Raquel Rodriguez was injured by Shayna Baszler and Ronda Rousey (Picture: WWE)
WWE superstar Raquel Rodriguez has been written out with a broken arm and dislocated elbow on SmackDown.
The rising star was scheduled to team up with Shotzi against Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler in a preview of sorts for Survivor Series, but a backstage attack left her in plenty of pain as part of a strong injury angle.
It meant Shotzi was left to go out alone to face Shayna and Ronda just 24 hours before she’ll face the latter for the SmackDown Women’s Championship.
Not surprisingly, the numbers game was proving too much – and although Raquel would come down to try and even the odds, it wasn’t enough to swing things in the challenger’s favour.
In the end, Raquel had to tap out to Rousey’s armbar, giving the champ all the momentum going into the high stakes match at Survivor Series.
Later, Shotzi revealed in a backstage segment that her friend had suffered a brutal injury in the attack.
It appears to be a storyline injury rather than anything more serious for Raquel, who has been presented as a potential future champion in waiting since her debut on the blue brand.
She’ll be a good future challenger for Ronda Rousey when the time comes, and writing her off with this injury ensures she’s got some real motivation to get a measure of revenge when the time comes.
It also means Shotzi will face Rousey without any backup on Saturday night, which could either result in a bad night for the challenger, or Shayna helping her pal to victory.
Elsewhere on SmackDown, Becky Lynch made a triumphant return at the start of the night to join forces with Asuka, Alexa Bliss, Mia Yim and Raw Women’s Champion Bianca Belair.
The five superstars will go into WarGames itself as they battle Bayley, Iyo Sky, Dakota Kai, Rhea Ripley and Nikki Cross inside the hellish structure.
WWE SmackDown airs Friday nights at 1am on BT Sport 1.
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Shotzi won’t have backup at Survivor Series.
