AEW star and current Ring of Honor Women’s Champion Mercedes Martinez recently spoke with SEScoops correspondent Steve Fall for NBC Sports Boston about how her match against Serena Deeb on July 23rd at Death Before Dishonor has the potential to be a match of the year candidate.
“Why not? I mean you’re looking at two of the best women wrestlers out there right now in this industry we have the experience we’ve been everywhere we’ve done it all. We’ve had our struggles we’ve sacrificed a lot for what we have to do to where we are now and with Ring of Honor it’s a full circle, it’s almost like hey we’ve been here before, but there was no women’s division we have a chance to propel this woman’s division to go forward for the future of Ring of Honor.
In the future what can this division bring to also AEW because if you look at it you have to look at AEW and ring of Honor we have to be able to mix the talents so those that may not be able to get the opportunity in AEW for whatever reason because story lines this is a chance for them to get into Ring of Honor and actually showcase their skills and their talents it’s a different platform so we’re just here to build and we’re here to capitalize and yeah me and Serena Deeb are going to go in there we’re going to kill it we’re going to throw out the banger we’re going to throw out something that no one has ever seen before that they haven’t seen on mainstream and just prove to everyone that women’s wrestling is here to stay and just let us just roll with it let us just take the bar and you know bring the opportunities and bring everything to what it can be… you know women’s wrestling’s on a high right now and I’m just glad to help lead the charge.”
AEW star and current Ring of Honor Women’s Champion Mercedes Martinez recently spoke with SEScoops correspondent Steve Fall for NBC Sports Boston about how All Elite Wrestling offered her a contract.
“AEW reached out to me actually. I was actually booking myself crazy for like the last six months before that and just going all out and literally within a week before that show I was contacted and basically they just said it’s probably going to be a quick in and out with Thunder Rosa. I was like oh that’s a great that’s a great program let’s see what we can do. We already wrestled previously like maybe a month or two months ago anyways so this was just something for me to be back in the mix on something really big.
From there the conversation kind of just escalated and they just said hey you know what we want to bring you in full time. We want you to be All Elite, it was that quick there was no talking to Tony Khan at that moment it was just like here you go. Here’s your contract get it back to us when you can and that’s it wow it was.
Yeah it was kind of really really fast within days, so it was like do I sign this do I not, but of course me I want to be on mainstream tv right …. I want to make sure my legacy still continues so I had no hesitation on that part.”
AEW has been described as the land of creative freedom by many. According to Mercedes Martinez, the biggest difference compared to WWE is how accessible and receptive Tony Khan is.
The wrestling veteran recently had an interview with Complex Unsanctioned podcast. Among other things, she talked about the difference between WWE and AEW.
Martinez discussed how the AEW owner is busy man. Despite it, he is very accessible and responsive to talents:
“I can text him, I can message him whenever I want, If I have ideas or anything, he’s as accessible as he can be. That’s a big difference going from WWE to here.”
Mercedes Martinez noted that Khan is the one that makes the decisions. So the fact that he listens to people’s concerns is a great thing:
“He’s the boss, he’s the man, he’s the one that makes the decisions, and the fact that he listens to you and your concerns and whatever you have for creative, [it’s great]. I love that creative freedom you have to tell your story where you see fit.”
Mercedes Martinez is a 22-year veteran of the wrestling industry. She has worked for all major promotions in the US in this time. This list includes WWE, AEW, ROH, Impact Wrestling and many more.
Mercedes Martinez has ushered in a new era for ROH by unifying the women’s gold.
On the May 4 episode of AEW Dynamite, Martinez went toe-to-toe with Deonna Purrazzo. Going into the match, Martinez was the interim ROH Women’s Champion while Purrazzo was the main titleholder.
Something had to give in the main event of Dynamite. In the end, it was Mercedes Martinez who forced Purrazzo to tap out via Surfboard Dragon Sleeper. She is now the undisputed ROH Women’s Champion.
Deonna Purrazzo is the next competitor to walk through the “forbidden door” onto AEW television.
Purrazzo is currently signed to Impact Wrestling, where she’s a multi-time Knockouts Champion. She’s also the reigning Ring of Honor Women’s World Champion.
