POST NEWS UPDATE: Mercedes Martinez talks WWE run, AEW, suffering concussion on NXT TV

Originally published at Mercedes Martinez talks WWE run, AEW, suffering concussion on NXT TV

If any of the quotes from the following podcasts or video interviews are used, please credit those sources and provide an H/T and link back to POST Wrestling for the transcriptions.

** While doing a virtual signing with K & S WrestleFest, Mercedes Martinez was asked why she decided to go to WWE over sticking around in AEW. She explained that it had to do with timing and she had to make the best choice for herself and her family.

I think the big goal for me was always WWE. If AEW had the chance to — for me to go to AEW at that time before WWE, I think I would have gone to AEW. I think it was just a matter of timing. Timing and what I can do for my family at that time. I don’t choose one over the other. I think at that time is whoever gave me the best option for me and my personal life with my family was the one who won. But WWE will always be number one in my book for right now. It’s always the goal isn’t it? It’s always the dream. It’s always been my dream.

On the 6/29 episode of NXT TV, Mercedes Martinez and Xia Li were involved in a mixed tag team match. Martinez took a roundhouse kick from Xia Li that connected flush. The match had to be stopped and Mercedes did suffer a concussion. She said she does not blame Xia for what happened and they had a conversation about it.

I know it hasn’t been discussed and I’ve shied away from it just because I don’t want anyone to think it was something intentional. Wrestling is a physical sport and sometimes you just can’t protect yourself. Sometimes kicks and punches hit where they are not supposed to hit. She caught me with that roundhouse right in the temple and knocked me out right on impact, then another double whammy right on impact so it was a legit concussion guys. However, I did recover from it within three weeks which is probably the fastest concussion recovery I’ve ever had because I’ve had a lot of concussions. That’s the fastest one that I’ve recovered from but, no one give her any slack please. She did feel bad. I’m one of those people that did call her up and say, ‘Hey, things happen.’ Regardless of storylines or whatever, any wrestler would tell you that our safety and our wellbeing is number one on our list so, accidents happen. It ain’t ballet, that’s right. It’s a physical sport. As many concussions , but after the match…

Mercedes had been in a feud with Tian Sha (Mei Ying, Xia Li & Boa). She and Xia had a singles match at TakeOver: In Your House. Mercedes said she was in the process of a babyface turn.

Yeah, they were turning me into a babyface. We had that whole storyline with Tian Sha. That was actually very fun. I wish we would’ve finished it and let it pan out. But yeah, that was fun. That’s a great stable. Badass.

Before her exit from WWE, there was a new theme song in the works for her. She had say so regarding her first two WWE themes and the third was going to be a combination of the two.

Yes . I had two themes for WWE. The first one, everyone pretty much loved which was from the Mae Young Classic when I first debuted so I had some input into that, making sure that it was Latin-influenced with some reggaetón in it so that was my favorite. When I came back from the pandemic, we changed it because I turned heel. I was just more badass and we had — I had a little bit of influence on that one too as well. We wanted it a little dark. It was more — I feel like it was a Undertaker vibe. So I did have a little bit of influence on that one as well. Before I got released, we were basically trying to come up with a new theme music where it was a interaction of both music’s put together to try to come up with something new. Reinvention, an evolution I guess you can say but, for those who are watching me on the indies in the next couple of weeks and months, I do have brand new music that I had input on it. I helped with a composer to actually make that new music.

As far as what Mercedes has planned going forward, she feels that the independent scene is where she wants to be for now. On top of that, she one day hopes to open up a wrestling school for women and teach her trainees and students the ins and outs of the business.

