During her recent interview with Bell To Belles pro-wrestling star Mercedes Martinez spoke about her decision to sign with WWE back in 2020, revealing that if an offer was made from AEW she may have taken that because she felt like a good fit. Martinez did appear at the inaugural Double or Nothing pay per view back in 2019, but says AEW did not give her an official offer at that time. Highlights are below.
Says there was no contract offer from AEW after her appearance at Double or Nothing 2019:
There was no contract offer. I mean, you want to straight shoot, we can straight shoot. People think there was [an offer] but there wasn’t. We were in talks. I just think WWE, when they gave me the contract they let me still do AEW. They offered the contract right after I was revealed as the Joker. As soon as they did that, it was maybe two weeks afterwards. WWE contacted me and I was just in a position to be like, ‘I’m not sure yet.’ You know? I have AEW Dark to do. I’m still with them. They’re like, ‘That’s fine. You can go ahead and do it and just let us know. The offer would be there, but it won’t last very long.’ I’m like, ‘Okay, just let me figure out some things.’ You know, I had my son and at that time, it was just a lot of things going on personally, and I just wanted to make sure that everything was intact. But as you know, I talked to Cody and talked to Brandi. It was more or less, ‘When you guys are ready for me I’m here, but I won’t be there for long.’
Says she talked with Awesome Kong and ultimately decided to sign with WWE following their offer:
I believe Awesome Kong was at that time helping with talent and we talked and I told her that WWE is knocking on my door. So there’s an offer to be made. It has to be done now because if this is the only offer that’s on the table, me being close to 40, I need to take something because this is where my legacy has to end at some point. After that, there was nothing so I took that contract with WWE, negotiated on what we needed to do and I was very happy with what they offered and we’re both happy on each side and I signed. They let me fulfill all my obligations to the end of the year when I signed and that way I can report in January.
Says she has no regrets of signing with WWE:
So yeah, I think if AEW probably offered something, who knows. I really don’t know. I think the ball is in their court because I did let them know that whenever they were ready for me to just contact me. They had my contact info. We talked. I’m not sure what could have come for me. I think I would have been a good fit. But you know, life has a way of bringing you where you need to be at that moment and I think WWE saw something in me right then and there and they offered me the contract, worked it out, and I went with them to keep my career going. Do I regret it? No, nope, not at all.
(H/T and transcribed by Fightful)