This Sunday, NXT Women’s Champion Raquel Gonzalez will defend her title against Ember Moon, and ahead of this buzzworthy bout, the champion reflected on her run in NXT.
In an interview with Denise Salcedo, Gonzalez credited Dakota Kai for her rise to the top of the black-and-gold brand. Their connection spans as far back as October 2019, when Kai supported Gonzalez when her debut was pushed back.
“Dakota was actually the person who constantly supported me through everything,” said Gonzalez. “You know, when I was originally supposed to have my original debut when NXT had its first live show on the USA Network, and I was told, ‘You’re not ready yet,’ she was there for me. And she saw pretty much how it impacted me, and she constantly supported me throughout that.
“So when we did decide to go with our pairing and have my new debut at NXT [TakeOver] Portland, it was very exciting for both of us. I think we’re both very happy about it because we’ve become very close.”
Gonzalez also explained that Kai has helped her grow throughout her time in NXT, and she looks up to her partner as someone who has competed with some of the best women’s wrestlers in WWE.
“She’s wrestled these women all over the world,” said Gonzalez. “That helped me so much because I knew that I had a partner and I had someone to look up to and learn from. And that’s exactly what Dakota has been for me from day one. We’ve definitely grown as teammates and as partners, and I don’t see myself as champion without her.”
The NXT Women’s Champion also made it clear that she hopes to regain the brand’s Women’s Tag Team Championship with Kai; the duo briefly held the titles when they were introduced earlier this year, but they lost the gold the night the titles debuted.
“I hope that something we can look forward to together is being champions together again,” said Gonzalez. “We only held the NXT Women’s Tag Team Titles for an hour because of Ember Moon and her loud mouth. But it was something that was bittersweet, and it’s something that makes us want more too. And it’s something to look forward to because the NXT Women’s Championship is my priority, but the tag titles is number two for us.”
The full interview is available here:
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