Bully Ray Praises Raquel Rodriguez After WWE Raw IC Title Win

For the first time in her WWE main roster career, Raquel Rodriguez has captured singles championship gold, and according to WWE Hall of Famer Bully Ray, it's well deserved.

"She has gotten much better in the ring," Ray said on "Busted Open." "When Raquel Rodriguez first came on the scene in the WWE, there was a lot of hesitation on her part. You could see she was thinking a lot in the ring about what's next. I think she's found her comfort zone. I think she's working a lot better in the ring. And last night, that woman was a warrior. Listen, congratulations on winning the Intercontinental Championship. That's great. But to get busted open in the nose area, maybe even a broken nose in the middle of the match, not easy to deal with."

Rodriguez's big victory came on this week's episode of "WWE Raw" as she challenged Sol Ruca for the Women's Intercontinental Championship, notably for the second time this month. A distraction from Liv Morgan allowed fellow Judgment Day member Roxanne Perez to trip up Ruca on the ropes, and in turn, lead her right into a Tejana Bomb from Rodriguez. As Ray pointed out, Rodriguez then posed with her brand new championship gold and bloody facial.

"I love the fact that she stood up tall. She put her shoulders back. She flipped her hair back, and she tried to show her face to the world," he said, referencing Rodriguez's post-match celebration. On WWE's main roster, Rodriguez previously held the Women's Tag Team Championships alongside Morgan and Perez. In "WWE NXT," she carried the both NXT Women's and NXT Women's Tag Team Titles.

In Ray's eyes, the follow-up to Rodriguez's title win should involve her testing the temperature of the WWE Universe. From there, WWE's creative team could then pivot or keep her in a similar lane.

"Raquel had a moment in time last night like Becky Lynch had," Ray said in reference to the time Nia Jax broke Becky Lynch's nose in the lead up to the 2018 Survivor Series PLE. "If I'm creative, I'm putting Raquel out there. The next time we see Raquel Rodriguez ... maybe the Raw after SummerSlam, I'm sending her out there to see how the people respond. Let's see what the people think of her right now in this moment, if they're booing her out of the building. You know how I always say, just go to the middle of the ring and just stand there? Send Raquel out there. Let her stand there. Give her some bullet points that she can fire off on a promo. 'I'm Raquel Rodriguez, I'm your new Intercontinental Champion. I'm the biggest, baddest [b****] in the [business],' whatever you're gonna say."

If the crowd were to greet Rodriguez with its usual sea of boos, Ray believes she should continue leaning into. In the event that fans serenaded Rodriguez with a chorus of cheers out of respect, however, a different approach may need to be taken in her follow-up outing.

As of now, it is unclear as to whether Rodrigeuz will appear on the two-night SummerSlam premium live event in Minneapolis. Liv Morgan, her Judgment Day stablemate, will defend the WWE Women's World Championship against IYO SKY on night one. The following night, Dominik Mysterio will take on Danhausen in a "Human Monies on a Pole" match.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Busted Open" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.