WWE Women’s Intercontinental champion Raquel Rodriguez sat down with Chris Van Vliet at Insight LIVE in New Orleans to discuss winning the Intercontinental Championship and her custom barbed wire title, giving John Cena the Tejana Bomb at Survivor Series, wanting to win a World Championship, the longevity of The Judgment Day, comparisons to “Big Sexy” Kevin Nash, dressing up as Nacho Libre one Halloween, and more!

Last time you were on the show, it was Elimination Chamber last year in Toronto, and you talked about how you wanted to do some more singles stuff; you wanted to win singles gold. Here you are now as the Women’s Intercontinental Champion. What did winning this championship mean for you?

“It meant so much. I think all of you guys know I’ve had a very long journey with WWE. I’ve had so many ups and downs, so many noes, so many yeses, and then for a moment there, I thought I was just getting pigeonholed into just being a tag wrestler. But to know that they have faith in me to carry a title, to know that they have faith in me to stand here as your Intercontinental Champion. That means so much to me and so much to my journey with WWE and just my journey in general in life. So it’s so cool.”

You get busted open in the match. You go to the back and you take your first promo photos with the championship; those are some of the most badass photos I think I’ve ever seen.

“Thank you. You know what’s so funny is I was going to a Texans game at the same time, and someone compared my photo to J.J. Watt when he was having his epic season and had that picture of blood running down his nose, and I was like, yeah, this made it 100 times better. Something so unplanned, it was very painful. I still feel like I have a bump or a little scratch there, girls being girls, but worth it. Worth every little bit.”

Were you like, I could wipe my face off, or no?

“I don’t know if you saw, but the referee kept wiping my face off. I didn’t want to wipe my face off. As soon as I felt the blood dripping down my face I was like, yes, let’s have more! But every chance that the ref could, she was coming up and just taking a napkin to my face and made it a little bit messier when it dried up at the end. But still, epic.”

I saw a fun fact the other day. Judgment Day has been around longer than the Shield and Evolution by many days. Isn’t that a crazy thing to think about?

“It’s a legacy being a part of the Judgment Day. It’s a legacy at this point. So once you’re in, you’re in. You’re a legend. That’s it, game over.”

I asked Finn Balor this question, but when it’s all said and done, how do you think people will remember Judgment Day?

“I think they’re going to remember us for all of it. For the good, the bad, the amazing characters, the amazing memories that we’ve been able to have, even just with each iteration of how Judgment Day was, even the great interactions between all of us when we were good guys and bad guys. I don’t know how many times I’ve wrestled Rhea when she was a part of Judgment Day. It’s insane. Even Dominik. I think I body slammed Dominik at one point. There was a moment where I didn’t like him, but now he’s my brother. So that’s what Judgment Day will be remembered for is always having that family tie.”

You had such a fun moment last year. You were part of one of John Cena’s last matches ever. In fact, you were part of John Cena’s last PLE match at Survivor Series. You gave John Cena your finisher. How did all this come together?

“Oh man, I think it started back in high school when I saw John Cena live and I developed a crush for him. Then I was like, I bought the inflatable hands. You guys remember the can’t see me hand with the movable fingers. Yeah, I definitely bought that. 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.”

“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, and then being put in the Judgment Day, and suddenly getting this moment of getting 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. It’s crazy to like try and look back to that day and remember every single moment, but I do remember every single moment I had with him, from getting to learn under his wing, from getting to hear his thoughts, and even getting to pick him up in a Tejana bomb and slap him down-that was so cool! Oh my gosh, it was so full circle for me, and I was just very, very grateful that I got to be in that situation.”

What was that crowd reaction like when you did that?

“It was amazing. Even when I came home, the crowd reaction the next day and the day after that, everyone was like, ‘You picked up John Cena!’ I was like, ‘Yeah.’ And I don’t let people forget. People who come to my meet-and-greets wearing his shirts, I remind them. I’m like, ‘Hey, you know I slammed that guy. I picked him up and I threw him right down.'”