Mercedes Martinez wants to elevate Ring of Honor‘s women’s division and all of women’s wrestling.
Martinez won the Interim ROH Women’s World Championship at the Supercard of Honor event; the reigning titleholder, Deonna Purrazzo, was unable to compete due to a scheduling conflict, so ROH owner Tony Khan booked a bout for the interim title. Martinez defeated Willow Nightingale to win the gold, and now she’ll face Purrazzo in a championship unification match on the May 4 episode of AEW Dynamite.
During an appearance on AEW Unrestricted, Martinez discussed her title victory. She looked back on her past experience, as she previously worked for the company when it didn’t have a women’s division.
“It came out of nowhere, to be honest,” said Martinez. “I think Ring of Honor, it had been one of those, with my history with Ring of Honor, I was with them for a short period of time back in 2006ish, and they didn’t really have a women’s division. It was kind of, you go in, you wrestle, you were the attraction match. At that time, women’s wrestling wasn’t as big as it now so it was kind of just finding your mode and every company you could do. So it wasn’t like there there was a title or anything. You were just wrestling just to be on this big company that was just getting started, it was 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. So for it to come back around in the last year and a half and really do its women’s division, for me to be the champion, even if it’s an interim title, because I look at it as an interim title is kind of like a chance to kind of show your worth.”
Martinez went on to describe how, even as an interim champion, the opportunity means a lot to her, as she can prove herself and help take the division to a new level.
“I know Deonna Purrazzo is the official champion for Ring of Honor and for them to say hey, interim title, maybe it’s not a real title, but to me it is. It really is. It’s kind of like a callback is the way I look at it, for them to say hey here’s the chance to win the title. Yes Deonna wasn’t available but we still want to give you the chance to hold this title and level up this division when there wasn’t a division back when I worked for Ring of Honor, is something that I take personal. It’s something that hits to the core in my heart because I worked for them and for a company that didn’t have something and now that they do, and for me to hold that title now in my career, is something that I take to the heart.”
The veteran continued by saying that with her experience and her expertise, she’s confident that she can raise the bar for the division. Martinez made it clear that she’s proud of Khan’s vision for ROH, and she’s excited to have the chance to level up individually by wrestling talent from AEW and ROH/
“So I’m just hoping that I can do it justice. 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 a part of this company, whether it’s AEW, Ring of Honor, whatever they decide to do with it, I really think that I can raise the bar and bring a lot of prestige and prosperity that they probably haven’t had yet throughout the whole years of Ring of Honor, especially when I was there. So it’s really something that I take to heart and I’m really really proud of Tony and what his vision is for this company.
“I really do think that working with Ring of Honor and AEW and crossing both rosters that it’s just gonna level me up as well as level up women’s wrestling in general.”
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