Mercedes Martinez was released by WWE on August 6th alongside the likes of Bronson Reed, Bobby Fish and Leon Ruff.
In total 12 NXT talents were released in the latest cuts, which will reportedly herald “major changes” for the black and gold brand going forward.
Martinez made her first venture into WWE in 2017 after a long and winding career on the independent scene. The former Ring of Honor star took part in the first ever Mae Young Classic tournament, losing in the semi-finals to Shayna Baszler. Martinez entered the tournament once more the following year, this time being defeated by current NXT UK Women’s Champion Meiko Satomura in the second round.
After a brief stop off in AEW, where he appeared at All Out in 2019 as the ‘Joker’ in the Casino Battle Royale, Martinez returned to WWE on a permanent basis in early 2020.
Reflecting on her release, Martinez thanked Triple H, WWE and NXT before saying that the best is yet to come.
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
— Mercedes Martinez 🏳️🌈🇵🇷 (@RealMMartinez) August 10, 2021
After debuting in NXT, Martinez joined the Robert Stone Brand attacking Shotzi Blackheart. The star was then briefly part of the RETRIBUTION stable but quietly moved back to NXT shortly after appearing on RAW.
Martinez challenged for the NXT Women’s Championship as recently as May 11th. However, Martinez hasn’t been seen on WWE television since suffering a concussion during a mixed tag team match on June 29th.
The match saw Martinez team with Jake Atlas against the team of Tian Sha’s Xia Li and Boa. Martinez was distracted by Tian Sha’s mysterious leader Mei Ying who was watching the action from the entranceway. That allowed Li to take control and sent Martinez back into the ring. Xia Li then connected with a Suplex before nailing Mercedes Martinez with a spin kick that appeared to knock her out cold.