January 20, 2025 • 18 mins
WWE Superstar Raquel Rodriguez joins us ahead of WWE Monday Night RAW’s return to Dallas on January 20th at the American Airlines Center! In this exclusive interview, Raquel shares her thoughts on the intense Women’s WarGames match at Survivor Series, her decision to join The Judgment Day, and the impact of the newly introduced Women’s Intercontinental and U.S. Titles on the division. She also opens up about overcoming personal challenges, staying passionate about wrestling, and her goals for championship glory and personal growth in WWE.
🎟️ Don’t miss RAW in Dallas—tickets available now at Ticketmaster!
Follow us on social media:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/battlegroundpodcast
X: https://www.twitter.com/battlegroundihr
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/battlegroundpod
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/battlegroundpodcast
🎟️ Don’t miss RAW in Dallas—tickets available now at Ticketmaster!
Follow us on social media:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/battlegroundpodcast
X: https://www.twitter.com/battlegroundihr
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/battlegroundpod
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/battlegroundpodcast
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Battleground Podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Voca you'll please for all things prostling and.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Exclusive interviews with some of your favorite wrestlers.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Abound podcast stop seeing.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
What's up you guys.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Welcome back into I Hear Radio's official wrestling podcast, The
Battleground Podcast. It is Battle from lone Star, ninety two
to five and ninety seven point one the Eagle, and
of course you know it, you've seen it all over
the place. WWE Monday Night Raw returns to Dallas January
twentieth at America Airlines Center. Tickets, by the way, still
available ticketmaster dot com. And today on the show, we're
(00:46):
joined by the legendary Raquel Rodriguez joins the show. Raquel,
It's an honor and privilege to have you on the
show with us today.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Finally someone acknowledges me as the legend.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Thank you, legendary Raquel.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
And everybody in Texas knows about me. I know I'm
as famous as water Burger.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
Exactly. What is your goat to it? Waterburger by the way.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
Okay, so it's you know, it's been one that I've
been building for a while because we used to get
free Waterburger for every sport we played in high school,
so I had it, like, you know, three times a
week sometimes, right, But the one I would say is
my go to. Like now, I love to get a
double bacon cheeseburger with hot veniels and mustard, and then
I like to get some spicy ketchup on the side
(01:29):
because I like to dip if I can, or I
just like I use the thing and I just pour
a little bit of spicy ketchup on the burger and
write like that, and I want it in the burger.
I just want to put it on top, you know.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Before that, I think I might be going to Waterburger
for launch after this interview's over, now that.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
We're talking some spicy ketchup. Yeah, it's a great It's
great for the stomach, it's great for the acid reflex,
Like it'll really get you going during the day, put
some hair on your chest, you know.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
I think that, Well, we should petition Waterburger to name
a burger after you.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
May name that burger after you. I think that's what
we're gonna do.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
I think so too. Yeah, yes, I agree.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
I know some of the people.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
I know some of the people in the Water Burger.
You know, promotion side and marketing side. So we'll kick
that to them and be like, yo, give her this deal.
Name a burger after. Let's go on with it.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
Yeah, let's go on with it. Put me on a
billboard again. I'm legendary, you know, so absolutely by a
water burger after seeing this beautiful bug fighting into a
double meat. You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
Let's know, you know, we talk about legendary. One of
the big things.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
Recently, you participated in a women's wargame match at Survivor series.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Let's talk about that for a second. What were your.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Thoughts on that experience and how did it compare to
your previous matches.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
I just I love a good cage match, you know,
anything with a cage around the ring. Put me in it.
Sign me up, Yes, I'll be there. You know what
I mean, vip right here. I had so much fun
in that match. I really really did. It's just the
possibilities are endless when it comes to matches like those,
because you can get so creative with the weapons your used,
with the cage, with the people that are in the ring,
(03:02):
and and what those people can do. You know, if
they're super like flippy and they do all these cool
jumps like EO for example, who is she? Who is she?
Who does she think she is? Jumping off at the
top of the cage with a trash can on her
doing a moon salt a moon salt like absolutely blows
my mind. It blew my mind. The first time I
caught her in the trash can back in NXT and
our war games at NXT, and I was like, Wow,
(03:24):
she's jumping blind, you know, like, good on her, She's brave.