I think right now, presently, the independents is where I wanna be right now. I think with the creative freedom and the fans and just seeing the female wrestlers and guys, I want that atmosphere again. Sometimes when you’re in a big company, you don’t see the people that you came up with and that’s what I miss. I miss that camaraderie, that support and that love. Not that I didn’t get it from over there but I do miss my girls and I miss my crew that I always traveled with. You do get — I don’t know what to call it. Indie sick? Because I’d been on the indies for so long and I never thought in my life that I would get signed. So, you know, 19 years doing indies, you get this family that you’re so used to and then you just kind of break apart and you go do your thing and whatever but just going back so right now, the indies is where I wanna be and would I ever wanna go back to WWE? Of course. Never say never. Do I wanna go to other companies? Of course I do. Right now, I’m just in my prime and I wanna do as much as I can, my body’s in great shape, I’m in great physical shape, everything’s good and eventually down the line, hopefully have my own school for females. Not to say that I don’t wanna train the guys. However, training females is different when it comes from a female’s perspective. We bump differently, we run the ropes differently. Everything, our movement patterns are different so I eventually wanna be trainer, hopefully have my own school for female wrestlers so we can train and not just in the ring, but the etiquette, locker room etiquette, protect yourself, support and have that family atmosphere that I never had when I was coming up because it wasn’t a lot of females. It was all males so, I definitely wanna do that at some point. When? We’ll see.

She went on to reflect on the three-way match from TakeOver: Vengeance Day involving herself, Toni Storm and Io Shirai. She feels the match was fun other than the hiccup they had after the table that was being used collapsed prematurely.

My Triple-Threat match with Io ? It was very fun, exciting, hard hitting. I wish I would’ve won. Everyone knows we had a little… I don’t wanna call it a botch but you know, our table broke from — I don’t even wanna call it that. Things happen in matches. You can’t plan for anything. You kind of just go with the flow but other than that, it was very fun. I loved working with Io. I’ve worked with Toni before. I was hoping to get maybe a one-on-one with Io so that way we can show people the two different contrasts of styles with her Japanese style and my strong style. People don’t get to see that very often but, it’ll happen one day, hopefully.

A name that Mercedes was looking forward to sharing the ring with in WWE was current Women’s Tag Team Champion Natalya.

Right now, it would be Nattie Neidhart. Never wrestled her yet so I’m hoping — I was hoping I would do it when I was in WWE but, never say never.

** Rossy Ogawa, CEO of STARDOM spoke to Tokyo Sports for an exclusive interview. During part two of the chat, Rossy said he believes the biggest problem going into the future is how much STARDOM will change once he is gone from his position. That response came about when he was asked about the next ten years of STARDOM.

One of the keys is what I am doing (laughs). There is also an age problem. I think STARDOM itself will change when I leave. I think that is the biggest problem in the future. The , I will continue to win the Pro Wrestling Awards.

Former Artist of STARDOM Champion Hazuki made her return to the ring in August after retiring in 2019. Rossy Ogawa gave his take on why he thinks she stepped away from the ring and recalled asking Hazuki if she thought going elsewhere before coming back to STARDOM.

Hmm. I think she thought she was betrayed somewhere in the situation between various choice.’

** Robbie Fox of Barstool Sports chatted with Big E following his WWE Championship victory on Raw. Big E shared a text message he received from Edge following the title win and Edge let him know that because it took this long to get to that spot, it makes the moment that much sweeter.

I have been so grateful because I feel like I’ve grown a lot as a performer, even from three, four years ago, I feel so much more comfortable in so many different ways. So, I’m glad in many ways. Edge texted me and I don’t wanna butcher the text but it was something about, you know, just like the fact that it took so long makes it so much sweeter and he’s right. Sure, it could have been cool to have this championship six, seven years ago, to be world champion, to be WWE Champ. But, to have felt that I’m at a point now where I earned it and I put the work in and it doesn’t feel handed to me makes the journey sweeter honestly. As cliché as it sounds, it’s more enjoyable because it feels like a long time coming.

Potential challengers for Big E that he sees in the immediate future are Goldberg and Keith Lee. He knows there are varying opinions about the idea of the Goldberg match but it is something he never thought could be possible.

I never really thought I could get the Goldberg match, but, I know people might feel — have their varying opinions on it but if you’re telling me that what? 13 year old me could — the fact that it’s even possible is beyond remarkable so, there’s Goldberg out there. Man, Keith Lee, let’s get this man cooking. Let’s get this man going. That’s a dude with a ton of talent. I wanna see him very, very soon. Man, there’s so many guys that I’m racking my brain. Right now, just for brevity sake, let’s get that Goldberg match I suppose, but Keith, man I’m ready.

** Xavier Woods was the first guest on Chris Denker’s ‘Into The Danger Zone’ podcast. During their chat, Woods was asked if he feels he is underrated in wrestling. He explained why that label along with being ranked do not hold much weight with him anymore.

