After securing a massive win over Natalya and Sonya Deville on SmackDown, Aliyah and Raquel Rodriguez have officially secured themselves a spot in the finale of WWE’s Women’s Tag Team Championship Tournament, where they will wrestle Dakota Kai and IYO SKY for the vacant titles.

While their path to the finals wasn’t particularly fraught with challenges, as, unlike the bottom right side of the bracket, there weren’t any replacement teams or “Last Chance 4-Ways” to replace a team in the middle of the tournament. If anything, Ali-Raq actually benefitted from these changes more than anyone else, as they were able to wrestle Natalya and Deville coming off of another match earlier in the night, but hey, you know what they say, it’s not about how you get to the show but how you perform once you arrive. Against all odds, Rodriguez and Aliyah now find themselves a few seconds away from being crowned the WWE Tag Team Champions, and as Mrs. 3:17 can attest, that opportunity can come quickly.

But understand that this isn’t going to be a cakewalk for Aliyah and Rodriguez, for they will need to defeat the hottest women’s tag team in WWE today, Kai and SKY, for the championship belts. While Kai and SKY have only wrestled together as a team on eight occasions, three times in WWE and five more in NXT, the momentum is firmly behind their backs, especially as they prepare to wrestle in a trios match with Bayley against Bianca Belair, Asuka, and Alexa Bliss at Clash at the Castle. This, however, doesn't eliminate Aliyah and Rodriguez from contention. If anything, the hype surrounding Kai and SKY could be setting things up perfectly for an upset.

Raquel Rodriquez and Dakota Kai have serious WWE history in NXT.

Will pulling out a win and securing the WWE Tag Team Championships be easy for Aliyah and Rodriguez? Hardly but fortunately, Rodriguez has extensive experience with at least one member of the match, Kai, whom she partnered with in NXT and even won the inaugural NXT Woman’s Tag Team Championships with back in March of 2021. While things didn’t end great for the duo, as they broke up and started a feud that would go on for the remainder of the 2021 calendar year, they would reconcile shortly thereafter and even win the belts once more before Rodriquez was elevated to the main roster, and Kai was released outright.

Will that experience help Rodriguez? She seems to think so, as she told Megan Morant on the SmackDown LowDown, “I know Dakota very well. We were the first NXT Tag Team Champions, and we were the first two-time NXT Tag Team Champions, but that doesn’t change anything. She made her choices, and I made mine, and I am very excited to make this finals RAW debut with my girl Aliyah by my side.”

Aliyah thanked Rodriguez for having faith in her and echoed her partner’s sentiment, telling Morant, “I know I have a lot of proving to do, and I know I haven’t proven myself yet, but with Raquel by my side, I am confident are going to be taking those tag team titles.”

Now granted, when Gonzalez was asked about her feelings on Kai and her return to WWE on the After the Bell podcast with Corey Graves, she was singing a bit of a different tune, expressing excitement to see her former NXT buddy not only back in the company but elevated to the main roster, as you can read below via a transcription from Sportskeeda.

“I'm so excited and happy for her [Dakota Kai]. She is an absolute superstar. The things that girl does, the way she moves and walks with confidence. I've learned so much from her, just being under her wing so long, you know what I mean? She's been a big part of my career. Seeing her on RAW just makes me absolutely happy. Am I a little bit sad that she is not on SmackDown? Yes! But you know what? She's out there and she is killing it. So maybe somewhere down the road we will reunite at some point. I hope”

Bayley, what have you done? You've turned friend against friend, Stardom performer against Stardom performer, and thrown the entire women's division of RAW out of wack. While it may ultimately result in a war chest of championship titles that would make the Bloodline blush, in the end, one has to wonder if gaining the world is worth losing your friends along the way. Unfortunately for the rest of the WWE Universe, it looks like Bayley has made her decision, and the team of Kai and SKY are following suit.