This year, she decided to add a moon salt to
it to make it, you know, even just more EO
sky of her, and I'm I'm just I'm still in
all of it because that's that's what I love about
these matches. You just never know what's going to happen
and what crazy stuff you're gonna come up with. And
even though you come up with this crazy stuff, it's like, Okay,
(03:45):
how can I make this come to life? And that's
the best part of it is making it come to life,
seeing it happen in the actual match and watching people's
faces and their reactions. A chef's kiss to that, that's
the great that's the best feeling.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Absolutely, And of course you guys had to you know,
start the night off for that Survivor series, I mean,
and that's obviously a big task to set the tone,
and of course the women's match did set the bar
pretty high for the rest of the night after after
your match was over. Unfortunately, though, your team didn't come
up victorious.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
But we're gonna put that in the past. We're not.
We're not. We're not talking about the past. We're talking
about right now. And of course we're talking.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
About Monday Night Rawl coming to Dallas American Airlines and
you can still grab tickets ticketmaster dot com. And you know,
a lot of people when when they saw this happen,
they're like, we see something good happening. Joining the judgment
day marked a significant turn in your WWE journey. What
motivated this decision and how does it influenced your character development?
Speaker 3 (04:42):
Yeah, I think excuse me, what motivated it was definitely
Live Morgan. I mean, you know, before I left with
being you know, with what I had going on this
past year, I was still in touch with liv Morgan.
I mean, we didn't really ends on bad terms. You know,
she had to leave because of a should injury and
I was still working and then I got sick and
(05:02):
I had to leave, and she came back and she
just set the ground for herself and for Judgment Day
and this new Judgment Day that was building, and she
just ran with it, you know what I mean. And
so watching her from home, watching her grow into this
mega superstar, into becoming the top woman in WWE, the
face of WWE, I was just so proud and so
in awe of her, and I still to this day
(05:24):
she inspires me in so many ways. And so that
decision to join the Judgment Day was super, super easy,
you know. And we had discussed, you know, the possibilities
of me coming back and helping her out and being
like in a thrupple if you will, with her and Tom.
I was just so excited. I was so excited because
you know, it's it's funny how everything comes full circle.
My sister always likes to joke that, like, oh, I
(05:45):
made Raquel you know who she is today, because I'm
the older sister, but she's shorter than me. So she
would start the fights and someone would have to come
in and finish them. And that was always me. We
played basketball together. That's what would happen on the court,
she would start a fight, I would come in and
I would finish it. If she was cheerleading and I
was just around at the football game doing whatever and
she would get into a fight, I was there to
back her up. So she likes to say she bred
(06:07):
this bodyguard, which that's exactly how I kind of feel
with Morgan. She's my sister, and I feel like, you know,
Dom is her boyfriend, and I'm just there, like kind
of like I guess, the third wheel, but in a
good way. I like being this version of the third wheel,
and it's just so much fun. I get to joke
around with Dom, who's like a little brother, like a
cousin at this point, you know. And I get to
be with my sister live, and I absolutely love just
(06:29):
being around her and watching how her mind works when
it comes to creating these scenes and these characters. And
she's so inspiring and she's so like she pushes you
in a good way to want to do better and
to want to be better. And I feel like since
I've joined the Judgment Day and been back, I have
grown leaps and bounds, not just in Riquel as Riquel
coming back in the Judgment Day, but as Riquel already
(06:50):
in the Judgment Day growing as her own character, and
I see that, and I know a lot of it
has to do with Live, So I attribute one hundred
percent a lot of my decision to Live Morgan.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Absolutely, And it's it's really cool to see how the
Judgement the Day started and then how where we're at now.
And it's gonna be interesting to see how things play
out because it seems like there's a.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
Little bit of animosity in between everything.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
It seems like there might be a little trouble and
paradise with Dumb and Live.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
No, I don't know what's going on.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
I mean, we're all seeing it on TV as it
unfolds every every week on Netflix. We don't know what's
happening with Finn and JD. And you got Carlito that's
just there. He's kind of around making jokes.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
And Carlino has a purpose. Cardito has a purpose the
right and his is gonna come through big one day.
Just watch. Yeah. Yeah, Finn has a lot going on,
you know. I think he needs to like figure that
out because it's it's portraying into the group. It's bleeding
into the group a little bit, for sure. I see
that being a little bit of an effect. But Livin
dam are fine. They're fine, nothing's going on with them.
(07:54):
I don't want anyone to worry. Livn dom or solid
as a rock, a right, and they're gonna continue to
be solid. Worries perfect.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
Well, We'm glad we don't have to get them like
on a Jerry Springer show or anything.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Hopefully that's never gonna happen.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
You know, when we were going through everything getting prepared
for this interview, I know, I think you manifested this one.
