AEW star and current ROH interim women’s champion Mercedes Martinez was the latest guest on the AEW Unrestricted podcast to hype up her showdown with Deonna Purrazzo on this week’s Dynamite, as well as discuss what she believes she could bring to the ROH women’s division, one that did not use to have the presence it does now. Highlights from the interview are below.
On her interim ROH women’s title win and how ROH didn’t use to have a women’s division:
“I think it just came out of nowhere, to be honest. I think Ring Of Honor — and if anyone knows my history with Ring Of Honor, I was with them for a short period of time back in 2006-ish. They didn’t really have a women’s division. It was kind of like you go in, you wrestle. We were the attraction match. At that time, women’s wrestling wasn’t as big as it was now, so it was kind of just finding your mode in every company that you could do. So, it wasn’t like there was a title, we were just wrestling just to be on this big company that was just getting started, it was just getting its roots down. It was something big for a lot of female wrestlers to be a part of. Eventually, we parted ways and I did my own thing, and Ring Of Honor kept growing, but still, there wasn’t this women’s division.”
What it means to her to be interim champion:
“For me to be a champion, even if it’s an Interim Title because I look at it as an Interim Title is a kind of like a chance to show your worth. I know Deonna Purrazzo is the official champion for Ring Of Honor,” she said. “And for them to say, ‘hey, the Interim Title, maybe it’s not a real title,’ but to me, it is. It’s kind of like a callback, the way I look at it. For them to say, ‘hey, here’s the chance to win a title, yes, Deonna wasn’t available, but we still want to give you the chance to hold this title, level up the division.’ When there wasn’t a division back when I was in Ring Of Honor, that’s something I take personally.”
What she feels she can bring to the ROH women’s division:
“It’s something that hits to the core in my heart because I worked for them,” she said. “For a company that didn’t have something, now that they do, for me to hold that title now in my career is something that I take to the heart, it really is. I am just hoping that I can do it justice, I am not a young buck anymore, per se. But I am someone who can level up the division with my experience and my expertise. And to really bring the girls and the females that want to be part of this company, whether it’s AEW, Ring Of Honor, whatever they decide to do with it. I really think I can bring the ball and bring a lot of prestige and prosperity to this division. That they probably haven’t had yet throughout the whole years of Ring Of Honor.”
(H/T and transcribed by Wrestling Inc.)