SEScoops

Tag: Raquel Gonzalez

  • Report: WWE Changed Plans For Women’s Title Match At The Royal Rumble

    Report: WWE Changed Plans For Women’s Title Match At The Royal Rumble

    The WWE Royal Rumble will take place this Saturday, Jan. 28. The matches are set; however, it seems the company changed their plans for the women’s title picture for the event.

    WWE surprised fans with Charlotte Flair’s return and the defeat of Ronda Rousey for the Smackdown Women’s Championship on the Dec. 30 episode of Friday Night Smackdown. Before her match with Flair, Rousey defeated Raquel Rodriguez to retain the title. However, it’s reported WWE didn’t initially plan for the Rousey and Rodriguez match to happen that soon.

    Ronda Rousey
    (via WWE)

    Fightful Select reports that the company wanted the Rousey and Rodriguez title match to occur at the Royal Rumble. The report also shared that WWE had thought of having Flair work with Raw Women’s Champion Bianca Belair.

    “…Ronda Rousey Smackdown Women’s Title defense against Raquel Rodriguez that took place on December 30 was actually originally planned to go down almost a full month later. Fightful has gained information that displays that the match was set for the WWE Royal Rumble as of early December,” said the report.

    It also added that “…Another interesting note is that several WWE plans have changed as a result of this in relation to it. At the same period, Charlotte Flair was tentatively scheduled on a “suggested matches” list to wrestle Bianca Belair for the Raw Women’s Championship. Rhea Ripley was set to take on Rousey, but that’s when Rousey was still Champion.”

    Charlotte Flair and Ronda Rousey
    (via WWE)

    What’s Next For Ronda Rousey?

    After her defeat to Flair, it’s unclear what WWE has planned for Rousey. The report notes that WWE gave her different creative options before Dec. 30. However, it didn’t work out, and they went with Flair defeating Rousey after her match with Rodriguez. It also didn’t share the options that WWE presented to the former champion.

    She isn’t advertised to compete at the Royal Rumble this weekend. This could still change, but Fightful Select reported on Jan. 20 that she isn’t expected to appear at the event.

    The company could have Rousey challenge Flair for the Smackdown Women’s Championship. However, Flair is working with Sonya Deville, which could get added it the Royal Rumble card. Rousey will have to wait to see what WWE has planned for her.

  • Raquel Gonzalez Joins WWE SmackDown as Raquel Rodriguez

    Raquel Gonzalez Joins WWE SmackDown as Raquel Rodriguez

    Raquel Gonzalez will now be going by the name of Raquel Rodriguez. The former WWE NXT Women’s Champion made her debut on Friday’s SmackDown for a backstage interview.  

    Los Lotharios walked in and tried to get a kiss out of her but she declined. 

    Rodriguez had been rumored for a main roster call up for weeks. At last Saturday’s Stand & Deliver, Raquel and Dakota Kai defeated Toxic Attraction (Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne) to win the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles.

    Raquel and Kai’s inaugural reign as champions lasted less than a day as they lost them back later in the show. Their second reign didn’t last much longer either. Just a few days later on NXT 2.0, they lost the titles right back to Dolin and Jayne. 

    Raquel Rodriguez signed with WWE in 2016 and competed in the inaugural Mae Young Classic tournament under the name Reina Gonzalez. She also worked the 2018 tournament.

    During her time in NXT, she was a one-time Women’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament winner with Kai and one-time NXT Women’s Champion. 

  • Mandy Rose Retains WWE NXT Women’s Title At New Year’s Evil

    Mandy Rose Retains WWE NXT Women’s Title At New Year’s Evil

    The odds were against Mandy Rose in storyline when she put the WWE NXT Women’s Championship on the line during Tuesday’s New Year’s Evil special against Cora Jade and Raquel Gonzalez. 

    The match took place in the second hour. After the babyfaces worked together, they turned on each other. Rose tried to leave ringside, but Raquel stopped her. Rose rolled up Jade for the win and to retain her title. 

    https://twitter.com/WWEonFOX/status/1478554041768677378

    Rose defeated Gonzalez to win the NXT Women’s Championship at Halloween Havoc with the help of Dakota Kai. Jade, Raquel, and Rose have all been feuding with each other the past several weeks. 

    On last Tuesday’s show, a tag team match with Gonzalez and Jade teaming against Toxic Attraction’s Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne was supposed to take place. Instead, Rose announced  Kay Lee Ray and Io Shirai would replace her girls to take on Raquel and Jade with the winning team being her opponents at New Year’s Evil. Clearly, plans didn’t change. 

    What are your thoughts on Mandy Rose retaining the NXT Women’s Title? Was this the right call by WWE officials? Sound off in the comment section.