You expressed interest in the past of having a women's
Intercontinental Championship, adding more titles to the women's division, and
lo and behold, we just crowned a new Intercontinental Women's
champion with Lyra Valkyrie. What impact do you believe having
(08:29):
the Intercontinental Women's title and the United States Women's title
being added to the women's division and how do you
envision that role within the division?
Speaker 3 (08:39):
Oh my gosh, I think both of those titles are
just going to bring moresision. It's more opportunities for more
women to step up, to step through, to show the
talent that WWE has for their women's locker room. I
think I just talked about the women's locker room not
too long ago about how amazing it is because we
all just want what's best for the women's We want
(09:00):
to be the best women's division in wrestling, and so
we all set out to put everything else aside and
to go out there and to put on an absolutely
amazing show to the best of our abilities. And so
having these two new titles is really going to give
more opportunities to more women who are training hard every
day and just haven't had that one chance to step
into front of the camera. But now that we have
(09:20):
these two new titles, these two new titles to go
after to fight for, we have more women who are
going to want to come through and step through the woodworks.
And so I think you guys are going to be
seeing a lot of new faces, a lot of new
female faces that are going to be in the women's division,
a lot more chances to fall in love with different characters.
And I really really love that this is happening right
now for the women's division because it couldn't come at
(09:41):
a better time. Our women's division is huge when you
count the women on Raw, on SmackDown, on NXT and
the women that we still bring from, you know, like
outside resources. I think it's just it's absolutely insane how
much it's growing and how much of an effect it has,
especially on young girls at this time. I know, when
I was younger and I was watching wrestling, was like
one of the only girls to really admit to watching
(10:02):
wrestling and to being open about it, because there wasn't
too many women for us to like look up to
her to be represented by, you know, like of course
we had Bet Phoenix, we had your Stratus, all these
amazing women, but it wasn't a lot. And now it's
just growing, and we're getting more time on TV and
we're getting more opportunities to show our faces, and so
I think a lot of little girls, you're just going
to be seeing them being drawn to the product a
(10:23):
lot more too, especially with it being on Netflix now.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
Yeah. Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
And you know you talk about growing up watching wrestling,
I've grown up watching wrestling my entire life.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
And when you thought of women's wrestling, you know, when I.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
Was growing up, there was only like five ten minutes
at best when women's wrestling was on TV total for
the whole night. And now you sit here and you
look at it and It's like there was an all
women's pay per view. Women are main eventing wrestle Mania
main eventing, you know, Raw and smack Down and NXT,
and it's it's great to see, you know, how things
(10:57):
have gone from here to here, especially in the timeframe.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
Yeah, yeah, it's so cool. I absolutely love it. I mean,
I'm beyond grateful to be a part just to say
that I'm a part of this women's division, because it's
just it's huge right now. Everyone wants to be in
this women's division. It's the best women's division in the world.
We are producing some of the best female superstars wrestlers
in this entire on this entire planet, out of every country,
(11:22):
every promotion, we are producing some of the top and
so like that, that goes a long way, and that
says something about our women's division for sure.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
Absolutely, And maybe maybe just one day because I mean,
you've got people that are coming back soon, like Charlotte
we saw her backstage on social media at NXT. Becky,
when she comes back, maybe we can get another all
women's pay per views soon, because I mean, you said
the division is stacked, and there's enough titles that you
can have a bunch of matches.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
This is true. This is true. Like, you know, I
think we're good at manifesting stuff. So we're gonna say
that on here, right, We're gonna put that out there.
We're gonna have another all women's pay per view. I
see it, I see it coming.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
Oh man, that's that's gonna be just another great thing
that WW is doing. And you know, the one thing
that that I love about when people are very open
and honest with themselves, especially when it comes to social media.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
You don't shy away from anything.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
And you know, you've talked about your journey with with
your health and your career decisions, and it's been very
inspiring to see that you've been open with everybody on
this and you don't shy away from it. What strategies
have you employed to maintain a positive outlook and stay
connected with your passion for wrestling and staying connected with
(12:33):
fans and saying, hey, this is me.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
Yeah. I think I think a lot of it has
to go with just wanting to be real. You know,
I think, like we are bombarded with so much fake information,
false information, all this stuff that's constantly on social media.
You know, AI has really up the ante on what
is real and what is in fake here especially so
I think, like, especially for the younger people that are watching.
You know, I have a niece, she's six years old,
(12:57):
and every time I see her, I go to her gymnastia,
to her birthday parties. These little kids who find out
what I do, you know, they all come and they
ask me these questions. And I think it's important for
people in this position, especially to take a step back
and realize who our audience is and who's watching, and
what kind of information we're providing to our audiences. And
so for me, especially being an anti to you know,
(13:20):
my niece and to my nephew, and being close to
my friends who also have kids and wanting to have
a positive impact on them. Even as a bad guy,
I try to stay as real as possible. You know,
we all go through illness, so I want to be
open and real about you know, like it sucks, it's hard,
and it takes a big toll on your mental health.
