Roxanne Perez will step into her first Triplemania without the backup she usually has on Monday Night Raw, and she is not worried about it. The WWE star is the only member of The Judgment Day who has yet to win championship gold, and she begins her pursuit of the AAA Reina de Reinas Championship on Friday night in a fatal four-way match at Night 1 of Triplemania 34 in Las Vegas.
Perez will face La Hiedra, Faby Apache and Nattie in the No. 1 contender match at the MGM Grand Arena, with the winner earning a title shot at Worlds Collide. The event marks the premier showcase for the AAA roster, and it is Perez's first time competing at the annual spectacle.
On Raw, The Judgment Day typically operates as a unit. Perez and Raquel Rodriguez have accompanied Liv Morgan to ringside, and the group has supported Perez and Rodriguez in their own matches. But ahead of the fatal four-way, Morgan and Rodriguez were nowhere to be found, a detail Perez framed as a vote of confidence rather than a snub.
«I think they know that I got this. I think they know that I came all the way over here to take an opportunity for myself,» Perez said. «I think being surrounded by champions and obviously there is not another opportunity for a title on the main roster right now because my girls are killing it. So obviously I just thought ‘The Prodigy’ doesn't stay complacent. ‘The Prodigy’ doesn't stay comfortable. So what did I do? I came all the way to AAA to get a championship of my own.»
The match represents a full-circle moment for Perez, who first received an invitation to train and compete in AAA when she was 16 years old. At the time, her parents were not fully on board with the move, and she did not take the opportunity. Now, with AAA part of WWE, she is seizing it on her own terms.
«I'm so excited. So, um, a little backstory, I have been training to become a WWE superstar since I was 13 years old, and when I was 16, I actually had an invitation to come to AAA, train here, be on their shows, and that was really something that I wanted to do because, obviously I wanted to wrestle all around the world and make a big name for myself, but, I was 16 years old so my parents weren't fully in on that,» she said. «So, I didn't get to take that opportunity but now AAA is a part of WWE and I'm taking my opportunity and I'm not asking for permission from anybody. I'm so excited to be here and also to just represent my culture. I am Mexican and I'm Puerto Rican, So, to be able to represent that and be here as a main roster WWE superstar, it's really exciting.»
Perez acknowledged the difficulty of the field. La Hiedra knows AAA inside and out, Faby Apache is a legend in the Lucha Libre world, and Natalya, known as Nattie, is a trailblazer for women in WWE whose work in the Divas era helped create opportunities that performers like Perez now enjoy.
«It definitely is a big task. I have a big opportunity right in front of me that I know I'm gonna take. I know that I'm gonna go straight to Worlds Collide and become Reina de Reinas champion, but also I am not underestimating every woman that is in this match because like you said, legends in all different aspects,» she said. «La Hiedra knows AAA inside and out. Natalya (Nattie), she's a legend in in WWE in the Divas era. She's a trailblazer for us women. She didn't get these opportunities before and she worked to make sure that all of us got these opportunities. So, I respect her so much for that. Faby Apache, a legend in the Lucha Libre world.»
«So yeah, I have a lot on my plate right now, but it's nothing that ‘The Prodigy’ can't overcome. ‘The Prodigy’ has gone through so much the past 10 years of me wrestling, and if anybody thinks that I'm just gonna let this opportunity slip away, I've been waiting for one opportunity and I finally have it and I'm not gonna let it slip through my fingers.»
Triplemania 34 Night 1 begins at 10 p.m. ET in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand Arena. Night 2 takes place Sunday at Arena CDMX in Mexico City. Both events can be seen on YouTube.