I’ll be honest, I don’t really care if someone thinks I’m not as good as I know I am because like, it used to bother me a lot. I’d rush to the PWI 500 and be like, ‘Ah man! I should be higher, this sucks.’ No, PWI 500 is fantastic. It’s a way to get your name out there, people get to see what you’re about. Times like rather than seeing it as that kind of tool regardless of where you are on it, I was so upset because I wasn’t higher, you know?

So that stuff and people talking about on the internet and this and that. It used to bother me a lot but then I realized like, I — and I don’t mean to sound like conceited or weird but I’m crushing it. I’ve put in so much work. I’ve been wrestling since I was 17, I just turned 35 last Saturday and I’ve had a very long… I’ve been with WWE since 2010, it’s 2021 now. That’s like an 11-year run with the company so guys are lucky if they get out of developmental, you know? And so I just feel extremely grateful that I’ve been able to have the platform that I have had to be able to have the opportunity to have the kinds of matches that I’ve had, to be able to travel to the places I’ve been able to travel to so as far as someone having conversation about underrated or overrated or anything like that, bro, since I was as small as I can remember, I’ve always wanted to be a pro wrestler. I’m not only a pro wrestler now. I am part of what I think to be one of the greatest groups in the history of wrestling and obviously I have a little bit of bias on that.

Woods suffered an Achilles injury in the Fall of 2019 and returned in the Fall of 2020. He said he stopped watching wrestling for a period of time during his injury. He started getting back into it by watching independent shows and different companies.

It was when I got hurt, I stopped watching wrestling completely. Like even WWE because it just hurt my soul to sit and watch it. Maybe what? Like four months in, I was like, ‘You know what? Let me start watching some indie stuff. Let me start watching like whatever I can find like New Japan, AAA, let me start getting things.’ It’s like, ‘Okay, there’s so much wrestling and there’s so much interesting stuff.’

He dove into the dynamic that each member of New Day brings to the group. He specifically talked about New Day’s feud with The Wyatt Family and how he did not want all of New Day to be different from what they are because there’s another dominant three-man group across from them. Woods explained how Big E and Kofi Kingston stayed the same while he was the one who showed fear and that was enough character change for the entire group.

So for me, the way that I kind of wanted to be perceived in my role in The New Day, looking at other factions and other teams with more than two people, it’s like the issue always comes because everybody tries to be the same thing. Everybody either wants to be like the strongest guy or like the fastest guy or something and people I feel like — it’s hard for people to kind of, not take a backseat but to play a different role, to play an alternative role and so for me, I realized that looking through all this other stuff is like, man, nobody really plays the little brother. I’m like, ‘We could get a lot out of that.’ It depends on where we’re going with storylines and things like that and so that’s when it was like, ‘Okay cool. E, you’re the strength. Kofi, you’re like the veteran that everybody knows and I’m like the little brother to the two of you’ even though I’ve been wrestling the longest. So in doing that, it let all three of us shine in our way so at the times where — so for instance when we did the stuff with The Wyatts, I don’t want to be the one who’s scared because he’s the one everybody already believes in. But people know the least about me I guess in that type of realm. So I can be the variable that changes things. So rather than the whole group changing and us losing that New Day esthetic and that vibe, they can keep that and I can show change in order to show change in the group and hopefully that can make things more interesting, you know?

** Drew McIntyre sat down with Cultaholic for an interview to promote WWE’s forthcoming tour of the UK. McIntyre discussed how he and Vince McMahon came up with the idea to name his sword after his late mother Angela. Before that name came to mind, McIntyre was thinking of naming the sword ‘The Widowmaker’ or ‘Bloody Bonnie’.

Angela, the name of the sword, it’s named after my late mother which is really cool. I remember I had a conversation with Vince . Again, it obviously goes back to Vince and we’re talking about possibly giving the sword a name and kind of giving it more meaning and I was thinking of things like The Widowmaker, Bloody Bonnie or something. So he was thinking, ‘You know how a lot of people give like a female name?’ Or whatever and he asked me, ‘What’s your mother’s name?’ And I said ‘Angela’ and then we kind of talked about my mom and her story and how much she had to overcome in her life and she’s no longer with us and he said, ‘That’s the name right there’ and I thought it was like a cool tribute to my mom and also really cool for my family to hear her name every week on TV. It’s like if you annoy Drew enough, he’s gonna have to attack you with Angela. Angela’s coming for you which is pretty cool.

