Raquel Rodriguez is riding one of the best stretches of her WWE career, but she continues to deal daily with the skin condition that sidelined her for several months.
In a recent appearance on Busted Open Radio, Rodriguez revealed that even though she’s back to competing regularly, the flare-ups have never completely gone away.
“Um, but I’ve just learned to live with it and actually because of it I feel like it’s made me stronger. It’s made me mentally stronger. Um, and it’s made me more confident too. Like, you know, this is my body.”
The issue first became public in 2024, when Rodriguez disclosed that she was dealing with Mast Cell Activation Syndrome. She later clarified, however, that testing had not formally confirmed the diagnosis and that she was still trying to pinpoint exactly what was triggering her reactions.
Rodriguez has since been able to identify some of the key factors that cause her skin to flare up.
“You know what’s funny is I’ve really learned to live with it this past year because it’s not like it’s fully gone away. You know, I can talk right now. I have a couple of spots, um, a couple of rashes that pop up because of obvious reasons. You know, it’s my immune system that’s being attacked. It’s my histamine system. So, when I’m stressed or I’m not eating right or I’m not getting enough sleep or I’m not in my natural environment, my skin tends to show me, you know, ‘Hey, you need to bring it back. You need to calm down and you need to relax.'”
“Um, so, you know, like, I don’t drink alcohol as much as I used to anymore and especially don’t do it on the road because traveling itself is so stressful on my body. I have to make the decision about one or the other.”
Rodriguez has also come to interpret her skin reactions as a warning sign.
“And so my skin has kind of been like my warning sign this past year. It’s really made me listen to my body. It’s really made me take into account that I need to rest. I need to sleep when I can. I need to eat good when I can. I need to make decisions and choices late at night that will affect me the next day that are going to be in a healthy way and not in a negative way.”
Rodriguez also shared that people dealing with similar conditions have reached out to her. Being able to keep competing and remain part of the Judgment Day has completely changed how she views her situation.
“A lot of people have come up to me, told me that they deal with similar things and, you know, how do I handle it, and I feel like I’m in such a good mindset, positively-wise, that I’m just happy about being able to be in this position again and grateful to be a part of the WWE and be a part of the Judgment Day and be part of the most amazing heel faction the WWE has ever seen.”
