WWE's Raquel Rodriguez Gets Candid About Struggling With Her Skin Condition

Raquel Rodriguez discovered in November 2023 that she had mast cell activation syndrome but revealed it on New Year's Day 2024. Rodriguez took a small hiatus and made a brief return in February but left a month later due to a flare-up around the time of the Elimination Chamber: Perth PLE. Rodriguez took seven months off, returning at Bad Blood in October to attack Rhea Ripley and subsequently join The Judgement Day. Rodriguez joined "The Takedown on SI" and spoke about her condition.

"I was very scared," Raquel began. "Thinking about it even now, 'cause I thought about coming to social media and I will, I will get more into social media to tell other people who are struggling with skin conditions and struggling with autoimmune diseases there's different options and I want to tell everyone what I did to get back to my healthiest. But yeah, it was definitely the hardest part of my life."

The former NXT Women's Champion said her face blew up on the flight to Australia for Elimination Chamber. Upon landing, Rodriguez went to a doctor and received a steroid shot but the condition got worse when she returned to the States. Rodriguez sadly revealed in addition to thinking she lost her dream job, people she thought were her friends stopped communicating with her. Rodriguez also became self-conscious about her appearance, losing her confidence too.

"Every day was kind of a fight for me," Rodriguez remarked. "I was seeing lots of doctors, I was seeing lots of healers, my parents were really trying to help me keep strong to my faith and keep positive about every day but every day was different with this... It was really hard, it was really disgusting because you don't feel like yourself and you feel gross at the same time. And so, those days were really hard for me."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "The Takedown with SI" with a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.