Raquel Rodriguez has earned a shot at Ronda Rousey’s SmackDown Women’s Championship.
On the December 23 episode of WWE SmackDown, Rodriguez won a Gauntlet Match to earn a match with Rousey.
The order of elimination is as follows:
- Emma (Eliminated by Xia Li)
- Tegan Nox (Xia Li)
- Xia Li (Raquel Rodriguez)
- Liv Morgan (Raquel Rodriguez)
- Sonya Deville (Raquel Rodriguez)
Rodriguez seemingly won the match, but Rousey came to the stage and said she had one more opponent. Shayna Baszler came to the ring and attacked Rodriguez’s injured arm, but the powerhouse rolled her up for the win.
Raquel earns herself a #SmackDown #WomensTitle opportunity!@RaquelWWE pic.twitter.com/xznfoivGQd
— WWE on FOX (@WWEonFOX) December 24, 2022
Rodriguez won’t have long to prepare for her title shot; she will challenge Rousey for the gold on the December 30 episode of SmackDown. Rousey and Baszler previously took Rodriguez out with a brutal attack on the November 25 episode of SmackDown; they sidelined her with a broken arm and a dislocated elbow. Earlier in 2022, Rodriguez faced Rousey in her second match on SmackDown when the champion held an open challenge for the title. They have crossed paths on multiple occasions since then, and now Rodriguez will aim to score some revenge when she challenges for the gold.
Rousey regained the title at WWE Extreme Rules, where she defeated Liv Morgan in an Extreme Rules Match. She later retained the championship against Shotzi at WWE Survivor Series.
RELATED: WWE SmackDown Results (12/23/22)
