Zena Sterling Admits She’s Happy She Didn’t Win WWE’s LFG Season One

Zena Sterling isn’t bitter about falling short in the finals of WWE’s LFG season one—in fact, she says not winning may have been the best thing for her.

Speaking to Bully Ray on Busted Open Radio on May 20, 2025, Sterling opened up about her emotional and physical journey to the finale, including suffering a knee injury just days before the match. When asked if not winning the competition felt like a failure, she didn’t hesitate.

“Absolutely not. No. And honestly, now that I look back at it, I’m happy that I didn’t win season one,” she said. “I know that sounds so silly, but I feel like in a sense, if I did win, it would have been a little bit too easy, you know, because I feel like now I have that much more of a challenge. And I love struggle, like I’ve said this before. So I’ll say it again—I don’t want my struggle story to be the COVID pandemic.”

Sterling doubled down on her belief that real growth comes from adversity, not shortcuts. “I need some struggle in my life. And a lot of people, like, want everything just to come handed to them or just, you know, to flow into their hands. But if that were to happen to me, I don’t want it,” she continued. “If it comes that easily to me, then it’s not worth anything to me.”

Looking ahead, she made it clear she’s far from done. “It took me a lot to get to finals—like a lot to get there—but me not winning it, that just means I can put in that much more. Season two and, you know, in the road ahead to get that contract and get on NXT TV.”

Tyra Mae Steele may have walked out of Madison Square Garden with the win and the NXT contract, but Zena Sterling isn’t seeing her loss as a setback—it’s fuel for everything she’s about to do next.

Please credit Ringside News if you use the above transcript in your publication.