In 2011 and 2012, Vélez worked under the WWE ring name Sofia Cortez in the developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (renamed NXT in 2012).

She quickly formed an alliance with Saraya Bevis (Paige) and established the "Anti-Diva"" Stable, where Shaul Guerrero (Raquel Diaz) later joined.

[9] WWE assigned Vélez to its then-developmental territory, Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), where she debuted (under the ring name Sofia Cortez) at an FCW house show in a six-woman tag team match (teaming with Cameron Lynn and Audrey Marie to defeat Caylee Turner, Leah West and Raquel Diaz).

[10] On the March 11 episode of FCW TV, Cortez formed a villainous stable dubbed The Anti-Divas, consisting of herself, Paige and Raquel Diaz, with the trio attacking Audrey Marie.

[19] On October 4, 2012, Vélez debuted at Family Wrestling Entertainment (FWE)'s Back 2 Brooklyn pay-per-view as a special guest, along with former WWE Diva Maryse Ouellet.

Later in the event, Vélez attacked Katarina Leigh after she and Maria Kanellis were defeated by The Beautiful People (Angelina Love and Velvet Sky).

[20] Vélez made her debut as a representative of the stable on January 1, 2013, at a Perros del Mal independent event, where she teamed with Cósmico and Eita to defeat Celestial, Flamita and Sexy Lady.

Later that night, the formation of the stable Valkyrie was revealed, consisting of Vélez, Rain, Allysin Kay, Taylor Made and April Hunter.

At Shine 8, on March 23, Vélez and the rest of Valkyrie defeated the team of Amazing Kong, Angelina Love, Mia Yim and Christina Von Eerie.

[27] Vélez went on to successfully defend the title against the likes of Mercedes Martinez, Leva Bates and Jazz, both on Shine pay-per-views and other promotion's events.

Vélez also appeared at One Night Only: World Cup, as part of team Aces & Eights including D.O.C., Knux, Mr. Anderson and Wes Brisco.

Vélez debuted on the November 5, 2014, episode of Lucha Underground, simply as Ivelisse, teaming with Son of Havoc in a loss to Sexy Star and Chavo Guerrero Jr.[37] Ivelisse, Havoc and Angélico went on to form an alliance, and on February 8, 2015, the trio won a tournament to become the inaugural Lucha Underground Trios Champions.

[41] On July 29, at Ultima Lucha Part 1, they lost the championships to The Disciples of Death (Barrio Negro, Trece and El Sinestro de la Muerte), due to interference from Catrina.

They advanced to the finals by defeating Rachael Ellering and Dasha Gonzalez in the first round, then Tay Conti and Anna Jay in the semi-finals.

[48] On the September 11 episode of Dynamite, Ivelisse lost a title match to (at the time) NWA World Women's Champion Thunder Rosa.

[52] On February 6, 2019, it was reported that Ivelisse, Joey Ryan, Melissa Cervantes (Thunder Rosa) and Jorge Luis Alcantar (El Hijo del Fantasma/King Cuerno) had collectively filed a class-action lawsuit in California against the El Rey Network and the Baba-G production company producing the Lucha Underground TV series.

The group claimed that their Lucha Underground contracts were illegal under state law because they unfairly restricted their ability to work in their chosen profession.