Next week, she’ll make her AEW in-ring debut in a match that has championship implications. The Virtuosa battle AEW star Mercedes Martinez, who holds the Interim ROH Women’s world title.
The championship unification match will determine which competitor will represent ROH’s women’s division moving forward.
Purrazzo reacted to the match announcement by letting fans know that she’s been eager to grace an AEW ring:
This week’s episode of AEW Dynamite featured the second and last semi-final match of the TBS championship tournament. It saw Thunder Rosa and Jade Cargill going up against each other.
Towards the ending of the match that was mostly dominated by Cargill, Rosa got a figure four locked in. However, Cargill got to the ropes forcing the break.
Mark Sterling then created a distraction that led to a hooded figure attacking Thunder Rosa. This interference allowed Cargill to hit Jaded for the pinfall victory.
Thunder Rosa tried to attack Cargill after the match but the hooded figure returned. She put Rosa down once again and then revealed herself to be the former NXT star Mercedes Martinez:
Former WWE superstar Mercedes Martinez shared her thoughts on her issues in the group Retribution.
Martinez appeared on the Oral Session with Renee Paquette to discuss her short run on the WWE main roster. WWE made Martinez one of the original members of Retribution, but she requested to leave the group. In the interview, Martinez shared that lack of communication and creative difference led to her exit from the group.
“…Personally, I needed to know what the group was going to do. What is this group? What is the mentality of this group? Is this something personally that I can get behind? No one knew anything about this group,” said Martinez. She continued, “Mind you, everything was going on in the world with the riots. So is this group part of that because I don’t condone it. I don’t want to be a part of something that maybe mirrors something in real life.”
Martinez also shared that she was okay with the initial direction with the group, as long as WWE hid Retribution identity. However, WWE made the group reveal themselves, and she began to feel more uncomfortable with the gimmick.
More Details on Mercedes Martinez Main Roster run
Martinez has shared in previous interviews why she removed herself from the group. Although, In the interview with Paquette, Martinez revealed that WWE wanted to change her name before Martinez’s debut. However, WWE didn’t consult with Martinez about the decision, and she took offense to the decision.
“…It wasn’t okay to let me know that you were going to change my name the day of, without a contract. I was still on an NXT contract, and I’m not stupid. I’m a grown-ass woman. Talk to me. Don’t tell me the day of the show that you are going to change my name,” said Martinez. She continued, “We didn’t agree on that. We don’t agree on anything. If you want to do something, that’s fine. But don’t expect me to take it down lightly. I’m one of those people that if you talk to me, we can talk. I’m on an NXT contract, here we are on RAW. I’m not a part of Raw yet. Let’s talk. Let’s figure out what’s going on. The moment that happened, I was like, I can’t do this.”
While Martinez had creative differences with WWE, she shared that WWE understood her decision to return to NXT. She continued her WWE career in NXT until WWE released her on August 6th. Martinez is a free agent and is enjoying wrestling on her schedule. Although, She also doesn’t rule out a return to WWE as a coach to help develop talent in NXT.
Mercedes Martinez recently celebrated her 21-year wrestling anniversary and finds herself in the midst of the IMPACT Zone after emerging victorious in a competitive tournament at Knockouts Knockdown last month. As the winner of this tournament, Martinez earned herself a future Knockouts Championship opportunity.
Martinez is now scheduled to challenge for the Knockouts Championship against Mickie James, who captured the title last month at Bound For Glory. The two legends will meet this Saturday, November 20th at Impact Wrestling‘s Turning Point PPV.
Ahead of this championship match, SEScoops correspondent Ella Jay caught up with “The Latina Sensation” to discuss her 21-year wrestling journey, future goals she’d like to accomplish, respect for Mickie James, and much more.
The full interview with Mercedes Martinez can be viewed below.
Her 21-Year Wrestling Journey
Martinez expressed thoughts on her 21-year wrestling journey.
“Twenty one years, it amazes me that I actually got to twenty one years because a few years back, I didn’t want to do wrestling anymore due to injuries. But here I am still living the dream,” she noted.