  • Mandy Rose Wins NXT Women’s Title a Halloween Havoc

    Mandy Rose Wins NXT Women’s Title a Halloween Havoc

    Mandy Rose was the latest challenger to step up to take a shot at dethroning Raquel Gonzalez as the WWE NXT Women’s Champion and she was successful. 

    It took place on Tuesday’s episode of NXT 2.0 TV, which was billed as a Halloween Havoc special. The match was touted as a Trick or Street Fight. There were various weapons used in the match including kendo sticks, chairs, and more. The finish saw Dakota Kai, who was dressed up, hit Raquel in the back with a kendo stick and Rose connected with a running knee strike. 

    Since returning to NXT a few months ago, Rose made the transformation with both her character and look as she went from having blonde hair to dark hair. She also aligned a faction called Toxic Attraction with Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne. After they formed it, they beat Kacy Catanzaro, Kayden Carter and Sarray in a six-woman tag team match as well as Rose scoring a win over Ember Moon. 

    At TakeOver: Stand & Deliver this April, Gonzalez won the NXT Women’s Championship by defeating Io Shirai. Since that time, Gonzalez had successful title defenses against Mercedes Martinez, Moon, Xia Li, and Franky Monet. 

    It will be interesting to see where Rose goes from here. Kai and Raquel will be picking up their feud again. 

  • Women’s Championship Match Scrapped From NXT 2.0 Premiere

    Women’s Championship Match Scrapped From NXT 2.0 Premiere

    The NXT Women’s Championship match will not take place on tonight’s NXT 2.0 episode.

    Fightful Select reports that the championship match between Raquel Gonzalez vs. Franky Monet is off tonight’s card. NXT had built up the title match for the last three weeks. The report also shares that Gonzales and Monet will not be on TV tonight.

    “… A planned match between Franky Monet and Raquel Gonzalez for the NXT Women’s Championship will not be taking place Tuesday as planned. Fightful was not given a reason why the match was off, but that the company was aware of the change by Monday morning,” said Fightful Select.

    New Version of NXT

    The WWE is calling their revamped version of the developmental program NXT 2.0. Besides an updated logo, WWE hasn’t shared all the new changes or who will be spearheading these changes weekly.

    However, The Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer reported that upper WWE management, like WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, would handle major decisions regarding NXT moving forward. He also shared that no one in NXT had input on the logo change. “…when it comes to the future of NXT and its rebranding, it’s said the people making the decision, on their own, are the likes of Vince McMahon, Nick Khan, John Laurinaitis, Kevin Dunn, and Bruce Prichard,” said Meltzer.

    New NXT Championship Match on Tonight Episode

    While the NXT Women’s Championship match is off, NXT announced a new title match. NXT Champion Samoa Joe announced yesterday that he would vacate his championship due to an injury. After Joe’s announcement, NXT General Manager William Regal revealed that a fatal four-way match would decide tonight’s new NXT Champion. The participants will be Pete Dunne, LA Knight, Kyle O’Riley, and Tommaso Ciampa.

    Ciampa is the only participant that is a former NXT Champion. However, it’s unclear if he will win due to the new direction of NXT. Regardless, tonight’s winner of the NXT Championship match will help begin WWE’s unique path in revamping the NXT brand.

  • Raquel Gonzalez Retains Women’s Title At WWE NXT TakeOver 36

    Raquel Gonzalez Retains Women’s Title At WWE NXT TakeOver 36

    After weeks of building to it, WWE NXT Women’s Champion Raquel Gonzalez vs. Dakota Kai finally took place at Sunday’s (August 22, 2021) WWE NXT TakeOver 36 event in Orlando, Florida at the Capitol Wrestling Center on the Peacock. 

    The match was second on the card with both girls shining. Kai took a nasty bump from the top rope to the rampway. Gonzalez hit her finisher off the middle rope for the win.  

    It all started when Kai turned against Gonzalez by laying her out with a kick in late July. Kai later explained her actions when she called Gonzalez selfish for going after the NXT Women’s Championship when it should have been Kai’s opportunity. She also didn’t appreciate Gonzalez taking the spotlight from her. 

    At TakeOver: Stand & Deliver this April, Gonzalez won the NXT Women’s Championship by defeating Io Shirai. Since that time, Gonzalez had successful title defenses against Mercedes Martinez, Ember Moon, and Xia Li.

    WWE holds the fallout episode from this show of NXT on Tuesday. It will be interesting to see if WWE continues this feud or goes in a different direction. Either way, they put on one heck of a match that delivered. 

    What are your thoughts on Raquel retaining the Women’s Title? Was this the right call by WWE officials? Sound off in the comment section.