But if you cannot persevere and push yourself out of
(13:42):
that rut, then you will be stuck in that forever.
And I want people to know that there isn't out
you know, like things happen to us in our lives.
I think I said this for this new year. I
can make a New Year's resolution. Sure, yes, I do
have my New Year's resolutions, but at the same time,
I want to be aware to the fact that good
and bad things are going to happen this year, whether
we like it or not. That's life. You know. Life
(14:02):
is always going to have the good, it's always going
to have the bad. It's how you come through at
the end of what's happening that's been bad in your life.
And so I want people to know they're not alone.
I want them to know that, like you know, we
all go through it no matter what position we are
in life. And so I just hope that they realize
from watching my social media and seeing how real and
open on being, that there isn't out and that there
is a light at the end of the tunnel. And
(14:23):
that's what I want people to look forward to, is
to really just push through the darkness that might be
happening in their life at this time, because it's not
easy and we all have been there and sometimes, you know,
I've been lucky enough to have an amazing supporting family
that has had my back and has been there for
me to pull me out of that rut. And I
know a lot of people don't have that blessing. And
so if I can be just even just like one
(14:45):
hands on their shoulder, pushing them a little bit from
my Instagram or from my TikTok and just that one
video really gives them that shove to kind of like
look forward to something, then I've made a good impact.
That I feel is what I want to do with
my social media for sure, is I just want to
be sure that the audiences know that they're not alone.
And you know, we go through it too, guys, We're
all human.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
So you know, I think that once you know you
finally hang up the wrestling boots, I think motivational speakers
should be your next career path after just hearing what
you just said there, I mean inspiring a lot of people,
including young girls and females, because I've got nieces as well,
and they've started kind of gravitating towards wrestling. And it
(15:27):
was a slow build because it was just kind of
like they would watch wrestling and then they'd be like,
I don't like this. But then when they start seeing
you know, more girls on their wrestling. They're like, I
can do that too, and so now you know, when
my nieces come over, they like to wrestle my six
year old and they go upstairs to his room and
they have like a wrestling ring and a match and
all this other stuff. And of course the uncle and
(15:51):
me has to buy them all the wrestling figures.
Speaker 1 (15:53):
And the title belt. So yeah, it's a great thing
for sure.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
And of course ww RAW is coming to Dallas January twentieth,
American Airlines Center. Take us still available, takemaster dot com.
If you can't get to it, you can always watch
it on Netflix. And real quick before we let you go,
Looking ahead, we're just a couple weeks into January. What
goals have you set for yourself in WWE Birth in
terms of championship pursuits and personal growth within the industry
(16:20):
for this year.
Speaker 3 (16:21):
Yeah, so, I mean, I definitely want to win the
Women's tag team championship titles again with my girl Live,
you know, so that we can be three times Women's
tag team champs. You know, that would be that's a
goal for sure that hopefully, you know, it's something that
we're going to start pursuing soon. And then yeah, I
think to win a championship on my own two is
definitely a goal that I have for twenty twenty five.
(16:42):
I think I've started off the year right, and you know,
we've come in a long way from this past year,
and so I think that's what's looking into my future
and whether that be you know, the inter Intercontinental Championship,
the US Championship, the Women's World Championship, with the WWE
Women's Ship, like, we have many options now with all
these titles going around, So that's definitely what I'm looking
(17:04):
forward to, and then developing just into a bigger and
badder raquel that's just representing, you know, all of the
Latinos in Texas and the Latinas that are just looking
to have someone of their color representing them and their state.
And so I'm just really excited for what this year
holds because I know it has so many surprises too,
so I'm really trying not to like figure out what
those surprises are. I want to be surprised, but we
(17:26):
can all be surprised.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
Together, absolutely, and we're gonna manifest it. You're all about manifesting.
You manifested the Intercontinental Women's Championship. Years later, it happened.
We're manifesting that Raquel's gonna have not only tag team
Championship gold, she's gonna have singles gold as well, and
we're just putting it out there in the universe so
she'll have all the gold if we had our way.
Speaker 3 (17:49):
Yeah, I love it.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
Raquel. It's an honor and a privilege to have you
on the show today.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
Thank you so much for stopping by, and we look
forward to seeing you here in Dallas on Monday night.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
Raw.
