Raquel Rodriguez’s WWE career has given her opportunities that would have seemed impossible when she was growing up near the Texas border. Now the reigning Women’s Intercontinental Champion and a key member of The Judgment Day, Rodriguez has competed on major stages, won championships, and worked alongside some of the company’s biggest names.
One of those names carried a particularly personal meaning for her long before she ever stepped inside a WWE ring: John Cena.
Rodriguez discussed her longtime admiration for Cena during an appearance on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, revealing that it began as a teenage crush after she saw the future 17-time world champion perform live. What started as the excitement of a young fan eventually evolved into respect for Cena’s body of work and, years later, a memorable on-screen confrontation during his farewell tour.
“I think it started back in high school, when I saw John Cena live and I developed a crush for him,” Rodriguez said.
For more background on this topic, read Je'Von Evans and Penta Win World Tag Team Titles at WWE Crown Jewel.
For Rodriguez, the connection was strengthened by the kind of small detail that can make a larger-than-life WWE Superstar feel surprisingly relatable to a fan. She remembered buying Cena’s recognizable inflatable hands and hearing that he had visited a Whataburger in Hidalgo, a city close to where she grew up.
“Then, I bought the inflatable hands,” Rodriguez continued. “I remember hearing because I am from the border, which is a very small town. So, I remember hearing he went to Whataburger down in Hidalgo, and I was like, he loves Whataburger too. Oh, my God, he’s the best.”
From fan admiration to professional inspiration
Rodriguez’s recollection underlines a familiar part of Cena’s legacy in WWE. Throughout his career, Cena became one of the defining fan favorites of his generation, particularly among younger viewers who followed his television appearances, championship runs, merchandise, and crossover work outside wrestling. For performers who came into WWE after growing up watching him, the chance to share a ring with Cena can carry a different kind of weight.
In Rodriguez’s case, the early crush became a broader appreciation for what Cena accomplished in the industry. She explained that, as she grew into her own career, she began to study his approach and recognize the scale of his WWE trajectory.
That evolution matters because Rodriguez’s own role has changed substantially in recent years. She is no longer simply a fan looking up at a WWE ring. As part of The Judgment Day, she has been positioned in major stories and has been trusted to make a physical impact in high-profile segments. Her championship status and alliance with Dominik Mysterio gave her an especially notable role during Cena’s final Premium Live Event appearance.
A defining Survivor Series appearance
Rodriguez’s personal full-circle moment came at Survivor Series last year, when Cena made his final-ever appearance on a Premium Live Event as part of his farewell tour. The event took place in San Diego, California, the hometown of Rodriguez’s Judgment Day teammate, “Dirty” Dominik Mysterio.
During the match, Rodriguez entered the ring and planted Cena with her Tejana Bomb. The interference helped Mysterio regain the Men’s Intercontinental Championship in front of his hometown crowd. It was an important championship development for The Judgment Day, but Rodriguez viewed it through a much more personal lens as well.
She had gone from being a high school student excited to learn that Cena had eaten at a nearby Whataburger to standing across the ring from him on a major WWE event. The same star she once watched as a fan became part of a storyline in which Rodriguez had a direct, decisive role.
“But then, I started to really grow and learn from John Cena and see how he worked and his amazing trajectory with WWE and everything that he was able to accomplish,” Rodriguez said. “And then, being put in the Judgment Day, and suddenly getting this moment to be in a storyline with him and Dominik, and having an actual moment on a PLE with John Cena, all of that was just very, very mind-blowing.”
The Judgment Day connection
The Survivor Series sequence also showed why Rodriguez has become such a useful presence within The Judgment Day. Her size, strength, and willingness to involve herself in the group’s biggest situations have made her a formidable ally when the faction is attempting to shift the outcome of a match. Delivering the Tejana Bomb to Cena was not merely an appearance at ringside; it was a decisive action in a championship story involving Mysterio.
For Mysterio, reclaiming the Intercontinental Championship in San Diego added a hometown dimension to the victory. For The Judgment Day, it meant restoring a piece of championship gold to the group. And for Rodriguez, it created a rare moment where her past as a Cena fan collided directly with her current place in WWE.
There is also an inherent contrast in the memory. Rodriguez did not get her full-circle encounter with Cena by sharing a sentimental in-ring exchange or standing beside him as a fellow fan favorite. Instead, she was aligned with one of WWE’s most notorious factions and used her power to take him down, helping Mysterio in the process. That is the kind of unpredictable turn that professional wrestling can produce: an admirer of a superstar eventually becoming an obstacle in that superstar’s final PLE chapter.
A milestone beyond the result
The result at Survivor Series will remain part of Mysterio’s Intercontinental Championship history and of Cena’s farewell-tour record. Rodriguez’s comments, however, add another layer to the moment. Her response makes clear that the occasion was not simply another assignment in a televised WWE storyline.
For performers, wrestling’s biggest milestones are often tied to the people who made them want to pursue the profession in the first place. Rodriguez did not describe Cena only as a celebrity crush from her teenage years. She also spoke about learning from the way he worked and from the long list of accomplishments he assembled in WWE.
That distinction is important. The fan memory is warm and specific, from the inflatable hands to the Whataburger story, but the professional respect is rooted in Cena’s longevity and trajectory. Rodriguez’s Survivor Series involvement brought those two sides together at once: the teenager who was thrilled by Cena’s connection to her region, and the WWE champion who now had an opportunity to perform in a consequential segment opposite him.
Rodriguez’s story is ultimately a reminder of how quickly the distance between the audience and the ring can change for those who make it into WWE. A high school fan’s admiration can become inspiration. Inspiration can become training, opportunity, championship success, and eventually a moment on Premium Live Event with the same person who first captured that fan’s attention.
For Raquel Rodriguez, that moment arrived with The Judgment Day at Survivor Series, a Tejana Bomb, Dominik Mysterio’s Intercontinental Championship victory, and John Cena on the receiving end. It may have been an act of villainy within the storyline, but it was also an unforgettable career milestone for one of WWE’s current champions.
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Darryl Polo
Darryl Polo is a passionate wrestling fan covering WWE, AEW, TNA and beyond. He loves great rivalries, breakout stars and the moments that keep fans talking long after the bell. How we work.