“You know, when I look back at everything that I’ve done, you know, I like to always think that I’ve done it my way, and I’m very proud of how I did my career and the choices that I’ve made and the decisions that I’ve made,” Martinez continued. “It’s not that it’s been hard or anything, it’s just been very different compared to others. And you know, I wouldn’t change it for the world.”
“For me to still be doing wrestling, you know, with close to forty one because tomorrow is my birthday, it’s just–I’m in awe to know that I can still be doing this almost 21 years later, and just in my mind, it’s almost like I didn’t even think I would become a professional wrestler. But here I am, just living the dream. So it’s very humbling.”
Career Goals
Martinez also noted that she still has some goals she’d like to accomplish:
“Oh, the biggest goal is to become a champion, you know, in a major promotion. And in fact, right now is going for the gold coming at a turning point with Mickie James. And you know, my thought is, I’m going to go really like headstrong and really just go in there and just prove my worth and show that I can carry a promotion.”
She continued, “You know, all you got to do is give me a shot and you know, that’s the biggest goal. It doesn’t matter where I’m at, but impact right now is where I’m at, and I just want to take it to the next level and bring everybody up with me. That’s really what I want to do, and that’s my first biggest goal right now.”
Respect for Mickie James, Jazz, Beth Phoenix & More
Mercedes Martinez (Photo: Impact Wrestling)
Mercedes Martinez heads into Turning Point against a fierce competitor in Mickie James, whom she faced once before. Despite the brewing tension on IMPACT programming, Martinez expressed a high level of respect towards her Turning Point opponent, Mickie James, and fellow wrestlers Lexie Fyfe, Jazz, and Beth Phoenix.
“I think throughout my career there have been so many females that have helped me, whether it was personally or professionally, you know, just to name a few would be like Lexi Fyfe. She was one who is still around in my life, who has helped me from me being a rookie to now that I still asked for advice in matches. And hey, you know, ‘is this match great’ or, you know, just feedback. And even in my personal life, you know, she’s a great friend.
Jazz
“You have Jazz who has been with me since the beginning of my career, who I modeled my style towards to based on our trainers, who has been–she has been an influence, like when I say role model, that’s someone who I admire so much because she’s done things her way and broke the mold of, you know, female wrestling and just didn’t look like everybody else.
She was just someone different and stuck to her guns. And that’s something that I always want to do. Stick to your guns, stick to your moves, and do things your way to pave the way for those that want to do things your way. And you know, that’s someone else who I really, really admire.”
Beth Phoenix
“Beth Phoenix, who you know, I’ve spoken to on many occasions and wrestled….she broke the mold. You know, she’s another one.”
Mickie James
“Mickie James, you know, I know I’m wrestling her, but the respect is there. We’ve been on the independent scene. We wrestled on the independent scene and now here we are going on national TV to again break down the mold of everything that we worked hard for. And you know, those are just some of the names that I look, you know, that has been influential in my career that I look at and say, ‘Hey, they broke the mold and they did things their way.’ That’s something that I’ve always wanted to do.
I want to be that person to show female wrestlers or anybody that you can be different in any profession that you want to do, and you can break the mold and break those barriers and do things your way and be proud of the way you did it, because there’s going to be others that come after you that are going to model their careers based on you and hopefully break more barriers. That’s really all I want to ever do.”
IMPACT Wrestling presents Turning Point on Saturday, November 20th from Las Vegas at 10pm est / 7pm pst.
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Mercedes Martinez made her AEW debut in 2019 and a lot of fans believed that she would sign with the promotion. Though people were left surprised when she joined the WWE roster instead.
The former WWE star recently had an interview with Bell To Belles. Among other thing, she also explained why she didn’t sign a contract with All Elite Wrestling.
Martinez admitted that she was in touch with the AEW officials. Though the female star revealed that despite the belief, the promotion never offered her a contract:
“There was no contract offer. Yes, I mean, if you want to straight shoot, we can straight shoot. People think there was [a contract offer], but there wasn’t, we were in talks, you know?”
