Mercedes Martinez Opens Up About AEW Departure, Says She Was Always Pitching Ideas

Mercedes Martinez was regularly featured on AEW and ROH television in 2022 and 2023, holding the ROH Women’s Championship for the better part of 2022.

She had not wrestled on ROH TV since April 2024 before it was confirmed that she departed the company at the start of 2026.

Speaking to Jeremy Lambert and Joel Pearl on In The Weeds, Martinez explained how her AEW tenure came to an end.

“I don’t want to talk bad about a company at all. Tony (Khan) gave me an opportunity when I first got there and ran with the popularity, and it just fizzled out a little bit. Sometimes, when you have a bloated roster, so many talented female wrestlers just go down the totem pole. That’s what I felt. I pitched idea after idea and creative didn’t take to it for whatever reason. Was I frustrated with them? Not really. My thing was, if you don’t have anything for me that is going to elevate my career, that’s cool. I’m still going to pitch the ideas and do what I can. The last two years were a little bit homebound. I pitched the idea for me and Diamante to team. That went well for about six months and then it kind of fizzled out for whatever reason. The time stuff for female wrestlers in any promotion tends to be small, and I think that was the problem. They had this phenomenal roster of talented female wrestlers and they didn’t know where everybody was going to fit. I didn’t have to be on TV. I didn’t want to be on Dynamite or Collision. I was happy with Ring of Honor because that’s where you’re seeing a lot of up and coming wrestlers, which is what I wanted to do.

“(I want to help) level up their game and teach them, but the cards weren’t there for me. I just stayed home. When they were ready to have me, I was ready to go. I made sure I got my reps on the indies so the rust wasn’t there. It’s one of those things where you can’t figure out because I have no idea why I wasn’t on TV or Ring of Honor for two years. I made a decision before my contract expired to kind of give them a way out. I said, ‘This is going to be my last year, and personally, I would rather do it on the indies and do it my way with my style of wrestling with no chains and the creative freedom on my own.’ I give all the props to Tony and thank him for the opportunity. I’m blessed for the opportunity he gave me. Maybe my style was too rough. Rugged and thugged [laughs].”

Martinez announced that 2026 would be her last year as a full-time wrestler.

She was inducted into the Women’s Wrestling Hall of Fame in January.

Fans can watch the full interview with Mercedes in the video above.

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