What’s the story?
Former WWE and TNA superstar Shelly Martinez has announced her plans to retire from professional wrestling. Martinez, who was also known as Ariel during her WWE run, last appeared for either company during a one-off Impact Wrestling appearance in 2016.
In case you didn’t know...
Martinez spent just over two years in WWE, which included her time down in developmental. After months of floating around with no real purpose, ‘Ariel’ appeared by the side of Kevin Thorn during his matches. Her biggest moment in the company came when she assisted The New Breed during their loss to the ECW Originals at WrestleMania 23.
The heart of the matter
In the above clip, Martinez states that she has not yet retired from the business, however after two upcoming independent bookings she may well hang up her boots for good. She goes into detail about how the last few years have gone for her, in addition to mentioning the infamous incident with Dave Batista that supposedly led to her leaving WWE all those years ago.
What’s next?
Over the next few months, we’ll continue to see Martinez winding down her in-ring career, however, it has yet to be confirmed as to what she wants to do full time once she’s given it up. In the past, she’s been involved with a number of outside projects, but she seems to be leaving things open to interpretation for the time being.
Author’s take
It’s not too big of a loss for pro wrestling to see Ariel aka Shelly Martinez walk away from the business, but she certainly had her moments in both WWE and TNA.
It’s a shame that her tenure in WWE ended due to an altercation with Batista, but it isn’t the most surprising of stories considering some of the stories about The Animal in years gone by.
