In a recent interview with Bell To Belles, former WWE NXT star Mercedes Martinez commented on not receiving a contract offer from All Elite Wrestling following an appearance at the 2019 AEW All Out pay-per-view.

“There was no contract offer, 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 that 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 and they were 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 was 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 and 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 the 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.”

The interview is available in full at this link.