  • Dakota Kai On Why She Betrayed Raquel Gonzalez

    Dakota Kai On Why She Betrayed Raquel Gonzalez

    Dakota Kai turned on her friend Raquel Gonzalez in a shocking twist last week on NXT. She threw away the friendship and attacked Gonzalez with a kick to her face while she was celebrating, and took her NXT Women’s Championship and raised it. This clearly signified that we’re going to see a rivalry between the two now-ex-best friends, and on this week’s episode of NXT Kai explained her actions in a video package aired during the episode.

    Dakota Kai explained that 18 months ago she needed someone that she could trust in the beginning, and that’s when she found Raquel Gonzalez. Kai said that if she hadn’t picked Gonzalez, she would have stayed stuck in the shadows. Describing her early partnership, Kai said that Gonzalez’s task was simple, it was to stand behind her and protect her whenever she needed. When Gonzalez became a star on her own, Kai was okay with it as long as it was clear who the leader was.

    Kai, however, started to get envious when Io Shirai chose Gonzalez for the title match instead of her. She felt it was disrespectful but she still chose to help Gonzalez with the title, still adding that she should have been the one standing in the ring with Bianca Belair and Rhea Ripley. She wanted a title of her own so that’s why she seeked help from Gonzalez in winning the NXT Women’s Tag Team Championships, however, she accused Gonzalez of not giving her 100% ever since she became the NXT Women’s Champion. They went on to lose to Shotzi Blackheart and Ember Moon, sealing the deal for Kai’s friendship with Gonzalez.

    Kai said that Gonzalez was so caught up in her own world that she didn’t even see the betrayal coming. Kai clarified that she doesn’t want to be anyone’s sidekick and will take Gonzalez down.

  • Raquel Gonzalez Retains Women’s Title At WWE NXT TakeOver: In Your House

    Raquel Gonzalez Retains Women’s Title At WWE NXT TakeOver: In Your House

    Ember Moon was the latest challenger for Raquel Gonzalez’s NXT Women’s Championship. 

    The title match happened at the WWE NXT TakeOver:  In Your House event in Orlando, Florida on Sunday night. The match saw the champion dominate most of it by using power moves and going for near falls. Things turned around when Moon hit a double knee strike off the top rope. Moon hit her finisher, but Dakota Kai put Raquel’s foot up to prevent the pinfall. 

    Shotzi Blackheart took care of Kai. Moon hit a DDT off the middle rope to the rampway at one point. Gonzalez hit her powerbomb finisher for the win. 

    On the June 1st edition of NXT, WWE announced the match. The previous week, Moon was forced to watch Gonzalez lay out her tag team partner Shotzi Blackheart after they worked a tag team match with the babyfaces going over. 

    Moon cut a promo last week about how she wasn’t going to let what Gonzalez did to Blackheart slide. Moon brawled with Gonzalez until Moon was taken out thanks to an ambush by Kai. 

    This past week, Kai battled Moon in a singles match on NXT. Gonzalez won the NXT Women’s Championship by defeating Io Shirai at TakeOver: Stand & Deliver this April, which marked the first time that she held the title. 

    Her first title defense came against Mercedes Martinez last month. Moon knows what it’s like to be a champion as she previously held the NXT Women’s Championship from November 2017 to April 2018.

  • Raquel Gonzalez to Defend NXT Women’s Championship against Mercedes Martinez

    Raquel Gonzalez to Defend NXT Women’s Championship against Mercedes Martinez

    NXT has a reputation for laying on big matches for its weekly show. Next week will be no different, as current NXT women’s champion Raquel Gonzalez defends her crown against Mercedes Martinez.

    The rivalry between Raquel Gonzalez and Mercedes Martinez has been building for months. It actually dates back to before Gonzalez won the belt back at NXT: Stand and Deliver.

    This bout will mark the first title defence for Raquel Gonzalez, and despite the tenacity of her opponent you have to say she is the clear favourite to pick up the win. However, it cannot be forgotten that the previous time Gonzalez held gold, she lost it in the first defence. Granted, that was for the NXT women’s tag team titles, but a defeat like that surely lingers in the mind.

    Raquel Gonzales has risen through the NXT ranks, building quite the name for herself in recent months. She will be eager to cement her legacy with a solid performance next Tuesday and a long run as NXT champion. Moreover, she has an ace up her sleeve in the form of Dakota Kai. In a recent reversal of roles, Kai now has the chance to repay her former muscle for all the times she came to her aid.

    One thing that is for certain, the match between the pair will be a banger of a fight, between two of the toughest, baddest women on the NXT roster right now. This match should also end the feud and leave Raquel Gonzalez open to a new rival. Then eyes must turn to the woman she has in her corner. How long will Gonzalez be able to trust her friend Dakota Kai?

