The last time WWE Evolution took place, Raquel Rodriguez was still training at the performance center hoping to be able to enter the ring with the superstars of today and tomorrow.
On Sunday, she will get a chance to defend her tag-team championship with Roxanne Perez in one of the toughest matches on the card. The duo will put the titles on the line in a fatal four-way tag match against Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss, Sol Ruca and Zaria, and Kairi Sane and Asuka.
Rodriguez expressed to Fox News Digital what Evolution meant to her the first time she saw the premium live event take place back in 2018.
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"This is a very exciting time for all the women in WWE, all the women that are just in general invested in wrestling around the world," she said. "We only had one Evolution and I remember that was back in 2018, I was training at the performance center, I was biting my nails because I just wanted to be a part of it so bad. But it was a beautiful representation of women in wrestling, women in sports, and women of culture from just all over the world.
"So, to know that we are able to have a women’s Evolution 2 and have more women from our history and our future coming out to represent, I think it is going to be an absolutely amazing show. I can’t wait to see all the women, little girls, and the abuelitas and tias that are gonna be in the stands cheering us on. I am just very grateful and very excited to be walking in as a WWE Women’s Tag Team champion and walking out as a women’s tag team champion. That’s not going to change."
For Rodriguez, pro wrestling was in her blood. Her father, Rick, was an independent wrestler in Texas in the 1980s and 1990s, and she would watch him compete.
She said that while Chyna and other female wrestlers of that time were inspiring, her interest in wrestling really was drawn from her father.
"There was not just one person that I looked up to and wanted to emulate, I mean I looked up to many. I, obviously, cherished Chyna and Beth Phoenix for being the woman that they were, representing strong, tall woman," Rodriguez said. "I think for me and my life, I mean, I was already 6 foot my freshman year of high school and I was taller than anybody and everybody since the young age of 4. I constantly felt different and not always in the best ways. And so, to see these women who were bigger than some of the men and stronger than some of the men was something I could relate too. I felt very seen and very heard and so I always loved watching them and looking to them for any inspiration.
"I also always look to my dad as well. I am a daddy’s girl and I say that in and out he has really guided me in a lot decisions I made in my life and I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him, for sure, and the sacrifices he made. Watching him and his work in wrestling really inspired me obviously from a young age because I have been saying I wanted to do this since I was a little girl. But even today, he keeps me very grounded, he keeps me at home. I am very, very blessed to have so many people I consider role models."
Rodriguez is a six-time women’s tag team champion, four of which came with Liv Morgan. However, Morgan has been sidelined with a shoulder injury and Perez stepped into her place to fill in – at least for the time being.
Rodriguez said she has all the confidence in the world that they will defend their titles successfully despite never actually teaming up with each other in an official match.
"It is definitely going to be a challenge for us," Rodriguez told Fox News Digital. "But I look at the other teams, and Alexa Bliss and Charlotte haven’t really been together for that long. So, I would say they are in the same playing field as us. Asuka and Kairi – yes, Kabuki Warriors have a staple name in the women’s tag division. They have been champions before. However, Asuka is just coming back from injury, and they haven’t really done much tag work either since she has been back so I think she is in the same boat.
"Then we have Zaria and Sol and I have seen what they have been doing on NXT and I think they are doing absolutely tremendous work. Both very, very talented women, both seem to be a very good connection when it comes to women tag wrestling, but Sol has kind of been doing her own thing and so has Zaria. So I am not going to be too worried about their connection and their teamwork. I feel like they are kind of on the same playing field. Overall, I would say our tag matches have been pretty even, except for the fact that I am the most experienced in the women’s tag division and I have the many titles."
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