After several promos over the past two episodes of WWE SmackDown, it was finally time for Raquel Rodriguez to make her SmackDown in-ring debut, and it was impressive to say the least. Rodriguez wasn’t the only person who was having a SmackDown debut either, as her opponent Cat Cardoza was also on the Blue Brand for the first time, and Cardoza went to make a statement right off the bat. Cardoza charged at Rodriguez and hit her with a flurry of punches before the bell even hit, catching Rodriguez off guard. Once the bell hit though Rodriguez charged in with a clothesline and slammed her down, and then lifted her up and walked around, even flexing a bit.
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She kept her grip on Cardoza’s wrist and then threw her into the corner, and a Fallaway Slam followed. Rodriguez picked Cardoza up again and hit another Fallaway Slam, and then went up top and hit a big splash off the top rope. Rodriguez had her run halted a bit with an attack to the eyes from Cardoza, and then Cardoza pinned Rodriguez’s head to the ropes and kept pulling on it to do some damage and slow her down.
Rodriguez was only going to be slowed for so long, and after getting back to her feet she picked Cardoza up and hit the Chingona Bomb, and that was all she wrote for Cardoza, giving Rodriguez the pin and the win in her debut match on SmackDown.
ComicBook.com had the chance to talk to Rodriguez recently about her move from NXT to SmackDown, and during our conversation (which you can find here) we asked who was on her list of dream matches on the Blue Brand. There are a lot of great match-ups she wants to get to, including taking on a certain Sasha Banks and the current SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair.
“Oh, I am itching to get in the ring with everyone. I’m not going to lie to you. I was hoping get in the ring the first week on because yes, let’s do this. You know what I mean? It’s kind of that anticipation that you just… It’s killing you every week. I’ve always said this. I always wanted to work with Sasha Banks and with Natalya and with Charlotte Flair,” Rodriguez said. “But I would love to get back in the ring with Shayna Baszler because we had a few matches when she was at NXT on our Coconut Loops. I would love to work with Aliyah a little bit more, I never got to do too much with her while she was in NXT but that’s someone that I’ve always kind of looked to for a positive influence as well, because she’s such a positive beacon of light. But the possibilities are endless. And now that I’ve been getting to know Naomi a little bit more too, I would love to work with Naomi. Watching her and Rhea tear down the house last Friday. I was like yes, this is what it’s about. This.”
What did you think of Rodriguez and her debut match on SmackDown? Let us know in the comments and as always you can talk all things wrestling with me on Twitter @MattAguilarCB!