  • Raquel Gonzalez Wins WWE NXT Women’s Title

    Raquel Gonzalez Wins WWE NXT Women’s Title

    Io Shirai made her latest defense as WWE NXT Women’s Champion against Raquel Gonzalez at Wednesday’s (April 7, 2021) WWE NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver.

    The match featured an early attack by Io. When Dakota Kai attacked Io, she was ejected from ringside, and allowed Raquel to dominate. At one point, Shirai hit a dive off the skull, which was part of the stage. Raquel hit her finisher for the win. 

    On the March 14th edition of NXT, Shirai retained her NXT Women’s Championship against Toni Storm. Later that night, Shirai confronted Gonzalez and declared that she wanted to face Gonzalez next. The following week, Shirai told Raquel to sign a contract to make it happen, which she did. 

    This feud goes back to the NXT TakeOver: WarGames event where Gonzalez pinned Shirai to get the win in the women’s WarGames match as Gonzalez was part of Team Candice with Candice LeRae, Dakota Kai & Storm while Shirai was part of Team Shotzi with Shotzi Blackheart, Ember Moon & Rhea Ripley.

    Shirai became the NXT Women’s Champion when she beat Charlotte Flair and Rhea Ripley in a triple threat match at TakeOver: In Your House in June of last year.

    https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1379977380463316992
  • Io Shirai Has A New Challenger For Her NXT Championship

    Io Shirai Has A New Challenger For Her NXT Championship

    Io Shirai has a new challenger for her NXT title. On tonight’s episode of NXT, we saw the introduction of the NXT Women’s Tag Team Championships, and the first-ever winners of the title were also crowned on the same night — Raquel Gonzalez and Dakota Kai who came out on top after going through the gauntlet of the Women’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic and winning the tournament.

    The reign wouldn’t last much long however, as they got challenged for their first-ever title defense by Ember Moon and Shotzi Blackheart and ended up losing the titles to them on the same night. Not all is lost however as Gonzalez was offered something much bigger later.

    Io Shirai retained her NXT Women’s Championship over Toni Storm with a Crossface submission to pick up the win. After the match, Shirai approached Raquel Gonzalez and Dakota Kai in the locker room in a backstage segment where they were expressing their frustration over their loss in an interview.

    Gonzalez said that it didn’t matter how long they held the titles, what matters is that they were the first ever competitors to win it. An interrupting Shirai approached Gonzales declared that she wants Gonzales to be her next challenger. “I want you next,” she said to the former NXT Tag Team Champion.

    A Raquel Gonzalez vs. Io Shirai title match was teased a few months back, but it never took place. Now that it’s finally happening, it would be interesting to see if Gonzalez would be able to defeat Shirai, as the champion has taken down every challenger that’s come her way so far.

    At the same time, her challenger has put out some great matches over the past year. Gonzalez defeating Shirai will usher in a new era in NXT’s women’s division, so this feud would definitely be worth investing in.

    Also read: WWE NXT Results (3/10): Balor vs. Cole, Shirai vs. Storm, Two Announcements

  • Sean Waltman Talks Raquel Gonzalez Being ‘Star Material’

    Sean Waltman Talks Raquel Gonzalez Being ‘Star Material’

    WWE Hall of Famer and AfterBuzz TV podcast star Sean ‘X-Pac’ Waltman recently discussed NXT War Games and in particular NXT Superstar Raquel Gonzalez.

    Gonzalez gained the pinfall at the War Games match, taking the win for Candice LeRae’s team.

    Waltman would describe how Gonzalez has changed her look since she first debuted, even before she appeared on NXT television. “The first time I saw her? She wasn’t on TV yet” Waltman began on the 1-2-360 podcast. “She was just on what they call the ‘coconut’ shows, which is like the Florida house show run for NXT.”

    Waltman would describe how Gonzalez had a Stan Hansen type character and look. “They kind of put this gimmick on her, like she was like a female Stan Hanson. She came out using the Lariat and wearing a cowboy hat, cowboy boots and short, jean shorts, something like that. And it was, I guess it was just fine. But, you know, I didn’t know what happened to her [after that].”

    X-Pac would finish by saying that the next time he saw Raquel Gonzalez her look had completely changed. “One of the next times I was down there in Florida? Your Lordship William Regal and I were having sushi. Braun Strowman comes into the sushi joint and he’s got this woman with him. She’s a big girl and she’s pretty buff, it was Raquel Gonzales, and I didn’t recognize her. She had done a complete makeover, changed the way she looked, changed the way she dressed. So she has came a long way, she’s definitely star material.”

    Do you agree with Sean Waltman? Do you think that Raquel Gonzalez could be a major player in WWE down the line? Let us know in the comments