Mercedes Martinez On Why WWE Signed Kacy Catanzaro, Fans On Tommaso Ciampa, WWE NXT Dark Matches

By Marc Middleton

- This week's WWE NXT episode saw veteran talent Mercedes Martinez make her official NXT TV in-ring singles debut. She defeated Kacy Catanzaro. Above is post-show video of Martinez talking to Jon Quasto, who asked about the former Mae Young Classic competitor if she flipped a switch to get more aggressive during the match.

Martinez said she's all about being aggressive, and then knocked Catanzaro, saying she's only in WWE because she came from a game show. This is a reference to Kacy being on American Ninja Warrior.

"Whoa, hold on. Flip the switch? Aggressive? Do you not know who I am? Aggressive is what I'm all about. Kacy, I give her props but the thing is, she came here because she was on a game show. I've been busting my butt for 19 years to get to this platform, honey. This is not a game to me, this is my life. Aggressiveness?," she said, laughing. "You haven't seen aggressive yet. This is my NXT now, buddy."

- The first dark match before tonight's NXT show from the NXT Arena at Full Sail University in Winter Park, FL saw Kayden Carter defeat Indi Hartwell. The second pre-show dark match saw Austin Theory defeat Shane Thorne.

- As seen below, WWE issued a post-NXT Twitter poll this week to ask fans which title is in jeopardy the most at the "Takeover: Portland" event. With 4,155 votes cast as of this writing, 44% voted for Adam Cole's NXT Title going to Tommaso Ciampa.

32.8% voted for Bobby Fish & Kyle O'Reilly's NXT Tag Team Titles going to Matt Riddle & Pete Dunne, 16.3% voted for Rhea Ripley's NXT Women's Title going to Bianca Belair, and 7.1% went with Keith Lee's NXT North American Title going to Dominik Dijakovic.

NXT "Takeover: Portland" takes place on Sunday, February 16 from the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon. We will have live coverage as the show happens. Other matches announced are Finn Balor vs. Johnny Gargano, plus a Street Fight between Dakota Kai and Tegan Nox.

Below is the full Twitter poll for this week:

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