Speaker 3 (18:00):
Thank you
Welcome to the Battleground Podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Voca you'll please for all things prostling and.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Exclusive interviews with some of your favorite wrestlers.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Abound podcast stop seeing.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
What's up you guys.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Welcome back into I Hear Radio's official wrestling podcast, The
Battleground Podcast. It is Battle from lone Star, ninety two
to five and ninety seven point one the Eagle, and
of course you know it, you've seen it all over
the place. WWE Monday Night Raw returns to Dallas January
twentieth at America Airlines Center. Tickets, by the way, still
available ticketmaster dot com. And today on the show, we're
(00:46):
joined by the legendary Raquel Rodriguez joins the show. Raquel,
It's an honor and privilege to have you on the
show with us today.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Finally someone acknowledges me as the legend.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Thank you, legendary Raquel.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
And everybody in Texas knows about me. I know I'm
as famous as water Burger.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
Exactly. What is your goat to it? Waterburger by the way.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
Okay, so it's you know, it's been one that I've
been building for a while because we used to get
free Waterburger for every sport we played in high school,
so I had it, like, you know, three times a
week sometimes, right, But the one I would say is
my go to. Like now, I love to get a
double bacon cheeseburger with hot veniels and mustard, and then
I like to get some spicy ketchup on the side
(01:29):
because I like to dip if I can, or I
just like I use the thing and I just pour
a little bit of spicy ketchup on the burger and
write like that, and I want it in the burger.
I just want to put it on top, you know.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Before that, I think I might be going to Waterburger
for launch after this interview's over, now that.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
We're talking some spicy ketchup. Yeah, it's a great It's
great for the stomach, it's great for the acid reflex,
Like it'll really get you going during the day, put
some hair on your chest, you know.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
I think that, Well, we should petition Waterburger to name
a burger after you.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
May name that burger after you. I think that's what
we're gonna do.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
I think so too. Yeah, yes, I agree.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
I know some of the people.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
I know some of the people in the Water Burger.
You know, promotion side and marketing side. So we'll kick
that to them and be like, yo, give her this deal.
Name a burger after. Let's go on with it.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
Yeah, let's go on with it. Put me on a
billboard again. I'm legendary, you know, so absolutely by a
water burger after seeing this beautiful bug fighting into a
double meat. You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
Let's know, you know, we talk about legendary. One of
the big things.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
Recently, you participated in a women's wargame match at Survivor series.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Let's talk about that for a second. What were your.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Thoughts on that experience and how did it compare to
your previous matches.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
I just I love a good cage match, you know,
anything with a cage around the ring. Put me in it.
Sign me up, Yes, I'll be there. You know what
I mean, vip right here. I had so much fun
in that match. I really really did. It's just the
possibilities are endless when it comes to matches like those,
because you can get so creative with the weapons your used,
with the cage, with the people that are in the ring,
(03:02):
and and what those people can do. You know, if
they're super like flippy and they do all these cool
jumps like EO for example, who is she? Who is she?
Who does she think she is? Jumping off at the
top of the cage with a trash can on her
doing a moon salt a moon salt like absolutely blows
my mind. It blew my mind. The first time I
caught her in the trash can back in NXT and
our war games at NXT, and I was like, Wow,
(03:24):
she's jumping blind, you know, like, good on her, She's brave.
This year, she decided to add a moon salt to
it to make it, you know, even just more EO
sky of her, and I'm I'm just I'm still in
all of it because that's that's what I love about
these matches. You just never know what's going to happen
and what crazy stuff you're gonna come up with. And
even though you come up with this crazy stuff, it's like, Okay,
(03:45):
how can I make this come to life? And that's
the best part of it is making it come to life,
seeing it happen in the actual match and watching people's
faces and their reactions. A chef's kiss to that, that's
the great that's the best feeling.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Absolutely, And of course you guys had to you know,
start the night off for that Survivor series, I mean,
and that's obviously a big task to set the tone,
and of course the women's match did set the bar
pretty high for the rest of the night after after
your match was over. Unfortunately, though, your team didn't come
up victorious.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
But we're gonna put that in the past. We're not.
We're not. We're not talking about the past. We're talking
about right now. And of course we're talking.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
About Monday Night Rawl coming to Dallas American Airlines and
you can still grab tickets ticketmaster dot com. And you know,
a lot of people when when they saw this happen,
they're like, we see something good happening. Joining the judgment
day marked a significant turn in your WWE journey. What
motivated this decision and how does it influenced your character development?
