Xelina paid tribute to her late father, Michael Trinidad, on the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks.
During an interview with The Takedown on SI, Xelina reflected on the bond she shared with her father through professional wrestling. She recalled attending shows with him, including WCW Halloween Havoc 1997, where they witnessed the classic match between Rey Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero.
Xelina also remembered the Hardy Boyz T-shirt her father bought her as a child. During her reign as WWE Women’s United States Champion, she brought the title to the 9/11 Memorial in his honor. However, she remains determined to return one day with a World Championship.
“Even though I got to bring the United States Championship to the 9/11 Memorial, I still have this urge to bring him a World Title,” Xelina said.
She acknowledged that she does not know where the opportunity to fulfill that goal might come from following her latest WWE departure.
“I don’t know where that title comes from — I don’t know if it’s WWE. I left WWE in 2020, I came back, and now I’m gone again, and who knows what happens. But if it’s not with WWE, that doesn’t mean it can’t be with House of Glory, or TNA, or AEW, or CMLL, or wherever.”
Xelina went on to explain how wrestling helped pull her through one of the darkest periods of her life. Although she initially struggled to accept her father’s death, the reality of the tragedy fully set in when she was around 15 years old.
“It was the only thing that pulled me out of a dark depression. It really hit me when I was about 15,” she said. “I used to go with my dad every weekend, and even after 9/11, as a kid, I’d pack my bags thinking I was just going to go see him — like somehow he’d have gotten out of there.”
That grief ultimately led her back to the interest she and her father shared most.
“By the time I was 15, it really hit me, and I asked myself, okay, what was the thing he and I shared the most? Professional wrestling.”
Xelina then decided to pursue wrestling as a way to fulfill both her own dream and the dream her father had for her.
“So I thought, I think I can do this — for me, and to live his dream and mine at the same time,” she said. “I made a promise back then: I’m going to bring him a championship. That gave me a distraction, but it also gave me something to fight for.”
She added that keeping that promise continues to motivate her during difficult moments.
“I go into survival mode when I feel my lowest — tunnel vision on one thing. For me, that was it: I have this promise to keep, and I’m not going to feel fulfilled until I do.”
Following her WWE release earlier this year, Xelina confirmed her new ring name and competed in a three-way match against Shayna Baszler and Brittnie Brooks at House of Glory’s Fall Out event. Her most recent match saw her defeat Myla Grace at a PROGRESS Wrestling event on September 6.
