Mercedes Martinez is fully focused on her immediate future in WWE NXT

WWE NXT’s women’s division has never before been more stacked with star power. Io Shirai is still at the top of her game, Franky Monet (formerly Taya Valkryie) and Sarray (formerly Sareee) recently arrived, and hot on the heels of new NXT Women’s Champion Raquel Gonzalez is none other than Mercedes Martinez.

The Waterbury, CT native originally signed with WWE in late 2019 and has been making waves ever since. She had been wrestling for almost two decades before finally coming to the company and has already appeared at NXT TakeOver, in the Mae Young Classic (twice), on Monday Night Raw, and even in a women’s Royal Rumble match.

Currently, her sights are set on becoming the next NXT Women’s Champion, but she has a few obstacles to overcome before then. She’s run through The Robert Stone Brand in recent weeks and now she’ll have to take on one of her toughest battles to date in the form of Dakota Kai on Tuesday night’s NXT on USA Network.

Ahead of that anticipated encounter, Martinez spoke to Daily DDT about her evolution and journey through WWE, ditching RETRIBUTION, who she’s looking forward to facing in the future, and more.

Mercedes Martinez previews her match with Dakota Kai and looks back at her own evolution

Although Martinez and Kai spent a decent amount of time together on the independent scene, Martinez has no recollection of them ever going one-on-one. Thus, she’s excited for their upcoming outing on Tuesday night to prove she’s the superior athlete.

They’ll be opponents once they step inside the squared circle, but before then, she had praise for the former NXT Women’s Tag Team Champion. She also issued a warning for Kai to not underestimate what she’s capable of.

“I think she’s an amazing talent,” Martinez said. “Seeing her from the independent scene and how she’s transformed herself to what she is now, this badass personality, she just doesn’t care. She does what she has to do and puts people in their place and I’m in that same mentality. You’re going to see two different sides of wrestlers you’re used to seeing and with Dakota, I think she forgets what I’m all about.”

Martinez reaffirmed that she doesn’t take anybody lightly and that with a win over Kai, she’s going to make a statement that she deserves to be next in line for a shot at the NXT Women’s Championship.

It’s difficult to doubt anything she says considering how dominant she’s been since coming to NXT. She’s rarely been beaten one-on-one and has grown immensely as a character over her last year and a half on the black-and-gold brand.

“When I first got to NXT, I was coming off a women’s tour of the independents and I think WWE wanted to ride that high of me just getting signed,” Martinez said about her evolution. “It was still me being my badass self from the independents and taking that persona. It wasn’t a character. I was just being me. What you see is what you get and that’s always been my mentality and character for the last 20 years.

“After the pandemic, I had to figure out what kind of a character and what kind of presence I wanted to show the people,” she continued. “It was trial and error. It was trying to figure out things with the entrance gear and the jacket and the music. It was all trial and error. Unfortunately, you have to do it on TV which sucks. I went in there and said, ‘All right, this is who I am. Let’s play with this and that.’ Regardless of what people liked and didn’t like, the feedback was great for majority of everything I did. Now, I’m really comfortable with what I have.”

Mercedes Martinez reveals whether WWE was always the endgame for her and why she doesn’t regret going back to NXT

As noted, Martinez competed in the first — and only, thus far — two Mae Young Classic tournaments for WWE in 2017 and 2018. Despite making it far in the bracket both times, she inexplicably wasn’t offered a deal by the company.

Not giving up hope, she embarked on an incredible run on the independent scene in 2019 that took her all over the world. It was all in an effort to end up in WWE and now she’s right where she belongs.

“I always thought this is where I needed to be,” she said. “Throughout my career, did I think it was going to happen? Not necessarily. I wanted to push for it, I still wanted to wrestle, and when the opportunity came, I was like, ‘I’m going to sign.’ I’ve been all over the world and there was the opportunity to do something overseas and keep that as my focus as that was most of what I was doing in 2019.”

Martinez wrestled a pair of matches for AEW in the second half of 2019, including at that year’s All Out pay-per-view. It wasn’t long after that she was offered a contract by WWE and it wasn’t an opportunity she was about to pass up.

“When opportunity came, I took it,” she said. “At the end of the day, a goal of mine was to be on the big, national stage and with WWE, I was like, ‘That’s it! This is where I’m going, thank you very much.’ I’m going to make my mark and I’m going to prove to the world that if they don’t know, they will know me. It wasn’t just if it comes, it comes. I knew it was going to come, I just didn’t know when. I didn’t know when it was going to present itself and I’m just glad it presented itself now because I’m at my peak right now.”

