Big Mami Cool is reigning supreme on NXT.
Raquel Gonzalez, the NXT Women's Champion, is affectionately referred to by the "Big Mami Cool" moniker in reference to "Big Daddy Cool" Diesel. Real name Kevin Nash, the former Diesel was a bodyguard/wrestler who quickly gained popularity and ascended the WWE card to capture the championship. Unfortunately, Raquel hasn't spoken with him, but has spoken with a friend of his, she tells Fightful.
"I haven't had an encounter with Kevin. We haven't seen him at NXT. I'm looking forward to that as well. I'm really excited to pick the brains of a lot of people who I haven't had the opportunity to speak with. Shawn (Michaels) has definitely been a big influence for us and he's definitely spoken to Dakota (Kai) and I about the similarities and how we remind him of his time with Kevin Nash as tag partners. It's really cool to take a step back and be like, 'Wow.' You grow up watching and you love it and you see it and you think, 'I can do that one day.' You're finally there and it's like, 'I'm doing it and I'm being compared to iconic legends and being put in the same conversations as these people.' It's mind blowing," Gonzalez said.
There's another person of influence that worked quite a bit with Kevin Nash, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon. Raquel confirmed that McMahon showed up at the Performance Center recently,
"He popped up a couple of weeks ago," Gonzalez said. "I haven't had much interaction with him. The first encounter, I was backstage at Raw with Rhea Ripley. Wee were standing there together and he was like, 'Well, uber Amazon.' That was a good little reaction for me, but I haven't had an opportunity to interact with him too much, but I'm looking forward to it. I hear he's quite the character."
Speaking of Ripley and fellow 'Amazon' wrestlers, Raquel is happy for Ripley's success, despite their bitter rivalry.
"It's an amazing feeling, it really is. We go through so much together in being in Orlando, the industry, traveling, and stress and all of that stuff. It really brings a lot of us together and closer. Like being sisters, you have fights and arguments and you fall apart at times, but it makes me so happy to see her doing so well and such amazing things. Her match (at Money in the Bank) with Charlotte Flair was so brutal, hard-hitting, and it makes me happy to know that's what she's doing and she's doing what's true to her. That's Rhea Ripley and she's showing the world that. I couldn't ask for anything more for her," said Gonzalez.
Gonzalez takes on Xia Li on July 20's episode of WWE NXT on the USA Network at 8 PM EST. You can check out our full interview with Raquel Gonzalez at the top of the page.
