Exclusive: Raquel Rodriguez Talks WarGames, Liv Morgan Reunion and Battling an Autoimmune Disease

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Saturday's Survivor Series premium live event saw Rhea Ripley's star-studded squad reign supreme over Women's World Champion Liv Morgan's in WarGames. Raquel Rodriguez was among those who went to war alongside Morgan and fought valiantly before eating defeat.

Rodriguez is no stranger to the double cages, as it was four years ago that she herself won a WarGames match for her team by pinning IYO SKY. That monumental milestone put her on the path toward becoming NXT Women's Champion, a feat she ultimately accomplished the subsequent spring.

Reflecting on that career-changing night in 2020 inspired Rodriguez, who spoke to WrestleRant for an exclusive interview ahead of Survivor Series about the opportunity to return to WarGames, being back on WWE TV following a long layoff, reuniting with Morgan, and more.

Despite their ​confidence going into WarGames and willingness to put their differences aside in an effort to conquer common enemies, Rodriguez and company fell short. Through her own experience in WarGames, Rodriguez revealed that she attempted to lend Morgan some tips beforehand and raved about the Women's World Champion's ability to excel in extreme environments.

"The biggest thing I kind of told her and coached her on, 'Liv, you're a lot smaller than the rest of us. You're feisty, but you're little,'" Rodriguez told WrestleRant. "The biggest tip I could give to her was to not get caught. We don't need her getting caught by someone and—I don't know how it could happen but—they trap her in a corner somewhere or they try to put her in a trash can because I'm sure she could fit in one of those... There's five of us, five of them. I'm going to keep protecting you no matter what, but I'm going to need you to not get caught. Don't get trapped.”

​Rodriguez also looked at WarGames as an opportunity to prove herself as a legitimate contender in Raw's women's division once again. In addition to being a three-time WWE Women's Tag Team Championship, she challenged Ronda Rousey for the then-SmackDown Women's Championship twice in 2022 and had impressive performances each time.

The announcement of all-new Women's Intercontinental Championship gives her something to strive for on Monday night, especially while her tag partner Liv Morgan is in possession of the Women's World Championship.

"At the moment, of course, I'm not going after Liv's title," Rodriguez said. "I would not do that to my sister. I'm here to help her keep that title as long as possible and I know Nia is going to take her title back to SmackDown, but it definitely fuels my fire to want to win this and prove something against all of the ex-champions on the other team: IYO, Rhea, Bianca, Bayley, even Naomi... Now that we have the new Intercontinental Championship introduced, that's a huge opportunity for anyone who gets to wrestle in that tournament and win that title.”

Rodriguez resurfaced on Raw in October following an eight-month hiatus due to an autoimmune disease she developed in 2023. She disappeared from the flagship show late last year, returned on the Raw before Elimination Chamber this past February, and had to take time off again immediately afterward to treat her condition.

She recalled being put in a position where, after going hard on the road for a few years straight, everything stopped without warning. She felt she needed to find her purpose again, and with wrestling being her childhood dream and everything she's endured to get as far as she has in WWE, she wasn't willing to let it go so easily regardless of the less-than-stellar circumstances.

"For all of that to get taken away, I felt lost," Rodriguez said. "It was my identity, my purpose, my whole reason for working hard was just ripped from me. I can't work out, I can't strain myself too hard, I can't eat certain things, I don't want to be outside and have people see me this way. I don't feel good and I feel gross. You have to think, 'What if I don't go back? What am I going to do next?' I did have those thoughts running through my mind quite a bit.

"I'm really, really grateful to my sister, Liv, who never stopped being there for me throughout any of the days," Rodriguez continued. "She messaged me, she checked in on me, even when she was going through her arm injury and having all of the stress of her coming back and wrestling Rhea and winning the women's title. It was a lot on her plate, so to know she had all of that going on and still had the time to reach out to me and send me things, it made me feel like I found someone absolutely loyal to me and who's willing to be there for me. That turned the page in my head. 'When I do get healthy—because I know I'm going to get healthy again—when I do step back into that ring, that is one person I'm going to support 110 percent. Coming back, there was no question what side I was going to be on. It was always going to be Liv Morgan's side.”

Prior to her comeback at Bad Blood, Rodriguez hadn't been seen since the Elimination Chamber event in February, where she courageously competed despite her skin condition flaring up on the plane ride over. Even in defeat, she had a standout showing and was praised by fans online.

“It was definitely a tough trip," she said. "I had just returned that Monday night. I hadn't worn makeup in months, so I put makeup on that Monday night and I don't know if it was that. It could've been the wrestling or jumping onto a plane to get to Australia right away, but my face on the plane blew up and got swollen.”
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Thinking it would go down, she went to sleep but woke up realizing it wasn't gone and that it was quite prominently there. Upon landing in Perth, Australia, she rushed to see doctors and get a steroid shot before hiding herself in her hotel room to avoid anyone seeing her in that state.

"Day of the show came and we were worried if I was going to be able to perform or not and I told myself, 'I did not fly all the way to Australia to not get into that Chamber and performer. I am not going to not do this," Rodriguez said. "I had to keep telling myself all day, 'We're going to do this, no makeup. Red [face]. We're going to go out there and do it with bells ringing. We're going to go out there like nothing is wrong because in my mind when I step out of that curtain, nothing is wrong.'”

For as hard as it was for her in the hours preceding the pay-per-view, very much aware that there would be backlash from a certain segment of fans on social media, she knew that her story would be told someday and hoped it would inspired someone going through something similar.

​Coming back, there was no question what side I was going to be on. It was always going to be Liv Morgan's side.

​Rodriguez discussed the difficulties of dealing with an autoimmune disease and not recognizing herself on some days while simultaneously maintaining a positive attitude and not taking any days or opportunities for granted.

"It was a really good mind shift for me," Rodriguez said about the entire experience. "It opened my eyes to a lot of things. Again, life is quick and things don't last forever. Things can come and things can go and that's just how it is, so I just plan on enjoying every minute until then. So far, since I've been back, it has been so much fun.

"I absolutely love being with Liv Morgan," she added. "We're on the road together, I get to see my friends on the makeup team. Getting to be a part of Judgment Day and that crew: Dominik, Carlito, JD, Finn. They are hilarious. I love getting to be in the clubhouse. I feel like a whole new person. It's been absolutely amazing since I've been back and being back in the full swing of things.”

​Rodriguez's history with Morgan inside the squared circle is well documented. The dynamic duo captured the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship on two different occasions in 2023 but as babyfaces. They've hit their stride as heels in recent months and have the perfect foil in Ripley, who has been a consistent thorn in the side of both women for years.

The towering Texan previously served as the bodyguard for Dakota Kai in NXT, so portraying almost the exact same character on the main roster for Morgan has been an excellent fit for her. Moreover, it's allowed her to show more personality than we've seen from her since her NXT run.

"I feel like it's second nature," Rodriguez said. "I feel like it's my second nature to be that girl... It's just a role I feel like I was naturally born into. Being able to do that again with Liv, it feels good, it feels natural. It's been fun. Honestly, I can't say I've had a more fun time on [the] main roster than I have these past couple of months with Liv. It's been really, really great and I just don't want it to end.”

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