Mercedes Martinez On Why She Signed With WWE
Mercedes Martinez
Mercedes Martinez continued by mentioning how she talked to Cody and Brandi Rhodes and let them know that WWE was offering her a deal. When she didn’t get a response, she took the offer from the rival promotion:
“We talked and I told her, ‘WWE is knocking at my door, so if there is an offer to be made, it has to be done now because if this is the only offer on the table, with me being close to 40, I need to take something,
Because my legacy has to end at some point. And after that, there was nothing, so I took the contract with WWE, negotiated with what we needed to do, and I was very happy with what they offered.”
Mercedes Martinez made her AEW debut as the Joker in the second Casino Battle Royale at the All Out 2019 PPV. She made another appearance for the promotion during a dark episode, before signing with WWE in January 2020.
Apart from this, the former NXT star discussed being put in the Retribution faction. She explained why she chose to leave the main roster stable and went back to NXT.
A lot of people questioned the decision of Mercedes Martinez when she made the call to leave the Retribution faction. She was sent back to NXT as a result, after having made her main roster debut. The now-former WWE star recently had an interview with Bell To Belles. During the talk, she explained her side of the story and detailed why she had to make the decision.
Martinez explained that she was under the impression that the masks they were going to wear were just for the aesthetic and not wrestling. She explained that it would have still been fine if she got some input on this part of their attire before revealing the reason why she couldn’t wrestle with the mask that was given to her:
“You know, I tried really hard but I can’t wrestle in this mask and that’s another issue is that I can’t wrestle in a mask. I have asthma, it’s hard for me to breath in the first place without a mask. How am I going to wrestle in a mask? And you know, we’re still in (a) pandemic. For me to train or be in a gym or anything like that, I have to wear a mask and it’s so hard for me to do that-that I built my own home gym.”
Mercedes Martinez Didn’t Want To Be Known Only For Retribution
Mercedes Martinez also responded to the criticism that the decision pushed her back into her career. She said that even though she could have made more money doing it, she just didn’t feel it in her heart. The former NXT star then explained how it was the right decision for her because she didn’t want her WWE career to be valued as part of a group. She wanted to be known as herself after spending 20 years in the business:
“When something doesn’t feel right, regardless of maybe you can be on the main roster, you can make all this money and stuff, at the end of the day, I just didn’t feel it in my heart. It really came down to that. It really just didn’t feel like I should be a part of this group and people think that it’s probably the wrong decision but for me it was the right decision right then and there, for me. Maybe they could’ve gotten somebody else but for me and for the 20 years that I put in-in this business, I didn’t want my WWE career to be valued as part of a group.”
Mercedes Martinez continued by saying that her name got her signed to WWE and she wanted to leave the promotion as she came in, being herself. The female star was introduced as a member of Retribution during the September 21, 2020 episode of Raw. Though she was quietly moved back to NXT after requesting her removal from the group. She was released from her WWE contract in August this year.
Impact World Champion Moose has his first championship defense set for Impact’s next Pay Per View, Turning Point, on November 20th.
Impact Wrestling is currently taping episodes of their show at Sam’s Town in Las Vegas, Nevada. A Fan uploaded clips on Twitter from yesterday’s tapings that revealed the number one contender for the Impact World Championship.
Spoiler for Number One Contender for Impact Title
A triple threat match between Matt Cardona, W. Morrissey, and Eddie Edwards happened during the tapings. Edwards won the match by pinning Cardona and became the number one contender to face Moose at Turning Point. Edwards will try to become a two-time Impact World Champion with a win over Moose.
Edwards becoming the number one contender at Turning Point raises the question of what Impact Wrestling is doing with Josh Alexander. Alexander seemed to be Impact’s next babyface champion after defeating Christian Cage at Bound for Glory on October 23rd. However, Moose would defeat Alexander shortly after to win the title. Fans watching the event questioned Impact’s motive for taking the championship away from Alexander. It now seems that Alexander won’t be getting a rematch for the title anytime soon.
While Alexander is not in the title picture, Impact Wrestling promoted that he’d face Minoru Suzuki during the tapings. It is unclear what Alexander will do at Turning Point or when he will get his rematch.