Speaker 3 (04:42):
Yeah, I think excuse me, what motivated it was definitely
Live Morgan. I mean, you know, before I left with
being you know, with what I had going on this
past year, I was still in touch with liv Morgan.
I mean, we didn't really ends on bad terms. You know,
she had to leave because of a should injury and
I was still working and then I got sick and
(05:02):
I had to leave, and she came back and she
just set the ground for herself and for Judgment Day
and this new Judgment Day that was building, and she
just ran with it, you know what I mean. And
so watching her from home, watching her grow into this
mega superstar, into becoming the top woman in WWE, the
face of WWE, I was just so proud and so
in awe of her, and I still to this day
(05:24):
she inspires me in so many ways. And so that
decision to join the Judgment Day was super, super easy,
you know. And we had discussed, you know, the possibilities
of me coming back and helping her out and being
like in a thrupple if you will, with her and Tom.
I was just so excited. I was so excited because
you know, it's it's funny how everything comes full circle.
My sister always likes to joke that, like, oh, I
(05:45):
made Raquel you know who she is today, because I'm
the older sister, but she's shorter than me. So she
would start the fights and someone would have to come
in and finish them. And that was always me. We
played basketball together. That's what would happen on the court,
she would start a fight, I would come in and
I would finish it. If she was cheerleading and I
was just around at the football game doing whatever and
she would get into a fight, I was there to
back her up. So she likes to say she bred
(06:07):
this bodyguard, which that's exactly how I kind of feel
with Morgan. She's my sister, and I feel like, you know,
Dom is her boyfriend, and I'm just there, like kind
of like I guess, the third wheel, but in a
good way. I like being this version of the third wheel,
and it's just so much fun. I get to joke
around with Dom, who's like a little brother, like a
cousin at this point, you know. And I get to
be with my sister live, and I absolutely love just
(06:29):
being around her and watching how her mind works when
it comes to creating these scenes and these characters. And
she's so inspiring and she's so like she pushes you
in a good way to want to do better and
to want to be better. And I feel like since
I've joined the Judgment Day and been back, I have
grown leaps and bounds, not just in Riquel as Riquel
coming back in the Judgment Day, but as Riquel already
(06:50):
in the Judgment Day growing as her own character, and
I see that, and I know a lot of it
has to do with Live, So I attribute one hundred
percent a lot of my decision to Live Morgan.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Absolutely, And it's it's really cool to see how the
Judgement the Day started and then how where we're at now.
And it's gonna be interesting to see how things play
out because it seems like there's a.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
Little bit of animosity in between everything.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
It seems like there might be a little trouble and
paradise with Dumb and Live.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
No, I don't know what's going on.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
I mean, we're all seeing it on TV as it
unfolds every every week on Netflix. We don't know what's
happening with Finn and JD. And you got Carlito that's
just there. He's kind of around making jokes.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
And Carlino has a purpose. Cardito has a purpose the
right and his is gonna come through big one day.
Just watch. Yeah. Yeah, Finn has a lot going on,
you know. I think he needs to like figure that
out because it's it's portraying into the group. It's bleeding
into the group a little bit, for sure. I see
that being a little bit of an effect. But Livin
dam are fine. They're fine, nothing's going on with them.
(07:54):
I don't want anyone to worry. Livn dom or solid
as a rock, a right, and they're gonna continue to
be solid. Worries perfect.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
Well, We'm glad we don't have to get them like
on a Jerry Springer show or anything.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Hopefully that's never gonna happen.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
You know, when we were going through everything getting prepared
for this interview, I know, I think you manifested this one.
You expressed interest in the past of having a women's
Intercontinental Championship, adding more titles to the women's division, and
lo and behold, we just crowned a new Intercontinental Women's
champion with Lyra Valkyrie. What impact do you believe having
(08:29):
the Intercontinental Women's title and the United States Women's title
being added to the women's division and how do you
envision that role within the division?
Speaker 3 (08:39):
Oh my gosh, I think both of those titles are
just going to bring moresision. It's more opportunities for more
women to step up, to step through, to show the
talent that WWE has for their women's locker room. I
think I just talked about the women's locker room not
too long ago about how amazing it is because we
all just want what's best for the women's We want
(09:00):
to be the best women's division in wrestling, and so
we all set out to put everything else aside and
to go out there and to put on an absolutely
amazing show to the best of our abilities. And so
having these two new titles is really going to give
more opportunities to more women who are training hard every
day and just haven't had that one chance to step
into front of the camera. But now that we have
(09:20):
these two new titles, these two new titles to go
after to fight for, we have more women who are
going to want to come through and step through the woodworks.
