As the right-hand-woman to current Women's World Champion Liv Morgan, the powerhouse Raquel Rodriguez was surely a favorite to progress in the inaugural WWE Women's Intercontinental Championship tournament. All she had to do was win a triple threat on the December 16 episode of "WWE Raw," but in an upset, Rodriguez came up short to a wily Zoey Stark, who took her first televised victory in months to progress to the tournament semifinals.

Rodriguez came out of the gate with a fiery intensity, making quick work of Stark and Kayden Carter, who was making her solo match debut with Monday's tournament match. Stark fought her way to the playing field by laying right hands on Rodriguez before connecting a DDT onto Carter, who had tried to score a quick victory via Monkey Flip. The match's finish flew by as Carter tried once again to score a victory via roll-up pin onto Rodriguez, only to be sufficiently leveled by the powerhouse. Stark took advantage of the chaos to land a Z360 on Carter, and while Stark may not have caught all of it, it was sufficient to put Carter away for the victory.

Monday marked Stark's first televised victory since late September, when she took a victory against Lyra Valkyria, who also progressed to Women's Intercontinental Championship tournament semifinals on the December 9 episode of "Raw." Stark is now slated to face Dakota Kai in tournament semifinals at a currently undisclosed date. Shortly after her shocking victory, Stark and the rest of Pure Fusion Collective were seen assaulting Kairi Sane backstage, and it seems that Sane's arm was crushed in between two backstage equipment boxes. Sane's condition is currently being assessed, and it is unclear whether she will be cleared to compete in her own upcoming tournament match against Natalya and Alba Fyre.