Ex-NXT Women's Champion Debuts On WWE SmackDown - Gets Renamed

WWE decided to rename this former NXT Women's Champion for her SmackDown debut.

WWE Raquel Gonzalez Rodriguez
WWE

Former NXT Women's Champion Raquel Gonzalez debuted on Friday's episode of SmackDown.

The star, who recently held the NXT Women's Tag-Team Titles for a second time with on/off pal Dakota Kai, appeared in a backstage skit with Kayla Braxton and Los Lotharios - Angel and Humberto tried to woo Raquel, but she turned them down flat.

It's also worth noting that WWE decided to change Gonzalez' name to "Raquel Rodriguez". There's no word yet on why that happened, but some are guessing that it has something to do with the fact that Gonzalez is the wrestler's real name.

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If that's the case though, then it's curious that WWE were happy for the renamed Rodriguez to use her shoot name on NXT before being called up to the main roster.

Rodriguez won the NXT Women's Tag belts with Kai at the recent Stand & Deliver event. Then, on this past week's episode of NXT 2.0, the pair dropped the titles back to Toxic Attraction. It doesn't look like Dakota is coming with Raquel, but this Los Lotharios love interest angle is one to keep an eye on.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.