And so I think you guys are going to be
seeing a lot of new faces, a lot of new
female faces that are going to be in the women's division,
a lot more chances to fall in love with different characters.
And I really really love that this is happening right
now for the women's division because it couldn't come at
(09:41):
a better time. Our women's division is huge when you
count the women on Raw, on SmackDown, on NXT and
the women that we still bring from, you know, like
outside resources. I think it's just it's absolutely insane how
much it's growing and how much of an effect it has,
especially on young girls at this time. I know, when
I was younger and I was watching wrestling, was like
one of the only girls to really admit to watching
(10:02):
wrestling and to being open about it, because there wasn't
too many women for us to like look up to
her to be represented by, you know, like of course
we had Bet Phoenix, we had your Stratus, all these
amazing women, but it wasn't a lot. And now it's
just growing, and we're getting more time on TV and
we're getting more opportunities to show our faces, and so
I think a lot of little girls, you're just going
to be seeing them being drawn to the product a
(10:23):
lot more too, especially with it being on Netflix now.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
Yeah. Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
And you know you talk about growing up watching wrestling,
I've grown up watching wrestling my entire life.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
And when you thought of women's wrestling, you know, when I.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
Was growing up, there was only like five ten minutes
at best when women's wrestling was on TV total for
the whole night. And now you sit here and you
look at it and It's like there was an all
women's pay per view. Women are main eventing wrestle Mania
main eventing, you know, Raw and smack Down and NXT,
and it's it's great to see, you know, how things
(10:57):
have gone from here to here, especially in the timeframe.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
Yeah, yeah, it's so cool. I absolutely love it. I mean,
I'm beyond grateful to be a part just to say
that I'm a part of this women's division, because it's
just it's huge right now. Everyone wants to be in
this women's division. It's the best women's division in the world.
We are producing some of the best female superstars wrestlers
in this entire on this entire planet, out of every country,
(11:22):
every promotion, we are producing some of the top and
so like that, that goes a long way, and that
says something about our women's division for sure.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
Absolutely, And maybe maybe just one day because I mean,
you've got people that are coming back soon, like Charlotte
we saw her backstage on social media at NXT. Becky,
when she comes back, maybe we can get another all
women's pay per views soon, because I mean, you said
the division is stacked, and there's enough titles that you
can have a bunch of matches.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
This is true. This is true. Like, you know, I
think we're good at manifesting stuff. So we're gonna say
that on here, right, We're gonna put that out there.
We're gonna have another all women's pay per view. I
see it, I see it coming.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
Oh man, that's that's gonna be just another great thing
that WW is doing. And you know, the one thing
that that I love about when people are very open
and honest with themselves, especially when it comes to social media.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
You don't shy away from anything.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
And you know, you've talked about your journey with with
your health and your career decisions, and it's been very
inspiring to see that you've been open with everybody on
this and you don't shy away from it. What strategies
have you employed to maintain a positive outlook and stay
connected with your passion for wrestling and staying connected with
(12:33):
fans and saying, hey, this is me.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
Yeah. I think I think a lot of it has
to go with just wanting to be real. You know,
I think, like we are bombarded with so much fake information,
false information, all this stuff that's constantly on social media.
You know, AI has really up the ante on what
is real and what is in fake here especially so
I think, like, especially for the younger people that are watching.
You know, I have a niece, she's six years old,
(12:57):
and every time I see her, I go to her gymnastia,
to her birthday parties. These little kids who find out
what I do, you know, they all come and they
ask me these questions. And I think it's important for
people in this position, especially to take a step back
and realize who our audience is and who's watching, and
what kind of information we're providing to our audiences. And
so for me, especially being an anti to you know,
(13:20):
my niece and to my nephew, and being close to
my friends who also have kids and wanting to have
a positive impact on them. Even as a bad guy,
I try to stay as real as possible. You know,
we all go through illness, so I want to be
open and real about you know, like it sucks, it's hard,
and it takes a big toll on your mental health.
But if you cannot persevere and push yourself out of
(13:42):
that rut, then you will be stuck in that forever.
And I want people to know that there isn't out
you know, like things happen to us in our lives.
I think I said this for this new year. I
can make a New Year's resolution. Sure, yes, I do
have my New Year's resolutions, but at the same time,
I want to be aware to the fact that good
and bad things are going to happen this year, whether
we like it or not. That's life. You know. Life
(14:02):
is always going to have the good, it's always going
to have the bad. It's how you come through at
the end of what's happening that's been bad in your life.
And so I want people to know they're not alone.
