We’re still saying goodbye to John Cena, and this weekend Hiroshi Tanahashi will wrestle for the last time. AJ Styles says the year we just started will be his last in the ring, and now someone who was
a huge factor in the rise of women’s wrestling this century is saying something similar.
Mercedes Martinez has wrestled for WWE, AEW, Ring of Honor, TNA, and numerous independent promotions around the world. The 45-year-old Boricua has held the top title of more than a dozen companies over her 25 years in the business, and is a member of the Indie Wrestling and Women’s Wrestling Halls of Fame.
Yesterday (Jan. 1), Martinez announced that 2026 will be her last as an active competitor. Then, she’ll turn her focus to the next generation.
2026. Different mindset. Different fire. This is my last year as a full-time ACTIVE professional wrestler. No contracts. No agents. No creative. Just me – and everything I’ve earned over 25 damn years in this business. Wrestling gave me everything.
It broke me. Built me. Tested me. Somehow still made me fall in love with it again. 2025 wasn’t about being showcased. It was about going back to the indies, back to the grind, back to the reason I started -and remembering exactly who the hell I am.
Giving back. Teaching. Helping the next generation. Passing on what was given to me the hard way.
That part means everything. So 20z6 [sic] gets one more year of my body, my heart, and my fight. One more year of scars, sweat, pain, and pride. One more year of showing up and giving everything I’ve got because that’s the only way I’ve ever done this.The last few years flew by. I don’t know what’s next. All I’ve ever known is wrestling, grinding, and hustling. And for one more year…that’s exactly what I’m going to do. I trust the universe to meet me where I’m at – like it always has. Goodbye 2025. One last run.
For this writer, seeing Martinez, Daizee Haze, Sara Del Rey, and other women who worked IWA and ROH shows in the aughts led to my discovering Shimmer, and to learn more about joshi, and then to be ready when WWE finally caught up a decade later. Mercedes was a part of that, working both Mae Young Classics and getting an NXT run (before turning down a main roster mover rather than join RETRIBUTION, a bold decision that deserves at least a prominent footnote in the history of her career). Since her time in WWE ended in 2021, Mercedes has wrestled for AEW/ROH and TNA while remaining active on the indies.
We’ll see how her last active year plays out, while getting an early start on thanking her for her influential run.