Another match that is Impact Wrestling teased during the tapings was Mickie James vs. Mercedes Martinez for the Impact Women’s Championship. Martinez challenged James to a title match at Turning Point. However, the match has not been made official by Impact Wrestling. The promotion will air the taped episodes for several weeks, starting this Thursday.
Former NXT star Mercedes Martinez will be challenging for Impact Knockouts Championship in her first booking after being released from WWE.
Indie wrestling promotion WrestlePro has announced that the female star will be challenging Deonna Purrazzo for her title at their show from Rahway, New Jersey on Saturday, October 16.
Martinez won’t be the only former WWE star who will be part of the event. Former 205 Live roster member Tony Nese and former SmackDown star Fandango both are also announced for the show.
Fandango who is now going by the name Dirty Dango will face Impact wrestling star Brian Myers while Tony Nese will be competing against Bobby Wayward.
Mercedes Martinez had made appearances for WWE in 2017-18. She competed in the Inaugural and the second Mae Young Classic tournament and made several NXT appearances during the time period as well.
She returned to the company in 2020 after signing a contract in January. She even made her main roster debut as part of the Retribution faction but decided to withdraw from the group. She was released from her WWE contract on August 6.
The October booking suggests that Martinez was still under a standard NXT contract when she was released. NXT contracts feature a 30 days non-compete clause opposed to 90 days for main roster stars.
Former NXT superstar Mercedes Martinez has shared her thoughts on her WWE release.
On August 6th, WWE decided to cut 12 NXT talent unexpectedly. Among those cuts was Martinez, who had been with the company for a year. In a Twitter post, Martinez gave her first comments since being let go.
“My life…I never thought I would ever make it to the WWE. I stayed dedicated, hustled, grinded, and sacrificed more than I could ever imagined to reach that goal. It took 20yrs…but I wouldn’t change anything bc the universe has a way of making things work out,” said Martinez.
My life..I never thought I would ever make it to the WWE. I stayed dedicated, hustled, grinded, and sacrificed more than I could ever imagined to reach that goal. It took 20yrs…..but I wouldn't change anything bc the universe has a way of making things work out. pic.twitter.com/Jsir9DY2zo
Martinez’s last appearance in NXT was on June 29th in a mixed-tag team match with Jake Atlas against Boa and Xia Li. In the match, Li landed a spinning heel kick that resulted in Martinez receiving a concussion. The referee stopped the match, and Martinez had to go to a local hospital. She has not given an update on her current condition.
The news of Martinez’s release after suffering a concussion on NXT is disheartening. However, she has shown gratitude for her time with the company.
…”I truly want to thank @tripleh, @wwe, and @WWENXT for giving me the opportunity of a lifetime. I understand this business is never a guarantee for anything and that sometimes the risk is higher than the reward. I’m grateful, blessed, and humbled,” said Martinez.
In her posts, Martinez seems ready to return to in-ring competition. “…The BEST of me is still yet to be unseen. I’m rebuilding myself, and I know my worth, always have. My drive, dedication, perseverance, and my hard knocks stubbornness says I have more to prove,” said Martinez.
It is unclear when Martinez can compete again or if she has a doctor’s clearance to wrestle.
NXT star Mercedes Martinez apparently suffered a concussion during her tag team match on this Tuesday’s episode of the Black and Yellow brand.
Dave Meltzer talked about the female star on the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Radio. He revealed that the veteran wrestler suffered a concussion during her match on the show
Mercedes Martinez teamed up with Jake Atlas to face Xia Li and Boa in a mixed tag match on the show. However, the bout couldn’t reach its planned ending.
The NXT star got knocked out halfway through the bout thanks to a roundhouse kick from Lee. She started bleeding from her mouth and went down, forcing the referee to stop the bout. The match was then called off due to referee stoppage.
The team of Xia Li and Boa were declared the winners. Martinez was taken to a hospital for further checkup but the good news for fans is that she was doing better by the next morning.
Neither WWE nor the female star herself has commented on her health as of now. There is no word yet on if she will miss any ring time due to the injury. We will keep you posted on her status.
