WWE superstar Raquel Rodriguez of The Judgment Day on teaming with Roxanne Perez, battling illness and how she reacted to wrestling legend Kevin Nash’s comments about her ‘working small’
Raquel Rodriguez has already made a big impression in WWE and the 6ft powerhouse isn’t done yet.
A record setting six-time WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion, the Texas native is part of The Judgment Day stable that has wreaked havoc on Raw. The 34-year-old, real name Victoria Gonzalez, has been praised for a string of highly acclaimed matches this summer, including an epic street fight with Rhea Ripley at Night of Champions in June.
During WWE’s recent UK tour, Rodriguez spoke to Daily Mirror Sport about teaming with Roxanne Perez, her ambitions as a singles performer, battling mast cell activation syndrome, and how she responded to comments from WWE Hall of Famer Kevin Nash about making the most of her physical talents in her quest to become a world champion.
Since Liv Morgan’s unfortunate injury you’ve been teaming with Roxanne Perez for The Judgment Day. It’s been fascinating watching that team grow – how have you found working with her and how is it different from being in the ring with Liv?
“It’s very, very different. I know a lot of people want to compare Roxanne to Liv and say that Roxanne is taking Liv’s spot and all these things, Roxanne is being herself. She has been absolutely genuine to her character, everything that she’s worked on from NXT and I absolutely appreciate that.
“I think it has been a little bit of a struggle, changing partners so quickly. I’ve been working with Liv for a couple of years now, I feel like maybe three years. And to suddenly have your tag partner that, you know, we’re both trying to defend the titles, and we’re going after the titles again now.
“It’s a building process, but I found that a lot of people have complimented our chemistry in the ring, and I think that has to do a lot with our backgrounds being so similar. We’re both from the border of Mexico and Texas, so we both have the same culture, we have the same beliefs, we’ve been brought up kind of the same way, just from different times. And it’s been like having a little cousin with me, honestly.”
You’ve known her for a long time.
“I have, so I was actually there for her first match, her first indie match. I was also on that show with her. It was one of my first indie matches as well. And she started so young, you know, she started when she was a teenager. I had to wait. My dad wouldn’t let me until I finished college. So different times, again, different reasons for joining the business.
“But yeah, I’ve been there with her from the very beginning. And a lot of people are like, ‘oh, you guys, look so natural with each other’. And I’m like, ‘what?’ I feel like we’ve been doing it forever because I’ve known her for so long. I’ve known her for about 10 years now. Wow.”
You’re the tallest woman in WWE.
“That’s right!”
By some distance. A lot was made of comments from Kevin Nash, in which he talked about how he wanted to see you wrestle ‘bigger’ and really dominate in the ring. [Nash said he was ‘p***ed off’ seeing Rodriguez ‘work small’]. I thought it was interesting that he made those comments and then you dominated in the ring! We saw at Evolution, you really showing exactly what you’re all about in terms of your size and stature. I noticed that you gave a very classy response..
Thank you!
…saying that you had taken the feedback and his critique and constructive criticism, and that it was something that you would try to do. I wondered, did you adapt? Or is it just a case of you getting an opportunity to show more what you can do?
“You know, it was both. It was honestly both. So at the time that Kevin Nash made those comments, I had just had my match with Rhea Ripley in Saudi, where we had, of course, the street fight. And I know that that was an epic match… I think what that match did for me is it reopened everyone’s eyes to what I’m actually capable of, because I’ve been working big for a long time, in my opinion.
“I’ve learned to work big in NXT. I’ve learned from some of the best, and then even my first couple years on the main roster as a good guy, I felt like I was doing my very best to keep working big, but that’s tough when you’re put in a position where you have to be the vulnerable one.
“Even when I came back from being sick and my year off, teaming back up with Liv, Liv is such a big superstar. You know, she she’s such a hot commodity. She’s a women’s world champ. She’s a tag team champ. She’s all over every single show. She’s Dominic’s girlfriend. She’s La Guerita.
“It’s really hard to be anything more than just a bodyguard with such a big star, especially when my confidence wasn’t where it was, when I first started with the company. You know, coming back from a skin injury or an illness, I should say, and still trying to find things that will help my skin so that I don’t have these major flare-ups, which I’m still having constantly.
“I’m still fighting this day to day, you know, with making the right decisions on what I eat, how I sleep, what I’m doing and putting on my skin. I can’t wear makeup like the rest of the girls. So it was a little difficult, of course.”
None of that’s easy, is it? When you’re flying around the world with your schedule?
“Thank you, yes, exactly. So it was really difficult, trying to find my confidence in all of that and having this injury and this unfortunate situation that happened with Liv, really kind of put me into a pressure zone where I knew I had to step up.
“And then I had that match with Rhea and the comments from Kevin Nash came out, and when those comments came out, too, in my mind, when I answered it, I was thinking, well, ‘He’s not wrong, he’s absolutely not wrong – I have been working small’.
“I’d been working how I thought I needed to be working. I really needed to step up like I did with Rhea, with every other person in the ring. And so since those comments came out, it gave me an opportunity to just hone in on my craft and face every single opportunity, every opponent, as if they were Rhea Ripley and go out there and wrestle them as Raquel Rodriguez should.”
When you talk about opportunity – there’s a vacant world title [the WWE Women’s World Championship]….
“Hey, you know, I’m ready. I’m ready. I’m more confident than ever. I feel like I’ve been doing my best work more than ever. I feel like my character’s really honed into who she is. And I feel confident about holding that title and carrying the women’s roster, the way that Liv did. Maybe even a little bit better.”
WWE has announced its first ever Road to Royal Rumble tour of Europe, which will arrive in the UK in January 2026. Fans can register now for presale access to the UK dates. Here are the UK dates in full:
- Saturday, January 10 – Glasgow, UKOVO Hydro
- Thursday, January 15 – Newcastle, UKUtilita Arena
- Friday, January 16 – London, UKOVO Arena Wembley
- Sunday, January 18 – Nottingham, UKMotorpoint Arena
- Monday, January 19 – Belfast N. IrelandSSE Arena