WWE star and former NXT women’s champion Raquel Rodriguez recently appeared on the Bleav In Pro Wrestling podcast to discuss a number of different topics, including her thoughts on WWE changing her ring name and how she is interested in potentially forming a tag team with Rhea Ripley. Highlights from the interview can be found below.
On WWE changing her name and how she was fine with it:
“They just basically said, ‘Hey, you’re getting a name change and this is it.’ And I was like, ‘Cool, that’s fine.’ I really had no big arguments with it at all. It was just a simple little switch. It’s funny, I was just joking with Rhea (Ripley) last Friday because she was actually at SmackDown, and her initials are R-R. Rhea Ripley. And we’ve always joked about being a tag team, and we had our feud NXT. Well, now my initials are R-R, Raquel Rodriguez. So it kind of just feels like it was meant to be, so I’m okay with it. We’re starting to think of new tag names.”
How emotional the last few weeks have been for her:
“I was just with my family all weekend. So, already I was very emotional, not only getting to perform in front of them but being able to hang out with my niece and I got to have a little slumber party with my niece. So, it was a whole weekend just full of lots of emotions and happy emotions and love. And I was on my way back and I get the call and they tell me about SmackDown. I’m like, ‘Oh my God, what do I do?’ And of course, the first thing I do is I call my dad. I call my dad and my mom and I let them know. They just immediately start crying because they totally understand. You know, it’s been five to six years for me, since I moved from Texas, the farthest away from my home state. And my family is so very, very close. Like, I talk to my dad every day. So he’s heard every struggle I’ve been going through. Every doubt I’ve ever had. My dad has heard me cry in the mornings. He’s heard me cry at night. Sorry, I’m getting emotional. I’m so emotional right now.”
(H/T and transcribed by WrestleZone)