Mercedes Martinez says that ROH Death Before Dishonor will be a rebirth for the company and its women's division.
Martinez will defend the ROH Women's Championship against Serena Deeb at the pay-per-view on July 23. She won the interim title by defeating Willow Nightingale at ROH Supercard of Honor and later beat Deonna Purrazzo in a championship unification match on the May 4 episode of AEW Dynamite. Since then, the veteran has defended the gold several times on AEW programming.
Speaking with Steve Fall of NBC Sports Boston, Martinez was asked to describe what fans can expect to see at ROH Death Before Dishonor, to which she said, “It’s like a rebirth, if you think about it. It really is. Going back from the old days of Ring of Honor to what the potential of what this new Ring of Honor can bring, it’s something exciting. It’s something that I’m glad to have the opportunity to build the women’s division under me and mold what the division can be. But man, if you’re looking at me and Serena, me and Serena have battled and had our feuds, but this is going to bring a new era of women’s wrestling. You’re looking at, not high-flying because we definitely don’t high-fly, right. We’re technical, we’re submissions, and we’re athletes, and we’re wrestlers, and that’s what Ring of Honor really encompasses is wrestling, pure wrestling in its form."
Martinez continued by emphasizing how she and Deeb utilize technical wrestling and submissions, which are key elements of the ROH style. The champion made it clear that she views the match as a building block for what she hopes to accomplish in ROH.
"You’re looking at chain wrestling and submissions, anything technical, and of course you’re looking at the power sense of it and those big moments that you wanna take, but I think for me and Serena, we’re taking this very seriously. We’re going in there, showing the world what women wrestlers, and we put that emphasis on the wrestling because that’s what this is all about. It’s, can the mainstream handle two actual wrestlers and putting on a wrestling clinic, and still entertaining because you still have to mix in the sports entertainment. So it’s a rebirth for her, it’s a rebirth for me, and bringing a new level of what the women’s division can bring going forward. So this is just a building block of what we can do for the women’s division here in Ring of Honor," said Martinez.
Fans can check out the full card for ROH Death Before Dishonor here.
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