Mercedes Martinez Says AEW Run Pushed Her To Decide That 2026 Will Be Her Final Year As A Full-Time Wrestler

Mercedes Martinez says frustrations with her AEW run made her realize she doesn’t want to continue being a full-time wrestler.

On January 1, 2026, Mercedes Martinez announced that this year would be her final as an active wrestler. She had previously worked for AEW and ROH between 2021 and 2026.

Speaking on The A2theK Wrestling Show, Mercedes was asked when she realized she wanted to stop wrestling on a full-time schedule.

“I think it happened last year when being contracted especially with AEW and not being utilized to my full potential kind of brought me into that weird headspace of like, ‘Can I still hang with the females? Can I still hang with the top tier? Do I still have a lot to prove? Do I have anything to prove left?’ I am blessed for the opportunity that Tony [Khan] gave me for the last four years. But it felt like the last year and a half, almost two years, I just sat on the shelf not doing anything for the company. It kind of messes with your mind a lot. It kind of just makes you [say] is it really worth it? Does he really want to utilize my talent and my expertise? I know my style is not like a TV style. It’s very raw. It’s very rugged. It’s very old school in the sense of very power and strong style. Maybe the girls don’t want to wrestle somebody like me with that style because it’s very raw. But I also look at Eddie Kingston and be like, ‘Well, if he can do it, I know I can do it.’ You need a female like that. It’s kind of one of those things where I’m just like, ‘Man, I’m hitting that age group. I’m 45. Can I still go with the new generation?’ Maybe that’s their thing. Maybe they didn’t want to put me in creative storylines. I’ve pitched. So, it’s just one of those things where I’m like, maybe if we don’t renew the contract, which I already knew it wasn’t going to happen, I’m going to go out the way I want to go out.”

Mercedes says that she wants to go out on her own terms and wrestle all kinds of wrestlers on her way out without changing anything about herself.

“I want to make sure that I can spend this last year wrestling anybody and everybody. New generation, old generation, the vets, the works, and show that it doesn’t matter if I was on TV or not. I can still go and still have a lot more to prove, but I’m going to do it with just one last year without any change around my wrists. My way, the way I chose to do it, the same way that I came in. Balls to the wall, baby.”

Earlier in January, while appearing on In The Weeds, Mercedes discussed her departure from AEW. Fans can check her comments here.

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