Following his WWE Title win at WrestleMania 36, McIntyre looked directly into the camera and thanked all his supporters. He thought WWE was going to cut that moment out while they were editing the show.

That was me feeling the moment 100 percent . We actually pre-recorded WrestleMania the week prior so I was watching it with the rest of the world and I honestly thought it was going to get edited so I imagined — I remember what I did kind of. I was, okay, I had the title, I was kind of lost in my little moment for a second and they’ll probably cut to me going to the top rope and doing my pose with the title, but they kept it in there. It was such a real moment that they even said, ‘There’s no way we’re going to lose that’ because it was 100 percent feeling the moment, 100 percent real and hopefully we touch people around the world because I couldn’t have been any more sincere when I thanked them and it’s so cool I get to see that get replayed all the time and people send me the GIF all the time.

** The Asylum Wrestling Store hosted a virtual signing with Deonna Purrazzo. Purrazzo and Drama King Matt won the IMPACT Homecoming tournament and as that tournament was being put together, Deonna threw the idea out there of her and Steve Maclin teaming up. The IMPACT creative team responded by saying that they don’t see a world where those two characters interact.

So we did have that Homecoming tournament a month ago and we were kind of like, ‘Ouu, it would be cool if we got to team together’ and then the writers were like, ‘Yeah, we just don’t see a world where you two interact’ and I was kind of like, ‘Mhm… okay. I agree but also, we love each other in real life.’

Deonna shared several names that she would like to see get a shot in IMPACT Wrestling such as Tootie Lynn, Kenzie Paige and Lady Frost.

You know, gosh, I think I’d like to see Lady Frost back at IMPACT. I wrestled her right before Slammiversary. I think I would like to see maybe Tootie Lynn get an opportunity in IMPACT. I would like to see Kenzie Paige get an opportunity in IMPACT. Kenzie Paige, she’s one of my favorite wrestlers right now. She’s incredible so I’d really like to see her get an opportunity in IMPACT.

** Tommy Dreamer welcomed Tasha Steelz onto his House Of Hardcore podcast and Steelz further spoke about WWE wanting her to be a referee for the NXT brand following her tryout. Steelz recalled the conversation she had with William Regal and ultimately deciding to turn the opportunity down.

So when they finally got back to me, they offered me a referee position and yeah, I immediately was like, ‘Does this mean I shouldn’t be a wrestler?’ You know, you just get so self-doubting at the time because I just let WWE be my end-all be-all and I was just like, ‘Well I don’t wanna be — no disrespect, but that’s not in my heart.’ That’s not something I wanna do, but I had a couple meetings with Mr. William Regal and he saw me at an indie show like right after my tryout and he knew what could do so he really complimented me and said, ‘I know what you can do. You’re talented and if this is something you really wanna do, you have to put your mind 100 percent into it and being a wrestler is no longer, you have to be a referee’ so he actually gave me a time to think about it and it took me like a couple days and then I just realized like, ‘This doesn’t have to be my end-all be-all. There are so many opportunities out there, so many places I can go’ so I respectfully declined and I said, ‘You know if there’s anything wrestler-wise in the future for me, I would love to be a part of the black and gold brand but in the meantime, I have to turn down this position so’, he understood and it wasn’t no bad blood so that was good for me, and yeah.

Tommy Dreamer added that when ECW went out of business, WWE wanted him to be a part of their corporate offices, but he insisted that he wanted to continue wrestling.

When I was — ECW goes out of business, I’m 29 years old and they your heart’s not into that and that’s how that system is which I disagree with.

** Twin Cities Pioneer Press were present at a press conference for Gable Steveson. While discussing his negotiations with WWE, Steveson made it clear to WWE that his duties with the Minnesota Gophers are number one above all for now.

Gopher responsibilities are No. 1; that is what we talked about first with the WWE. Being able to compete here with my last go. I don’t owe Minnesota myself, but I feel like I owe all the fans that show up and want to watch me and sellout crowds. That is what I feel like I owe back to the people.

** On the most recent edition of his ‘Straight Shooting’ podcast, Matt Rehwoldt (Drama King Matt) spoke about how at times, catering at WWE can be like a high school lunchroom.

