The following was sent to us from the interview that Chris Van Vliet did with Raquel Rodriguez on Insight With Chris Van Vliet:
On how she was paired with Liv Morgan:
“I have no clue to be honest with you, no clue. They put us together when I had just gotten called up, I was still pretty new to the main roster and we were getting ready for WrestleMania. They were talking about an eight woman tag and I think they needed tags at the time. There weren’t too many actual tag teams. So I think we just were in a random match together and we had really good chemistry. To be honest, we weren’t even really good friends then. She had her friends and her crew that she kind of hung out with, and I had mine. So we worked together and we did really well together and things just kind of like grew from there.
Then Mania happened in LA, that was my first Mania, I got to tag with Liv, and we had the cool Powerbomb move. I think that was something that opened people’s eyes to what we were able to do. Then the Monday after Mania they were like, You guys are tagging again. It’s funny, because that Monday too I remember we were in completely opposite matches. She was in a triple threat with two other people and I was in a triple triple threat with two other people. Literally as the show’s about to start, the doors are opening, people are coming into the arena they’re like, scratch that, putting you guys into tag. So it just kind of went from there.
I think what makes Liv and I work really well too is that we want to really elevate the tag division, we want to elevate any match that we’re in together, and we want to elevate each other. So when we talk about what we want to accomplish that night, or what we want to do with these tag titles, it’s always being on the same page with each other. So that comes with building a relationship with each other too. Because if we want to show people how good our chemistry is in the ring we should have that outside too. So we really took the time to bond and become friends and yeah, it’s been so much fun ever since because we really are good friends. Sometimes you have people who aren’t friends that are tag teams and they’re great and you’d still never know. But Liv and I, we really just got along, and we had a lot of the same values and beliefs and it just worked. And so it was really, really fun getting to tag with her the first year, the second time we won it in London at Money in the Bank. Yeah, it’s been amazing.”
On her battles with illness:
“So I never really got a full diagnosis, to be honest with you. They said it was Mast Cell Activation Syndrome, but I got tested and that didn’t come out positive. Mast Cell Activation Syndrome, for people don’t know, it just means your body is having a constant allergic reaction to everything, like things you were never allergic to before. Your body is just so confused from maybe stress, maybe trauma. It could be a lot of things, but now you just have a sensitive nervous system and your body is just reacting to anything, like auto-immune. So I’ve always had eczema, even when I was younger, but it was very small in areas right here [points to arms], and so I think it was like 2023 I started seeing a little bit of eczema pop up on my face. I was like this is kind of weird. Maybe it could be some of the makeup because when I was little, makeup made me react.
I was like it’s fine, it would come and it would go, it shows up for like a day, like today. I think just from having such a long day yesterday and my bag getting lost and a lack of sleep, my body’s immune system is kind of lessened. So after last night’s match, and the makeup and stuff like that I think I had a small reaction just under my eyes and on my neck, which is random because I don’t put makeup here. So honestly, it’s a puzzle. I’m still trying to figure it out. I still don’t know what it is. I still don’t know what’s triggering me. I think I have a little bit of Mast Cell, even though I wasn’t tested for it. I think you can still have some sort of it, because my body just reacts at random times.”
On taking time away:
“Well at the time that whole year, like these reactions, I can deal with this. I can show up and I can be confident that I don’t need to wear makeup today. I have some eyeliner on, some eyelashes and that’s about it, a little lipstick and I’m like that’s okay. This is my life and I want to be open about it. I want people to know who are allergic to makeup that you’re beautiful and you don’t have to wear it.
But at the time, a year ago I was swelling up. It was to the point where I was unrecognizable to myself. I was looking in the mirror and I was like, Who is she? Who is this person? I avoided mirrors, I avoided cameras, I avoided phones. I didn’t want to know anything about the outside world, because I was just in such a dark place physically, and it was physically taxing, but I know that was taking such a big toll on me mentally.
I told myself I cannot stay here, that this is right now but this isn’t forever. I have to tell myself that it’s gonna get better. I just kept telling myself that, and I think that really, really helps your mental state when you’re in these conditions and you can’t control it, because it’s out of my control. But I just kept telling myself, this isn’t forever. You’re gonna get through this. And again, my family. I’m so, so blessed because I have such a strong family that was there for me. My six-year-old niece is praying for God to take the redness away. She doesn’t have to do that, but she does that. She does that for me every night. I have amazing friends, Liv constantly checking on me, Jet from makeup always checking on me. Just really, really amazing people that wanted to come visit me, but it was something I had to get through by myself, for sure.”
On continued struggles:
“I think that’s what really crushed me at first too because this was my dream job and I worked so hard to get here. I did everything possible, and I felt like it was getting taken away from me. I was like, no way I could be a wrestler with red skin all the time. We watched Elimination Chamber from last year, and as Liv and I are doing the commentary, watching it back and stuff my entrance happens and I just started bawling again. Because I remember being in that moment and being in Australia with my face swollen, having to take a steroid shot and having to stay in my hotel because I didn’t want people to see me that way and I didn’t want my coworkers to see me that way. I just felt weak, I just felt so helpless and so weak. So it was a really tough re-watch for me to watch Elimination Chamber again last year. But I know everyone’s like, no you should be so proud. You were so brave going out there, like red and with no makeup. But deep down, it was really, really hard for me.”
I told myself this is your life. You were meant to have this issue, this illness, this disease and you were meant to still do what you do. I think the small reactions like this are a blessing because it tells me I can still go on tomorrow, I can still be half of the greatest Women’s Tag Team Champions ever. So I just try to keep that positive mindset, it really helps. Being able to take a minute in the morning or at night and just realize what I have accomplished for the day, how blessed I am and just go on in life. I can’t stay stuck in a rut. I want everyone to know that you may feel stuck for whatever time it is right now but it’s not forever.”
On working with Ronda Rousey:
“When I first got called up to main roster to work with Ronda, I was like I felt the pressure for sure, and when I talked to people about being able to work with her and how amazing she is. It’s always mind blowing to me still that I got that opportunity to be in the ring with her and work with her and know her and put on what was a really good match. It was a really good mix up that we had.”
