Mercedes Martinez Talks Robert Stone Brand Being An Awkward Pairing, On Working With Toni Storm, Being In The Dusty Classic

NXT star Mercedes Martinez recently spoke with Comicbook.com to discuss her time in the Robert Stone Brand, which Martinez admits was a rather “awkward pairing.” Hear her full thoughts on the subject, plus more highlights from the interview below.

On being in the Robert Stone brand:

Yeah, I think it was an awkward pairing, but I think we fed off of each other, and I think the way I looked at it was I had to focus on my in-ring stuff,” Martinez said. “Anything outside of the ring, that was the whole point of the Robert Stone Brand and his job, was to make sure he made a match for me, focus on the business side of it while I focus on my training, the working out, and focus on what I need to do in the ring. Somehow, someway, it just didn’t work out. His dynamic was different. The dynamic was pairing me up with Aliyah and it was like a little sister, big sister type of thing, but sometimes, egos clash. I’m a no-nonsense type of a wrestler and a person, and Aliyah’s like this little, annoying, little person, and Robert Stone just wasn’t the right fit for me at that time. It worked for what it had to work for, and it got me to where I had to get to, but it wasn’t the right fit for that time.

Working with Toni Storm:

I think, first of all, for us changing, I think we’re a little bit more ruthless now, compared to what we were back then,” Martinez said. “When we faced each other, it was for a title, if I remember correctly, and it was only one time. So it was one of those things where, when a title’s on the line, you just go walk the walk. But right now, it’s a different place, a different time, and we’re teaming up. So our focus, or I would hope her focus, is making sure that we can coincide with each other and pull off the win for this first-ever Women’s Dusty Classic.

On being in the Dusty Rhodes classic:

My career has taken its twists and its turns, and the last year itself has been an up and down, I guess, for me when it comes to my career in NXT so far, Martinez said. “But I think just being a part of this classic is momentous in itself. It’s history in the making for the Women’s Division and the depth that we go to. But for me personally, it just adds another accolade and shows that I can still go, and shows that my career and my legacy is still going no matter what. I don’t want to say it’s just another milestone, but I think it’s just an honor for me to still be doing what I do and still being a part of NXT. And the Classic, it’s history on its own. So me, personally, I take it in stride and I take it with a lot of honor and a lot of prestige just to even be a part of it.