I want them to know that, like you know, we
all go through it no matter what position we are
in life. And so I just hope that they realize
from watching my social media and seeing how real and
open on being, that there isn't out and that there
is a light at the end of the tunnel. And
(14:23):
that's what I want people to look forward to, is
to really just push through the darkness that might be
happening in their life at this time, because it's not
easy and we all have been there and sometimes, you know,
I've been lucky enough to have an amazing supporting family
that has had my back and has been there for
me to pull me out of that rut. And I
know a lot of people don't have that blessing. And
so if I can be just even just like one
(14:45):
hands on their shoulder, pushing them a little bit from
my Instagram or from my TikTok and just that one
video really gives them that shove to kind of like
look forward to something, then I've made a good impact.
That I feel is what I want to do with
my social media for sure, is I just want to
be sure that the audiences know that they're not alone.
And you know, we go through it too, guys, We're
all human.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
So you know, I think that once you know you
finally hang up the wrestling boots, I think motivational speakers
should be your next career path after just hearing what
you just said there, I mean inspiring a lot of people,
including young girls and females, because I've got nieces as well,
and they've started kind of gravitating towards wrestling. And it
(15:27):
was a slow build because it was just kind of
like they would watch wrestling and then they'd be like,
I don't like this. But then when they start seeing
you know, more girls on their wrestling. They're like, I
can do that too, and so now you know, when
my nieces come over, they like to wrestle my six
year old and they go upstairs to his room and
they have like a wrestling ring and a match and
all this other stuff. And of course the uncle and
(15:51):
me has to buy them all the wrestling figures.
Speaker 1 (15:53):
And the title belt. So yeah, it's a great thing
for sure.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
And of course ww RAW is coming to Dallas January twentieth,
American Airlines Center. Take us still available, takemaster dot com.
If you can't get to it, you can always watch
it on Netflix. And real quick before we let you go,
Looking ahead, we're just a couple weeks into January. What
goals have you set for yourself in WWE Birth in
terms of championship pursuits and personal growth within the industry
(16:20):
for this year.
Speaker 3 (16:21):
Yeah, so, I mean, I definitely want to win the
Women's tag team championship titles again with my girl Live,
you know, so that we can be three times Women's
tag team champs. You know, that would be that's a
goal for sure that hopefully, you know, it's something that
we're going to start pursuing soon. And then yeah, I
think to win a championship on my own two is
definitely a goal that I have for twenty twenty five.
(16:42):
I think I've started off the year right, and you know,
we've come in a long way from this past year,
and so I think that's what's looking into my future
and whether that be you know, the inter Intercontinental Championship,
the US Championship, the Women's World Championship, with the WWE
Women's Ship, like, we have many options now with all
these titles going around, So that's definitely what I'm looking
(17:04):
forward to, and then developing just into a bigger and
badder raquel that's just representing, you know, all of the
Latinos in Texas and the Latinas that are just looking
to have someone of their color representing them and their state.
And so I'm just really excited for what this year
holds because I know it has so many surprises too,
so I'm really trying not to like figure out what
those surprises are. I want to be surprised, but we
(17:26):
can all be surprised.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
Together, absolutely, and we're gonna manifest it. You're all about manifesting.
You manifested the Intercontinental Women's Championship. Years later, it happened.
We're manifesting that Raquel's gonna have not only tag team
Championship gold, she's gonna have singles gold as well, and
we're just putting it out there in the universe so
she'll have all the gold if we had our way.
Speaker 3 (17:49):
Yeah, I love it.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
Raquel. It's an honor and a privilege to have you
on the show today.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
Thank you so much for stopping by, and we look
forward to seeing you here in Dallas on Monday night.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
Raw.
Speaker 3 (18:00):
Thank you
Popular Podcasts
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy And Charlamagne Tha God!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Decisions, Decisions
Welcome to "Decisions, Decisions," the podcast where boundaries are pushed, and conversations get candid! Join your favorite hosts, Mandii B and WeezyWTF, as they dive deep into the world of non-traditional relationships and explore the often-taboo topics surrounding dating, sex, and love. Every Monday, Mandii and Weezy invite you to unlearn the outdated narratives dictated by traditional patriarchal norms. With a blend of humor, vulnerability, and authenticity, they share their personal journeys navigating their 30s, tackling the complexities of modern relationships, and engaging in thought-provoking discussions that challenge societal expectations. From groundbreaking interviews with diverse guests to relatable stories that resonate with your experiences, "Decisions, Decisions" is your go-to source for open dialogue about what it truly means to love and connect in today's world. Get ready to reshape your understanding of relationships and embrace the freedom of authentic connections—tune in and join the conversation!