After about a year in NXT, Martinez was quickly called up to the main roster to be a part of the debuting RETRIBUTION faction on Raw. She made a handful of appearances as a member of the group, but within weeks of them unmasking and revealing their identities, she was quietly removed from the storyline.

It was widely reported that she asked to return to NXT, which she later confirmed. Of course, it was the best decision she could have made for her career considering the stable has since split up with several of the superstars nowhere to be seen.

“Do I regret the decision [to leave RETRIBUTION]? No, I do not,” she said. “I always have to put forth what’s great for me in my career now. I can’t look in the future, I don’t know what can happen in the future, but I have to take the opportunity and what’s best for Mercedes Martinez’s career at this moment. With RETRIBUTION, I took the opportunity, but it wasn’t the right opportunity. It didn’t feel right in my heart to be there. With the crew there and with the RETRIBUTION members, I want nothing but the best for them and they’re young enough to do what they got to do and take the opportunity and kill it.”

As blessed as she was to have that chance to make a name for herself on the grand stage of WWE, she felt it wasn’t a good fit for her. Everyone agreed and her request to return to the black-and-gold brand was granted.

“For me, personally, I just don’t think it was the right opportunity for me,” Martinez revealed. “I took it, it felt a little off, and I just wanted something for right now. I needed to do what I needed to do now so people can see Mercedes Martinez now. Not three months from now, not six months from now, not a year from now. I need to make my mark now because longevity is the name of the game.”

Mercedes Martinez discusses being open to a main roster run in the future and who she’s looking forward to facing

Although Martinez opted out of the RETRIBUTION storyline early on and felt NXT was the best possible place for her at the moment, she’s still open to the idea of wrestling on Raw or SmackDown down the road. If the opportunity presents itself and the circumstances are just right, she’ll be ready to take it.

“The name of the game for me is to get to WrestleMania or win a title there or be a champion,” she said. “Whether it’s Raw or SmackDown, that’s really the ultimate platform. Would it come in a month or six months? Who knows, but that’s the goal to be there and I want to do it as Mercedes Martinez. I want to do it as the badass version everyone knows and loved and to go there intimidating and kill it like I always do. That’s what my future is. When it happens, I don’t know, but right now, the opportunity is for me to beat Dakota tomorrow and make my statement with Dakota and go on to Raquel at some point and make my mark there.”

Conquering the small goals en route to those bigger goals first is what’s important to Martinez. One of those goals is getting in the ring with Franky Monet, with who she’s gone one-on-one against only once in her career.

Now that both are back in the same promotion, it’s more a matter of when and not if they’ll wage war. It’s going to be a hard-hitting, physical affair when they do.

“I’m so excited for her to be a part of this roster,” she said. “Wherever our paths take us, when you see people who have been on the scene with for so long reach their dreams and their goals too, it’s like, ‘Wow, now we really get to beat each other up on a bigger stage now!’ That’s what I’m looking forward to. I can’t wait to see what she does and I’m really excited for her.”

When asked about opponents she wants to face, Martinez made it clear she wants to face anyone and everyone in NXT. She’s already done battle with Rhea Ripley and Shotzi Blackheart, but the best is yet to come.

“When it comes to the NXT roster, I really do want to wrestle Franky,” she said. “I do want to have that one-on-one with Io. I really, really do. We’ve crossed paths and never had that one-on-one encounter, so I really want to get in the ring with her. Even with the new talent coming in, I see a lot of potential. When it comes to dream matches, for NXT, I’m there to wrestle anybody. I don’t care who you are. You can be a year in the business and I’ll wrestle you. I just love wrestling and I really want to put 250 percent in the ring with them.”

For Martinez, she’s looking forward to her upcoming encounter with Kai because it’s never been done before. She’s always had quality chemistry with someone such as Toni Storm, but because they’ve crossed paths countless times over the years, she has more interest in squaring off with fresh faces in NXT’s loaded women’s division.

She also has one specific name in mind for when she eventually makes it to the main roster, someone she’s wanted to cross paths with for a long time.

“I want to step up my game and to do that, you have to have that credibility behind their name,” she said. “I wrestled Toni Storm many, many times and she’s just hitting her stride and I’ve already wrestled her. Not been there, done that, but I want to continue proving my worth against newer opponents fans haven’t seen yet. When it comes to a Raw or a SmackDown, my biggest goal right now is to wrestle Nattie Neidhart. I have yet to wrestle her and it’s a goal of mine in the future.”

Don’t miss Mercedes Martinez vs. Dakota Kai this Tuesday on WWE NXT at 8/7c on USA Network.