with Tom Campbell of Cultaholic Wrestling, Vega called the experience “incredible.”

“That was incredible. That was so… I don’t know how to describe it. We know, of course, the fans in Puerto Rico will have a good reaction,” Vega said via Fightful. “The [pop] when they see my face next to Rey Mysterio and Bad Bunny, my god. I was in shock, to be honest. I was like, wow. The biggest pop of the night, that’s what the crew says.”

Vega then went on to discuss his wrestling career in Puerto Rico and noted that since Backlash, the hype around wrestling on the island is at an all-time high.

“I continue to wrestle here in Puerto Rico, I have my company, IWA Puerto Rico. The fans see me here or there, they see me on television doing promotion and this and that, and it’s okay. They love what they see, what we’re doing here in Puerto Rico,” Vega noted. “Now, Bad Bunny and Damian Priest, they’re gonna wrestle, two Puerto Ricans in Puerto Rico, never been done before. When I was with them and Carlito was with them, I’m don’t know if Carlito had the chance to go to Puerto Rico, I’m not sure. But I don’t have that chance because they didn’t travel to Puerto Rico by that time. So it’s like wow, now they’re coming with this huge event. The event was okay, but having Bad Bunny there made it a little bit bigger. Here in Puerto Rico, everybody’s talking about that, the news, the talk shows, you make it. Just today, I did five interviews. Tomorrow I have more, and the next day and the next day. So I love that, and that helps the local wrestling here. What an experience.”

Could Puerto Rico see a new wrestling boom because of Backlash? Potentially so, and if it happens, fans will have Bad Bunny and Damian Priest to thank for it, as they were instrumental in bringing Vega and Carlito into the fray.

Savio Vega explains how he ended up on the Backlash card.

Discussing how he actually ended up on the Backlash card, Vega noted that the decision actually came down to Priest and Bunny, as they're both big fans of his work and explicitly wanted to include himself and Carlito in the match.

“They got in contact with me because this is the mastermind of Damian Priest and Bad Bunny,” Vega said. “They’re both fans of me, I discovered that when I went to the farewell of The Undertaker. I saw Damian Priest there and as soon as I see him, I went to him and said, ‘Hey, man, how you doing?’ I said, I want to take a picture with you.’ He said, ‘I want to take a picture with you.’ I said, ‘No, I want to take a picture with you.’ So I talked to him a little bit there, my experience and stuff like that. We don’t talk too much, but we keep in touch by phone. So this idea was them. More Damian Priest and he said, ‘I’d like to have this two guys in Puerto Rico when they find out they’re gonna do this pay-per-view over here.’ The dream came true, and then the rest was to put the puzzle together. Soon that happened, the company called me and [asked] if I’m interested to be part of it. I said, ‘Why not? Yes, let’s do it.’ They said, ‘Carlito’s gonna be in town.’ I said, ‘Bring him down too. That’s good.’ It was great.”

Would the San Juan Street Fight have worked without Vega, Carlito, and the rest of the lWo/Judgement Day? Potentially so; the fantastic match did lag a bit when Finn Balor and Dominik Mysterio ran out to the ring and didn't pick back up until the intruders left the ringside area, but the lasting image of the night might have been Bunny sitting on Cruz del Toro, Santos Escobar, and Rey Mysterio's shoulders while holding up the Puerto Rican flag. That moment wouldn't have been as sweet without Vega and Carlito in the ring too.