Raquel Gonzalez did an interview with Wrestling Inc to discuss a wide range of topics.
Here are some of the highlights from the interview with the WWE NXT star:
Getting advice from WWE Hall of Famer Beth Phoenix:
“She was here speaking to all of us. She was telling us to always go out there and own it and be who we are,” she said. “She always gave me positive words of affirmation of when it came to my lifting and me changing my body and becoming something else. To know she sees that in me with the little time she has seen me really helped me build my confidence and boost how I feel about myself.
“Hearing her story too and what she was going through wrestling for Raw and SmackDown. It really resonates with me and makes me feel good to know someone has been through that and has made it. That reassures me that I too can make it to that point and that level Beth Phoenix reached.”
Finding herself:
“As a taller, bigger woman, I one hundred percent know I’m athletic and can do things that the other girls can do,” she said. “But at the end of the day I don’t need to do [certain moves] because showing my athleticism I can show that by catching Ember Moon with a top rope Eclipse. I can do that by catching Rhea Ripley off the ring apron from a cannon ball and picking her backup and still running her in a barricade [for example]
“…Athleticism can be many things because in this world there are so many dynamics. An athlete is someone who goes out there, does their very best, works hard and sows the dynamic they bring to the performance. I think I’m doing it with my size, my ability. It has been something I’ve struggled with in the past just because i am so unique. Of course, as a woman growing up different it doesn’t do anything for confidence. Being in here at NXT and embracing that and owning that and looking to people like Beth Phoenix and Nia Jax, I know that my style is unique and I bring a different type of athleticism to the NXT women’s roster.”