Last night on NXT, Xia Li connected with a kick to Mercedes Martinez that seemed to knock her out. Martinez got her shoulder up awkwardly on the pin attempt but the ref called for the bell shortly after it became clear she was hurt.
Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Tweeted out shortly after the incident that Martinez was helped to the back and would be taken to hospital for further evaluation.
“Mercedes Martinez was checked in the back and talent/staff were told she’s headed to the hospital for further evaluation,” he Tweeted. No further updates on her condition are currently available.
Mercedes Martinez was checked in the back and talent/staff were told she's headed to the hospital for further evaluation
— Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) June 30, 2021
Martinez recently spoke to Solo Wrestling about the NXT Women’s Division.
“From what I’ve seen, and from being a part of NXT right now, it’s a family atmosphere, it really is. When it comes to the women’s division, we don’t bring each other down. We really do bring each other up. Each woman’s success is the success of others. When one rises to the top, she brings everybody with her. And that’s really what I love about the NXT Women’s division… the Women’s roster on NXT is untouchable, I can tell you that.”
“I’ve been around a long time and these girls really, really put in the work. And with the facilities at the performance center it’s really top notch at this point.”
Mercedes Martinez originally made her main roster debut as part of the Retribution faction last year but she later requested her removal from the group and returned to NXT.
The NXT star recently had an interview with PWinsider where she talked about a number of things and opened up about her decision to leave the group.
Martinez who was known as Retaliation in Retribution said that she didn’t know the outcome when she said yes to the opportunity and she later realised that it wasn’t for her:
“I was given an opportunity, and I took the opportunity not knowing what the outcome would be, you got to make the best with anything you can, but I think when that opportunity came, it just wasn’t for me.
When you hit the pinnacle of your career, as I did, hitting 20 years,” said Martinez, “you want to make the most of your career, and make it part of a legacy.”
Though later in the interview, the NXT star claimed that she has no hard feelings about her stint with the group and she wishes the best for them:
“It’s kind of one of those things where it’s, ‘This is where Mercedes is, but maybe it doesn’t fit the mold, doesn’t fit her career.’ It was no hard feelings,
I just think we both had two different plans, I wanted one thing to go one way, and they had a different outlook. I wish them success, to all those part of the group, and I wish them the best.”
Mercedes Martinez has returned to NXT since leaving the group and she recently began a feud with the current NXT women’s champion Io Shirai.
The members of Retribution all have new names now. 3 members received new names earlier this week and the names for Mia Yim and Mercedes Martinez have now been revealed as well.
Previously, Dio Madden was renamed MACE, Shane Thorne Slapjack, and Dominic Dijakovic as T-Bar.
According to her new Twitter account, Mia Yim will now be known as Reckoning.
According to a report from PW Insider, Mercedes Martinez will be going by the name Retaliation. She does not appear to have started a fun new Twitter account yet, however.
Retribution Causing Chaos On Social Media
Retribution members seem to have been having a lot of fun on Twitter recently. T-Bar in particular has been sending out quite a few Tweets that have gained traction online.
T-Bar commented on why WWE signed Retribution to contracts recently:
Having previously run over Stone’s leg, Blackheart would drive her mini-tank over his good leg. Martinez would then attack Blackheart as Aliyah assisted Stone away from the mini-tank.
Later on the show, Martinez approached Stone and Aliyah who were recovering from the match and its aftermath.
She stressed how she wanted someone who would help her “handle the big matches, look after the contracts and look after the crap I don’t care about. All of the stuff outside of the ring.”
She added how she just wants to be able to focus on what she does best: hurt people in the ring.
Wanting to know if Stone was capable of delivering, Stone promised that he was the right man for the job. She levied one final warning, promising to permanently break both of Stone’s legs if he “oversteps” his boundaries. Despite the threat, Stone eagerly welcomed her to the Robert Stone Brand as the two shook hands.
After the show, Martinez took to Twitter to reiterate Stone’s need to respect her boundaries. If he does, she believes their partnership can “reach the highest levels of GOLD!!!”
Stone quickly replied, “DONE” before asking her to follow him back on the social media platform. She would eventually follow him back, noting how she is happy to do so for now.
