Recapturing the NXT Tag Team Championship with Dakota Kai may be the number two priority but it is still a priority for Raquel Gonzalez.
Currently, Raquel Gonzalez is sitting on the mountaintop of NXT having risen through the ranks and defeated Io Shirai to stake her claim at the top of the brand.
Even though her next NXT Championship defense is against Ember Moon at TakeOver: In Your House, Raquel’s issues with Moon stem back from when she and Dakota Kai lost the NXT Women's Tag Team Championship to Shotzi Blackheart and Ember Moon after only being champions for an hour.
Since losing the Tag Team Championship her singles career has been on an upward trajectory while Dakota Kai has begun to show signs of frustration with the course of direction in recent weeks.
Speaking with Denise Salcedo, Raquel glowing leave spoke about the genuine relationship she has with Dakota Kai and stated that she hopes they can move forward as champions together because it is still a priority for her to recapture tag team gold, even if her primary focus is on her singles championship run.
“Dakota was actually the person who constantly supported me through everything. You know, when I was originally supposed to have my original debut when NXT had its first lead show on the USA Network and I was told you're not ready yet. She was there for me and she saw how it impacted me. She constantly supported me through all of that, and so when we did decide to go with our pairing and have my new debut at NXT Portland, it was very exciting for both of us.
"I think we're both very happy about it because we became very close. You know, she started her PC around the same time as I did too, a little bit after, and watching her and learning from her helps my confidence a lot. She comes with so much experience. She's had stories with Shayna Baszler. She was Nia Jax's first match. She's had stories with Rhea Ripley, Io Shirai, and she's wrestled these women all over the world. That helps me so much because I knew that I had a partner and I had someone to look up to and learn from and that's exactly what Dakota has been for me from day one. Yeah, we've had our disagreements here and there and you know, she's got locked into a locker which we let her out. We got her out as soon as possible. But we've definitely grown as teammates and as partners, and I don't see myself as champion without her. I hope that something that we can look forward to together is being champions together again, you know, we only held the NXT Women's Tag Titles for an hour because of Ember Moon and her loud mouth. But it was something that was bittersweet, and it's something that makes us want more and it's something to look forward to because the NXT Women's Championship is my priority, but the tag titles is number two for us. I think that's something you know, either way, it's a win-win situation for us.”
Raquel would later include Dakota Kai as somebody she would be willing to defend the championship against as she says she wants to be able to step into the ring with anybody on the brand.
Up next for Raquel is the match against Ember Moon at In Your House where she says that she intends on hitting her and hitting her where it hurts in order to finally rid herself of the “bug that won't go away.”
Fightful will have live coverage of In Your House on Sunday, June 13.
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