Raquel Rodriguez sets herself apart from the WWE women's roster by towering over most of her competitors. Naturally, growing up, Rodriguez was always taller than most of her peers, which led her to idolizing two specific WWE Hall of Famers after she convinced her father to allow her to follow him into the wrestling industry.
"Of course, I gravitated to the big girls because I was so big and different when I was little, you know?" she recalled during an interview with "The Wrestling Classic." "So, I really gravitated towards Chyna, of course, because I thought she was so beautiful and strong and I loved that about her and Beth Phoenix, too, like Beth was just this 'Glamazon.'" Rodriguez then claimed she was often called an "Amazon" by children growing up, but that she always instead had aspirations to be a "Glamazon" instead, like Beth Phoenix. "So, I really looked up to those two women in wrestling; they really inspired me."
Rodriguez's father, Ricky "Desperado" Gonzalez, was also a wrestler, and outside of Chyna and Phoenix, was one of her inspirations growing up. However, his initial reaction to her wanting to be a wrestler wasn't positive. "My dad was like 'No, no, you can't! My daughter's not gonna be a female wrestler, wrestling in bikinis! No!'" she stated. However, the two eventually made a deal where she would first graduate from college before her dad supported her career choice.
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "The WrestlingClassic" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
