Raquel Rodriguez punched her ticket to the Queen of the Ring semifinals during the June 5 edition of Friday Night SmackDown, surviving a chaotic Fatal Four-Way match against Bayley, Jacy Jayne, and Kiana James.
The match began with Bayley immediately going after Raquel, but the powerhouse was quickly forced to regroup as the other three competitors attempted to neutralize her early. Bayley drew a big reaction from the crowd when she managed to send Raquel to the floor, allowing the remaining competitors to battle for control inside the ring.
Bayley looked sharp during the early stages, hitting a Bayley-to-Belly on Jacy Jayne and nearly scoring the victory. Kiana James answered with several near-falls of her own as the two exchanged a series of pinning combinations. Jacy then attempted to steal the match with a double-stack pin, but the bout continued.
Once Raquel returned to the action, the momentum shifted dramatically. Rodriguez wiped out the field with a huge crossbody before taking over with a series of corner attacks on both Jacy Jayne and Bayley. She continued her dominance with shoulder tackles, elbows in the corner, and a powerful slam on Kiana James for a near-fall.
The action spilled outside the ring when Bayley countered one of Raquel’s attacks, but Rodriguez responded by driving Bayley face-first into the announcers’ table with a Snake Eyes. Jacy Jayne attempted a cannonball on the outside, but Raquel caught her before James and Jayne briefly worked together to slow the powerhouse down.
Jacy eventually gained control, targeting both Bayley and James with repeated cannonballs and strikes. However, Raquel stormed back into the match and flattened both Bayley and James in the corner before connecting with a corkscrew splash for another close near-fall.
One of the biggest moments came when Jacy Jayne hit a Frankensteiner on Bayley, only for Raquel to respond with a massive double chokeslam to both Bayley and Jayne. Kiana James narrowly broke up the pin attempt to keep herself alive in the contest.
As the match entered its final stretch, Bayley mounted a comeback and connected with a top-rope elbow drop on Jacy Jayne, nearly securing the victory before Kiana James broke up the count at the last possible second.
James then looked poised to win after delivering a DealBreaker, a superkick, and a standing moonsault. However, chaos erupted at ringside when she became distracted during an argument involving Giulia.
The distraction proved costly. Bayley attempted to capitalize with the Rose Plant, while Jacy Jayne followed up with a Rolling Encore. Before either woman could secure the win, Raquel Rodriguez exploded back into the action with a huge big boot to Jacy before planting Kiana James with her finishing move.
With all three opponents down, Raquel scored the decisive pinfall victory to win the Fatal Four-Way match and advance to the semifinals of the Queen of the Ring tournament. She will now face IYO SKY next week, so it remains to be seen how she will fare against the Genius of the Sky.
Rodriguez now moves one step closer to becoming Queen of the Ring, overcoming three dangerous opponents in one of the most action-packed matches of the tournament so far.
