Mia Yim and Mercedes Martinez are officially part of the Monday Night Raw roster as members of the Retribution faction. Joining them are fellow former NXT competitors Dominik Dijakovic, Dio Maddin, and another masked member.
Living up to her new character, Yim was the first to speak on Raw in the opening segment. “To WWE management: You think your company is safe because you gave us contracts? Think again.” Retribution went on to beat up The Hurt Business in the ring, and eventually other talent backstage.
Yim has been off NXT TV since losing to Shotzi Blackheart on Aug. 26. She signed with NXT almost two years ago to the date after competing in both Mae Young Classic tournaments. “The HBIC” was featured regularly during her tenure, feuding with the likes of Bianca Belair, Dakota Kai, and Candice LeRae. Most notably, she challenged Shayna Baszler for the NXT Women’s Championship at TakeOver: Toronto in August 2019.
While she wasn’t seeking retribution, Mia Yim put out a classy Tweet to dedicate her debut to the late, beloved Casey Michael.
As for her fellow Retribution member, Mercedes Martinez signed with NXT in January of this year. She had a short stint in storylines over the summer teaming with Aliyah as a member of The Robert Stone Brand. Martinez’s send-off came by way of losing a Steel Cage match to Rhea Ripley. Martinez was then “fired” from Robert Stone’s faction. Like Mia, Mercedes also competed in both editions of WWE’s Mae Young Classic.
While Mia Yim and Mercedes Martinez don’t have history as teammates, they have faced each other on a number of occasions in Shine and Shimmer spanning 2013-17. Going forward, one might anticipate them to be key players in WWE’s women’s tag team division, which is currently lacking in numbers.
Other Raw news and notes
Elsewhere on Raw, Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax beat Natalya and Lana in a quick match. Asuka defeated Peyton Royce by disqualification thanks to Zelina Vega’s interference. Billie Kay was notably at ringside on behalf of her former partner.
Before her interference in Asuka’s match, Zelina Vega defeated Mickie James via pinfall to earn a Raw Women’s Championship match on the Clash of Champions Kickoff show on Sunday. This is Vega’s first singles championship opportunity in WWE. It’s also the first Raw Women’s title match to air on a pay-per-view pre-show. Asuka once beat Vega (then known as Thea Trinidad) in a NXT TV squash match in 2016.
Other matches confirmed for Clash of Champions include SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley vs. Nikki Cross and The Riott Squad vs. Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax for the Women’s Tag Team Championship.
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