During a recent appearance on the Out of Character with Ryan Satin podcast, WWE Superstar Raquel Rodriquez commented on the differences between working on the NXT brand and moving up to the WWE main roster. She also spoke about her current run as a babyface on the SmackDown brand.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
Raquel Rodriguez on the differences between her NXT and WWE main roster character: “Right now, there’s a really good amount of my real true self [in my character]. I know a lot of people have said that they like the Raquel from NXT that was always serious and didn’t smile. But when I first started at the Performance Center, they could not get me to stop smiling [laughs]. I’m supposed to be this big, tall, intimidating character and that was my biggest struggle – trying to stay serious when you’re just having fun. It always has been to me. I’m out there doing something I love, I’m having fun doing it, I’m doing it with my friends. Why wouldn’t you want to smile, right? I just like being silly, and I think that’s something I’ve kept to myself most of the time because I was trying to get across that I am intimidating and strong. But I feel like I’ve already shown everyone that I am strong, intimidating, and a fierce competitor. I think it’s okay for me to reel it in a little bit and show a bit of my real self which is laughing, smiling, being happy, being positive, and being a good role model for other people. I feel like you can’t be a good role model for youth when you’re constantly in this upset, negative type of attitude.”
On why she’s embraced her babyface role: “When I came up, I didn’t exactly know what role I was gonna be put into. I didn’t know if they wanted me to be a heel or babyface, but I was ready for whichever direction that was gonna go. I told myself, ‘I’m gonna go and be over the top about it. I’m gonna give 120 percent, and if it’s too much, they can just tell me it’s too much and I can reel back a little bit.’ I’ve been waiting for this opportunity for so long, and I’ve been working my butt off for this opportunity that I didn’t want to just go in and feel like I was stuck to just one certain way or character or personality. I wanted to be a chameleon and show them that I can do multiple things and have multiple talents. They know what I can do as a heel, they know what I can do as a serious person. I think this was kind of my opportunity to show them the contrary of them and show them I can do this as well.”
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