It’s funny because there are moments, very easily, it’s crazy to me that catering at WWE literally turns into high school lunchroom. It’s extra talents over here, the writers are over here, even something like — there’s some talent but even like oh, top guys are kind of sitting here, the tag team guys are all sitting over here. It’s so funny and kind of ridiculous.

** Prior to the news of Samoa Joe announcing that he is relinquishing the NXT Championship, he spoke to Sportsnet to discuss the revamp of NXT which starts on 9/14. Joe said back in 2015 when he first got NXT, he was told by Triple H that whenever he moves to either Raw or SmackDown, there is a chance for him to eventually come back to NXT.

This was actually from my first week in NXT. (Triple H) was like, ‘At some point there could be an opportunity (to come back to NXT).’ And then as my time in WWE grew that became more of like, ‘Hey we’re making an opportunity for you here, regardless, at some point, whether you’re a performer or not to continue to be on (and) be a part of the company.’ And here we are today.

Following Joe’s release from WWE in April, he said he was pretty much re-signed shortly after to come back in a expanded capacity.

Shortly after (the release), I pretty much was already re-signed to come back in an expanded capacity with WWE. There was a little bit of interest, but for the most part, I kind of built a rapport and a business relationship, especially with Triple H and NXT and WWE, and we had spoke about this transition for years.

** Big Damo (Killian Dain) told WrestleZone that he is not legally able wrestle in the U.S. at the moment since being released from WWE. It is something he is hoping to get sorted out immediately.

One of the most exciting parts about this journey that I’ve had so far is that I’ve been able to get to so many places in the world, but there’s still places I want to go to, there’s still places I want to see, there’s people I want to wrestle. I kinda have the, almost no excuse so far as to do a lot of things. I’ve been making sure to be as active as possible and then obviously with the world about to reopen again, touch wood, as best I can, then it’ll be a lot easier for me. But my main issue is I’m a foreigner living in the USA so there’s still legal hurdles I have to make before I can get anywhere. That could be sorted within a week, it could be sorted within a couple of months and sadly that’s the reality of the situation. I’m here legally, but I won’t be able to work legally just for a little time yet, and that is something that we’re hoping to get sorted ASAP… I’m really excited for what’s next.

** New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s Tomohiro Ishii was the focus of a virtual meet and greet session. Below are several highlights from the session including Ishii sharing the text message he received from YOSHI-HASHI after NJPW Resurgence:

– Ishii is asked who he would like to wrestle from WWE. He does not keep up with WWE and he’ll only tune in for Shinsuke Nakamura’s matches.

– He feels that Moose would do well if he decided to wrestle the Japanese style. Ishii adds that he received a text message from YOSHI-HASHI after NJPW Resurgence and YOSHI-HASHI said Moose was the star of the show.

** Ricky Starks was the inaugural guest on Throwing Down with Renee Paquette and Miesha Tate. Starks spoke about what it is has been like having CM Punk in AEW and how mindful and approachable Punk is.

It’s been great I think . I know that he is a very hard worker obviously and backstage, he’s very — he’s very mindful of everyone and their matches and making sure he talks to them and critiques them afterwards and he’s very approachable too so I think having Punk back there is a big morale boost. Like big morale boost.

** Bell To Belles posted a new interview with Trish Adora. Trish competed in the ROH Women’s World Championship tournament and was asked if she’ll be back in Ring of Honor. Here’s what she had to say:

Ring of Honor has been such a lovely experience and I’m happy to have been apart of the women’s division. As of right now, I’m looking to expand my horizons and travel the world, and wrestle as much as I can. It would be nice to do that under the Ring of Honor banner, though.

** NXT’s Franky Monet joined Busted Open Radio with Dave LaGreca and Tommy Dreamer. She dove into how helpful John Morrison has been since her transition to WWE and what it means for her to be closer to John opposed to working for different companies.

It’s been great. Honestly, because it was really hard for a little bit because I just felt we were just kind of existing in these two different universes so to speak. So it’s been great to finally be there with him. He was there on the night of my in-ring debut, backstage with me. It’s just been really cool and I’m glad that he’s with me during this time where I’m starting somewhere new and getting to know how everything works around here because he’s really been my personal guide basically and my number one supporter through it all so, he’s seen me go through a lot to get here so I’m glad he’s there with me.

