Raquel Rodriguez Wishes Carlito Romance Storyline Went Further

Raquel Rodriguez says she has some lingering what-ifs about one of her more unexpected on-screen pairings. The reigning WWE Women’s Intercontinental Champion recently sat down with Chris Van Vliet on his INSIGHT podcast and revealed she wishes the romantic angle she shared with Carlito had been given more room to breathe.

The two were part of the Judgment Day during a stretch of the faction’s run, a group that leaned heavily on offbeat chemistry and comedic beats alongside its heel dominance. Rodriguez also used the conversation to talk about the challenge of keeping a straight face during some of the group’s sillier segments, specifically pointing to R-Truth’s chaotic campaign to weasel his way into the stable. Anyone who watched those segments live knows how often Truth’s antics threatened to break the fourth wall entirely, so it tracks that the performers in the scene were fighting just as hard as the audience not to crack up.

The Carlito pairing itself was a notable curveball at the time. Both performers have more than proven themselves as credible in-ring talents — Rodriguez as a former WWE Women’s Champion and current Intercontinental titleholder, Carlito as a cult favorite who returned to a roaring reception — but their on-screen flirtation added a different texture to Judgment Day’s dynamic, mixing comedy with just enough sincerity to make fans wonder where it might go. That it apparently didn’t go anywhere beyond a tease is the kind of thing that happens constantly in WWE storytelling, where creative direction shifts, rosters get shuffled, and romantic angles often get used as connective tissue rather than a destination in themselves.

Still, Rodriguez’s comments are a reminder of how much untapped potential there can be in angles that get introduced and then quietly shelved. The Judgment Day as a unit has gone through numerous changes in membership and tone since its inception, and not every thread gets to play out to its natural conclusion. Rodriguez has long since moved into her current run as Women’s Intercontinental Champion, a title picture that keeps her plenty busy without needing to revisit old storylines.

Whether WWE ever circles back to give Rodriguez and Carlito a proper follow-up remains to be seen, but her comments suggest she’d be game if the call ever came. For now, it’s a fun bit of insight into how performers view the angles that got away, and a small window into just how much goes on behind the scenes to keep a straight face when a stable’s comic relief is doing everything possible to crack up the cast.