Raquel Rodriguez rides excessive into WWE Evolution, a document six-time girls’s tag champ and weekly fixture with the Judgment Day, however not everyone seems to be impressed. Six-time world champion Kevin Nash not too long ago tore into her model, accusing Rodriguez of losing her dimension benefit.
Nash, one in all skilled wrestling’s most profitable huge males and a two-time WWE Corridor of Famer, criticized Rodriguez for minimizing her bodily items within the ring.
“I get pissed off at her as a result of she at all times works down,” Nash not too long ago mentioned on his “Kliq This” podcast. “They must teeter to knock you off your f—ing base if you’re that a lot greater than them.”
Rodriguez, 34, is having fun with the most effective run of her profession. She’s featured weekly on Monday Night time Uncooked and had a outstanding workforce with Liv Morgan, one in all WWE’s greater stars, earlier than Morgan’s harm. However Rodriguez, who signed with WWE as a rookie, exhibits unbelievable humility in response to Nash’s sharp phrases.
“If that is coming from Kevin Nash, I totally take that to coronary heart,” Rodriguez mentioned. “If he thinks I am working too small, then, Mr. Nash — sir, with all due respect — I am going to begin working greater. I hope you will tune in additional and watch Raquel Rodriguez develop and get greater each single time.
“If anybody is aware of the way to be a cool, huge, robust wrestler, it is Kevin Nash. He set the bar for us.”
Rodriguez, who grew up travelling to native exhibits together with her father, unbiased wrestler Rick Gonzalez, credit this half-glass-full strategy to her longevity in WWE.
“It is essential to be respectful and acknowledge that somebody is watching your craft, taking day out of their day to criticize you. That is a praise,” Rodriguez mentioned. “Kevin Nash has higher issues to do than watch a Raquel Rodriguez match and inform her she’s working too small. For him to exit of his approach to do this, I totally respect that and take that criticism to coronary heart.
“It is one thing I am engaged on for the time being. I’ve stepped out of my shell a bit of bit extra. It is positively on the rise. This perspective is new and recent, however she’s feeling very assured lately.”
Becoming a member of Judgment Day gave Rodriguez a cooler edge, but in addition helped her rediscover the smile of her early WWE run. If something, it feels extra genuine now.
The Judgment Day is not the nWo or The Bloodline, however it’s reshaped careers. Dominik Mysterio is the group’s greatest success story, however Morgan, Rhea Ripley and Damian Priest all leveled up with the group. Rodriguez credit the group for her evolution as she grows right into a celebrity Nash will respect.
“We’re household. If we allow you to in, we’re welcoming you to a bunch or membership that is there for one another,” Rodriguez mentioned. “Emotions and feelings come up, however I actually really feel the Judgment Day permits everybody to be themselves, increase on that and present that to the WWE universe. It additionally permits us to search out help like with our households.”
Rodriguez defends her WWE girls’s tag workforce titles with Roxanne Perez, filling in for Morgan, in opposition to groups from Uncooked, SmackDown and NXT at Evolution. Rodriguez walks into Sunday’s pay-per-view with a giant new character and, maybe, a much bigger model within the ring.