** Big E spoke to Sports Illustrated following his WWE Championship win.

** Ahead of season three of Dark Side of the Ring resuming, series co-creators Jason Eisener and Evan Husney did an interview with Screen Rant. Husney said they have wanted to cover Chyna’s story but explained why it was not an ideal time for it:

From the very beginning, Chyna… we always wanted to be a story that we covered. I can’t remember… I think it was during season 2, and then there was news out there that there were two competing documentaries at the time that kinda consolidated into one, but at the time, it was two different documentaries that were being actively produced with interviews already being done. It was a decision that we made, as heartbreaking as it was for us because we’re huge fans, as the idea that if we try to get into this and now, trying to compete with certain family members and maybe what our story will have… We didn’t want to put family members at odds and have conflicting, ‘Here’s our story and their story.’ I didn’t necessarily think it was the right thing to do, and the documentary that was being made that wound up on Vice which we didn’t know at the time. We felt that it would be best for Chyna that this film became the definitive film. I think they did a terrific job.

** Jordynne Grace spoke to Lucha Libre Online and told the site how her run in IMPACT Wrestling began. It started with a direct message on Twitter from IMPACT Executive Vice President Scott D’Amore and things went from there.

Scott D’Amore initially contacted me. He actually sent me a Twitter DM and so I thought that was kind of funny because it’s, you know, and we exchanged phone numbers there and he called me and offered me a contract and then as they say, the rest is history.

** Bell To Belles has an interview on their site with Jordynne Grace. She plans to continue powerlifting after her wrestling career is over and added that powerlifting gives her something wrestling can’t.

I’ve been weightlifting for years, but powerlifting is a different animal. You have to push your body into a point of true discomfort to make ‘gains’ and become stronger than you ever physically thought you could be. I love it because people can’t really have opinions on people who powerlift. In wrestling, people will have so many different opinions about you. Some may not like your style of wrestling, how you move, how you act, etcetera. With powerlifting, you can’t really critique someone like that. Either you can lift the weight or you can’t. You can’t say someone ‘sucks’ as a powerlifter and defend it as your own personal opinion. It doesn’t work that way.

Yes, I will probably be competing in powerlifting even after I retire from wrestling. It gives me something that wrestling can’t, and I think we all need something like that!

** AEW is returning to the Wintrust Arena in Chicago on November 24th for AEW Dynamite and a Rampage taping.

** DNA India chatted with The Great Khali.

** Will Ospreay, TJP and Karl Fredericks gave comments to Monthly Puroreso about NJPW STRONG’s forthcoming U.S. tour.

** Hiroshi Tanahashi spoke to a Tokyo Sports reporter about New Japan Pro-Wrestling not being able to fill up the MetLife Dome due to restrictions. He said he will always bring the same amount of energy regardless of how many people are in attendance.

** Steve Fludder, founder of the Preston City Wrestling promotion was interviewed by LancsLive.com. He said he didn’t think PCW would last longer than two years and the promotion has now been running for ten.

I had no idea – if you were to tell me back then that it would last ten years, I would’ve only thought it would have lasted two. Every show I was running show to show to see what happens and now it’s crazy.

** Nick ‘Eugene’ Dinsmore was profiled by KVRR Local News because Dinsmore hosted a training seminar put together by ‘Below Zero Wrestling’.

** Matt Rehwoldt appeared on That 90s Wrestling Podcast.

** That Hashtag Show posted their interview with NWA’s Sal Rinauro.

** The latest video from Alicia Atout’s YouTube channel:

** World of STARDOM Champion Utami Hayashishita is celebrating a birthday today. AEW’s Penelope Ford turned 29-years-old today.

** El Phantasmo’s entrance video and theme was uploaded to New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s YouTube channel.

** Newsday spoke to Drew McIntyre.

** Eric Bischoff is scheduled to appear at the 2021 Crusherfest in Milwaukee.

** Cezar Bononi documented his experience during AEW All Out week.

** Fightful spoke to Franky Monet for an interview.

If any of the quotes from the following podcasts or video interviews are used, please credit those sources and provide an H/T and link back to POST Wrestling for the transcriptions.