Mercedes Martinez Enters the Knockouts Knockdown Tournament

On the most recent edition of Impact Wrestling, it was announced that an eight-woman tournament will take place at Knockouts Knockdown on October 9, with the winner receiving a future shot at the Knockouts Championship. The announcement, made by Gail Kim, also included the revelation that four of the participants will be regular Knockouts, while the other four slots will be occupied by any other talented names appearing at the event. One of those names was just recently announced, and it was none other than Mercedes Martinez.

Mercedes Martinez is a legend in women's wrestling; having competed in various promotions all across the globe. Here's a fun fact: it was Mercedes Martinez who expanded my horizons as a women's wrestling fan, as the first indy matches I watched featured Mercedes in action from her days in SHIMMER. I remember it very well, it was about ten years ago, and I watched Mercedes' trilogy of matches against Athena (who is now in WWE as Ember Moon). The first one ended in a double countout, the second one ended with Mercedes turning heel and levelling Athena with a chair (it was Mercedes' first heel turn in SHIMMER), and the third and final encounter saw Athena victorious over the villainous Mercedes.

Other than SHIMMER, Mercedes has competed in various different promotions, including (but not limited to) Women Superstars Uncensored, RISE Wrestling, Shine Wrestling, and NCW Femmes Fatales. She has held championship after championship in those promotions and many others, and it was in 2017 that Mercedes participated in WWE's Mae Young Classic; reaching the Final Four--where she was defeated by Shayna Baszler. Mercedes participated in the 2nd Mae Young Classic a year later, but only advanced to the 2nd round, where she was defeated by Meiko Satomura.

Mercedes appeared at All Elite Wrestling's All Out event in July 2019, but in January 2020, she signed a contract with WWE and debuted on the NXT brand. She entered that year's Women's Royal Rumble at #6, and began making waves on NXT before becoming part of the Robert Stone Brand as their enforcer. During her run, Mercedes feuded with Rhea Ripley, a feud that ended with a loss to Rhea in a steel cage match on the September 8 edition of NXT.

The aftermath of Mercedes' loss to Rhea saw her ousted from the Robert Stone Brand, leaving Mercedes on the verge of a possible face turn. It also spawned rumors that Mercedes would be called up on the main roster, and once she was, Mercedes turned heel again and debuted on the main roster as a member of a shadowy villainous faction known as RETRIBUTION. We all remember this. RETRIBUTION was the chaotic faction that began as a group of various NXT talents (male and female) donning hoodies and masks and wreaking havoc on Raw and SmackDown. After a few weeks, the faction was whittled down to five members and became exclusive to Raw, and in September 2020, the evil Mercedes appeared in her villainous attire and gave ominous and maniacal warnings to the main roster.

Mercedes was given the name, Retaliation, but after the group's official debut, she was out of the faction--by request. I like to think that Mercedes saw the RETRIBUTION angle as a sinking ship, but in any event, she returned to NXT and continued serving as a villainess by targeting then-NXT Women's Champion Io Shirai, leading to a title opportunity at NXT Takeover: Vengeance Day on February 14, 2021. After the villainous Raquel Gonzalez captured the title, Mercedes became a face and pursued her, and in her last appearance on NXT, she was defeated by Xia Li in a match that saw Mercedes knocked out.

Mercedes' appearance at Knockouts Knockdown will be her first time in an Impact Wrestling event. I've watched Mercedes for 10 years; she is absolutely phenomenal, and I know she'll steal the entire event!

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