Things with AEW never advanced beyond talks for Mercedes Martinez.
In 2019, Martinez made an appearance at AEW All Out, competing in the Casino Battle Royale. She entered the match last, being revealed as 'the Joker.' She would return to the promotion in November, teaming with Big Swole on an episode of Dark.
Sitting down for an interview with Bell to Belles, Martinez revealed that WWE offered her a contract around two weeks after her All Out spot. Furthermore, she says they allowed her to honor all of her commitments through the end of the year.
"There was no contract offer," she began by saying. "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.' 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. 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."
Martinez had previously made appearances in WWE as part of the 2017 and 2018 Mae Young Classic. She reported to the Performance Center in January 2020. Unfortunately, she was released by the promotion on August 6, 2021.
In another interview, Martinez spoke about her time in WWE and said that opting out during the pandemic hurt her career and momentum. You can find her full comments here.
She recently performed at IMPACT's Knockouts Knockdown event, winning a tournament to earn herself a future Knockouts Championship opportunity. The belt is currently held by Mickie James.
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