Mercedes Martinez On Suffering A Concussion In Her Final WWE NXT Match

Veteran pro wrestler Mercedes Martinez was one of the WWE NXT Superstars released on Friday, August 6, but her last match with the company came more than one month before that as she teamed with Jake Atlas for a loss to Xia Li and Boa on the June 29 NXT episode. That match ended after Li delivered a roundhouse kick to Martinez, putting her down on the mat. It was later reported that Martinez suffered a concussion in the spot.

Martinez recently spoke with DNC Digital and looked back at the match, noting that Li kicked the "living daylights" out of her.

"So the match was... Everyone saw the match, the match was fine, everything was going fine," Martinez recalled. "We were going to the end of the match to be honest. Xia had to give me a roundhouse kick. Mind you, I'd taken it so many times. I don't know if it was timing, I don't know if our spacing was wrong, but she basically kicked the living daylights out of me. Like, knocked me out on impact."

Martinez noted that Li isn't reckless in the ring, recalling how she didn't have time to put her hand up for the kick.

"It's not even... She's not reckless, I've wrestled her and I was Xia Li's first match ever in WWE. So, I really trusted her, we've had our matches, we've trained together," Martinez said. "It wasn't like I didn't trust her. I trusted her. You have to trust your opponent. But she gave me the roundhouse kick and you have to protect yourself here, but usually I've always been that person where realism comes into play. She's given me the kick before, I really trust her. I'm like, 'All right.' I didn't even have time to put my hand up. As soon as I walked in, that kick hit me too high up on the temple and knocked me out clean. I don't even remember falling. I guess from that impact, being knocked out, hitting the ground, like, I DDT'd myself, that's a double whammy of an impact.

"I don't remember anything after that. I remember getting up on the apron with the doctors and the trainers there, and I was just like, 'What happened?' Basically, I had a concussion. Basically, I had a concussion. And I knew it. I was like, 'Damn it.' They stopped the match because I was out and they were like, 'You were not coherent enough."

Martinez credited referee Aja Smith for being there for her, and noted how she passed all her concussion tests within a week or so.

"I always tell Aja [Smith], who is the referee, she's been my referee for a lot of my matches. I always say she's my guardian angel because she knows me so well from the indies," Martinez said. "If it was any other referee... She knows how I am, she knows I can take hits really hard and keep moving. For her to call the match off like that, it's because she genuinely knew that I was hurt. She's always been my guardian angel in the ring. God bless her. I basically had a concussion. Went to the hospital, they did the scans, all the scans came negative, no broken neck, no nothing. Basically, within... Two days after that, I passed my concussion protocol test, my impact test.

"So I was knocked out silly on TV, had the headaches and soreness, but I was able to... I was diagnosed with a concussion, but I was able to pass all my tests within a week or so right after. It's was almost like I needed to be knocked out for me to get shit back to normal [laughs]. I had a concussion, or sometimes you get knocked woozy in a match and you see stars, then you're foggy for days and days and days but this was a clear knockout and I was up and ready to go within two days."

Martinez revealed that she couldn't get cleared for in-ring action for three weeks, and that the storyline was supposed to continue. She noted that she was released a week or so after being cleared, and that Li was also hurt around that time. This appears to be a reference to Li suffering an injury scare when facing NXT Women's Champion Raquel Gonzalez on July 20. Li has been working RAW and SmackDown dark matches since then.

"It took three weeks to officially get cleared," she said. "Once I got cleared, and they continued the program. They were going to continue the program with me, Jake [Atlas], and Xia. They were going to continue the storyline, but they put it off I think because Xia got hurt, and I got released maybe a week after I got cleared."

Martinez became a free agent from WWE earlier this month and has returned to work on the indies. She will appear on Impact Wrestling's pre-taped Knockouts Knockdown special on Saturday, October 9 via Impact Plus. Martinez has been announced as a participant in the one-night tournament that will determine the next #1 contender to Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo.

Stay tuned for more. Below is video from Martinez's last NXT match:

(H/T to Inside The Ropes for the quotes)