WWE SummerSlam 2025 generated a lot of buzz. While a lot of it was negative for how the show ended, there were some good points worth discussing. One such topic was about Raquel Rodriguez as she continues to get praise for how she’s performed the last few months. The catalyst for this improvement came from the words of a legend. It has been great to see her change up her game and receive credit for how she’s taken to receiving criticism in an industry where so many look the other way.
Three weeks ago, an interesting story about Raquel Rodriguez popped up across the Internet. She was heading into WWE Evolution 2025 to defend the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship with Roxanne Perez. Before the show, some words from none other than Kevin Nash came out that sparked a change in Rodriguez.
“I get pissed off at her because she always works down,” Nash said on his podcast Kliq This. “They have to teeter to knock you off your [expletive] base when you’re that much bigger than them.”
If anyone knows what it means to work big, Kevin Nash knows what it means to work big. The multiple-time champion and Hall of Famer was known as “Big Daddy Cool” for a reason. Being big was the basis of his character for much of his early run, before people realized he had a full-blown, hilarious personality under that. Nash had strong words for Rodriguez, who stands head and shoulders above most of her peers on the roster. But what was endearing about the situation was Rodriguez’s response to it.
“If that’s coming from Kevin Nash, I fully take it to heart,” Rodriguez responded. “If he thinks I’m working too small, then Mr. Nash – sir, with all due respect – I’ll start working bigger. I hope you’ll tune in more and watch Raquel Rodriguez grow and get bigger every single time. If anyone knows how to be a cool, big, strong wrestler, it’s Kevin Nash.”
Since that moment, showing up big is exactly what Rodriguez has done. She’s been on a run that features some of her best matches to date. Whether she’s been in this tag team with Perez, or in the few singles matches she’s had, Rodriguez is continuing to improve. Others have taken notice of her improvement as well.
Big E brought up Kevin Nash telling Raquel to work bigger and how since then Raquel is as good as she's ever been
— CrispyWrestling (@CrispyWrestlin) August 2, 2025
Love he brought that up#SummerSlam pic.twitter.com/RxARyTyePd
“I want to talk a bit about the rise of Raquel Rodriguez. I think people have been understandably critical of Raquel,” Big E said during the SummerSlam preshow. “I can remember back to NXT, she was, in many ways, kind of put in the same class as Rhea and Bianca, but the bar is so high with those two, and I think people were waiting for her to earn that positioning, to be a rightful third.”
“I saw a real change in Raquel, seeing her match with Rhea at Night of Champions, even in a loss, that was the best version I’d seen up until then,” Big E continued. “At Evolution as well, seeing how sharp she was. I’m telling you; this version of Raquel is someone she should really be proud.”
That’s quite a statement coming from another performer who knows what it means to be big. He’s right, though. Raquel Rodriguez was positioned to be a force during her time in NXT. Look back to her battles with Rhea Ripley when the latter was making her move to the main roster. It was Rodriguez who was booked as the powerful force finally able to topple Ripley. But that hasn’t translated to her run on the main roster. Perhaps all she needed was criticism from the right person.