Martinez is a twenty year veteran of professional wrestling and is often viewed as an incredibly valuable resource to young talents. In February of this year Martinez arrived in AEW to provide an assist to Jade Cargill in a match against Thunder Rosa.
Mercedes Martinez made a recent appearance on AEW Unrestricted to discuss a myriad of different subjects including why she signed with WWE in 2020 after having a short run on the AEW roster in 2019.
Martinez was released by WWE in 2021 after a brief tenure in NXT and the main roster.
“I think at that time in my career, it was, take all opportunities that are given. I didn’t know where my career was going to go back in 2019. AEW gave me a chance to be The Joker (in the Casino Battle Royal at All Out in 2019),and I didn’t know I was going to be The Joker at that time. I knew I was going in and I was going to do the best that I can and just hopefully have a spot on this roster.”
Mercedes Martinez
“I think after the Royal, we’re talking trying to figure out where I fit in this company. But then another opportunity came up. I held off as long as I could to try to figure out if I fit in AEW. I talked to Tony. We talked about it publicly. He just didn’t have a TV deal at that time and I’m hitting 20 years in my career. It was, what can I do for my family? What can I do to sustain my career and to keep longevity and to be stable, because you can only do the Indies for so long. You can only work so many jobs, and at that time, I was working two jobs full time, training, plus traveling and doing whatever I can to support my family. AEW gave me the opportunity, but they didn’t give me what I needed at the time or what I wanted at that time. They were still working out and ironing out their details”
Mercedes Martinez
“By the time WWE called, I really waited about four months before I signed that contract because I was waiting for AEW. I just didn’t hear from them for about four months. So what do I do to bring stability and bring my career to another level? So it wasn’t that I had to choose, it was just who was willing to give me something that I needed at that time?”
Mercedes Martinez
“I think if I would have held out another two months, maybe I would have been with AEW at the beginning of 2020, but at the same time they weren’t ready. They didn’t have a TV contract. They didn’t have the money. They didn’t have anything. It didn’t pan out, and I think the universe was just telling me hey, this is not your time to be part of AEW. I really do believe that the universe wanted me somewhere else for a moment and then we’ll circle back, but here I am.”
Mercedes Martinez
H/t to wrestlingnews.co for the transcription
