For a wrestler who still seems to have so much untapped potential, it feels almost absurd to think that Raquel Rodriguez has now been under WWE’s umbrella for 10 years.
Big Mami Cool arrived in the old New York territory (albeit in its Orlando outpost) back in 2016, debuting in NXT under her government name Victoria González in 2017.
Since those embryonic, Floridian days of her WWE career, Rodriguez has been announced as Reina González, Raquel González and, finally, Raquel Rodriguez, where she now serves as the Judgement Day’s muscle and Tag Title winning expert.
After taking over Mami duties in the Judgement Day in 2024, aiding Liv Morgan in the defence of her Women’s World Title against Rhea Ripley at Bad Blood, Rodriguez wasted no time in establishing herself as not only the charismatic henchwoman of the group, but as an essential tentpole of the WWE’s women’s division as a whole.
Need someone to provide a genuine threat to a champion you’re looking to establish? Rodriguez will step up (see her excellent efforts against Lyra Valkyria and Stephanie Vaquer, last year). Need a wrecking machine to tear shit up inside an Elimination Chamber or WarGames? Or perhaps during a Royal Rumble? Look no further than the Texan Reina. How about needing a Kevin Nash to Liv Morgan or Roxanne Perez’s Shawn Michaels, both as a sunglasses clad enforcer or tag team partner? The former NXT Women’s Champion will never let you down.
It is this dependability which has perhaps unfortunately not allowed for Rodriguez to flourish with a singles title run of her own on the main roster, despite being entrusted with the NXT Women’s Title for over 200 days between April and October of 2021.
With four women’s singles titles to vye for across Raw and SmackDown nowadays, it feels somewhat peculiar that Rodriguez has not yet been earmarked for at least one of the golden quartet for a few months.
However, lack of singles gold hasn’t hampered Rodriguez’s TV exposure or her ability to make history over the years. In 2018, under her Reina González guise, Rodriguez helped make up the field of the first ever Mae Young Classic, albeit being eliminated in the first round by Nicole Savoy. Three years later, Rodriguez’s luck in inaugural women’s tournaments would perform a 180 as she and Dakota Kai became the first ever Women’s Dusty Rhodes Classic winners, before being awarded the newly minted NXT Women’s Tag Team Titles (although the pair did then lose the belts to Shotzi Blackheart and Ember Moon later the same night).
No one has held women’s tag team title gold more than Rodriguez in WWE, with Big Mami Cool enjoying six seperate reigns with duo’s championships, so far. But with so many accomplishments on her resume from her past decade of work with WWE, what has Rodriguez learned about herself both as a wrestler and a person in that time?
During an exclusive chat with the six-time tag champ during WrestleMania 42 week in Las Vegas, last month, I found out.
“I think I’ve learned that I’m much stronger than I believe,” Rodriguez begins, “I can handle a lot more than I think I can. When you’re out there in this crazy business, you’re on your own, young, growing up through this business for 10 years. It’s the longest job I’ve ever held, by the way,” Rodriguez laughs.
“You really grow as a human, as a person and you learn what’s important in life. For me at least my priorities have definitely changed a lot. I’ve focused more on my health this year, I’ve focused more on my family and my connections and my relationships that matter to me the most.
“That’s what really gets me through the long travel days and the long nights on the road when I miss my animals and I miss my family. But I’ve learned that I can do it and that I can stay strong. As long as I have my beliefs and my faith, there’s really nothing that can get under my skin these days.”
It may be the ability to allow cooler heads to prevail that has been such a big reason for Rodriguez’s continued use in prominent positions on WWE television over the last few years. Her capacity to be ultra-reliable in a variety of situations is a priceless commodity for a head of creative, such as Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque, to be able to call upon at a moment’s notice.
Rodriguez is too big to wilt under the bright lights. She can carry plenty on her broad shoulders, whether it’s sharing the load in tag team action or working solo title matches. Ronda Rousey, Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair, Bianca Belair, Trish Stratus, Stephanie Vaquer and Iyo Sky are just a small handful of the main event talents Rodriguez has put together a portfolio of bangers with over the last four years.
At this point, the Judgement Day are into their fifth year as a faction in WWE, albeit with no original members remaining. Given the usual shelf life of groups under the WWE banner, a half decade is almost an unheard of achievement. D-Generation-X, the NWO, The Corporation and, let’s face it, The Vision, can’t put up those numbers.
Should Rodriguez find herself going the way of Rhea, Damian, Finn and Edge, she is undoubtedly strong enough to run solo successfully. A multi-month feud with Liv and/or Roxanne? Sign me all the way up for either of those immediately.Or if the leadership of the Judgement Day falls under her purview in the coming months, Big Mami Cool can take the wheel and steer Monday Night Raw’s premiere goth gang towards even more glory.
She has reigned as La Reina de NXT and has (rightfully) muscled her way into marquee moments, but even with so much achieved in her first 10 years with WWE, it still feels like Raquel Rodriguez is just hitting her stride in The Fed.
Here’s to another decade of Tejana Bombs and title belts.