What started out as a storyline feud has become a personal rivalry, it seems, between WSU’s Mercedes Martinez and Jessicka Havok.
The pair, who are set to duke it out in a “Title vs Title Match” for the WSU Spirit and WSU World Championships at the company’s 5th Anniversary Show on Internet pay per view March 3rd, have been caught up in storm via social networking site Twitter this week after Havok’s WSU teammate and real life best friend, Allysin Kay, vented about backstage “politics” late Tuesday night.
WSU Drama: Allysin Kay Posts Twitter Rant on Mercedes Martinez
Kay’s tweets have since been deleted (we’re told this was at the request of WSU management), but as with most things on the Internet: once it’s out there, there’s no trying to hide it. Several readers sent the tweets in question, which reference said “politics” in the lead-up to Havok vs Martinez on March 3rd, to Diva Dirt’s tip line.
Kay tweeted: “It’s funny to see so-called vets legitimately threatened by rising talent, & I’m not talking about myself. Be mad at yourself & no one else.”
“Some ppl need to get over themselves. Anyone who thinks Jessicka doesnt deserve the spot she has is too far up their own ass to see straight.”
“Jessicka deserves everything she has & more. She deserves to be WSU Champion, fuck what Mercedes thinks.”
Both Mercedes Martinez and Allysin Kay opted not to comment on our earlier story when reached yesterday — Martinez cited that she’s a private person, while Kay told us that she had said all she had to say in her Twitter posts — however, the third woman in this story, Jessicka Havok, did open up to Diva Dirt last night.
Speaking frankly and out of character to Diva Dirt in a phone call, Havok admitted that there have been backstage issues between herself and Mercedes — and insisted that it is not a work to sell their Internet pay per view bout on March 3rd. J-Hav told us on the phone that the tweets were “100% real”.
Following up on the tips we received about Kay’s tweets, we contacted the players at the heart of the story yesterday — Martinez, Kay, Havok and WSU promoter Sean McCaffrey — and all four agreed that there was no point trying to sweep things under the rug in light of the tweets now being public domain despite being deleted. It’s a pretty smart move, too, given that there is still an Internet pay per view to sell and the personal animosity outside of the ring, as well as the long-built storyline (and let’s face it, we’re all still shocked by machete-gate), could offer more incentive for fans to tune in.
Of course, fans are going to be skeptical, but it’s worth noting that when reached for comment by Diva Dirt yesterday regarding Kay’s tweets, there was an initial hesitation from all parties, leading us to believe that the drama is genuine. (If it is a work, Diva Dirt is certainly not in on it.) Additionally, one must question whether Kay would’ve deleted her tweets, or if she and Mercedes would’ve declined comment, if it were all part of the plan. If it were, surely they’d try to milk the situation? Furthermore, following the deletion of the tweets, the parties involved that use Twitter — Kay, Havok and WSU — have been rather silent on the issue, save for a few cryptic tweets, which goes against the fundamental attributes of pushing an angle, such as talking about it and drawing attention.
“I can go and preach that this isn’t an angle. Fans are going to believe what they want. No matter what, they’re gonna be like, ‘Oh whatever, that’s a work’ or ‘That’s an angle. They’re just trying to build heat’,” Havok said. “To anyone who doesn’t believe that this is real, I don’t know how much more real it can get.”
Discussing Allysin Kay’s Twitter blast on Tuesday night, Havok says that Allysin is her best friend, and like best friends, they share problems — but J-Hav wasn’t aware that Kay had taken to Twitter. “She’s my best friend in this business. When I have a problem or I need to vent about something, just like you would to your best friend, you’re gonna talk. I wasn’t aware she was going to put these things on Twitter, but that being said, I’m not sorry that she did.”
“I was pretty surprised that she posted those things on Twitter, but at the same time, freedom of speech. I’m not mad at her.”
While Kay’s tweets may have been the boiling point, bringing the backstage drama into the public sphere, it seems things have been percolating on and off screen between Mercedes and Havok. “Obviously, we’re not seeing eye to eye,” says the WSU Spirit Champion. “In my opinion, I’ve been very loyal to WSU, [and] I know she has been too — she’s been there longer, she’s the backbone and that’s fine — but I’ve sacrificed entire weekends, hours of my life [for WSU],” she adds before telling a story of how she and Hailey Hatred were once in a car accident traveling to a WSU show but still made it to the event and wrestled. “That’s the kind of dedication I have to WSU and to wrestling. For someone to shit over that and say I’m not worthy, it just doesn’t fly with me. It hurts my feelings because I do actually respect her. That’s how things are with politics in wrestling, you hear shit through the grapevine.”
When asked about Kay’s tweet (“She deserves to be WSU Champion, fuck what Mercedes thinks”) which seemingly alludes to the three-year strong WSU World Champion feeling Havok shouldn’t be World Champion come March 3rd, the top contender says: “It hurts me feelings. My goal in my wrestling career… I used to want to be in WWE. I still think WWE is great if you want to go and make money and stuff. […] My goal now is to go where women’s wrestling matters, and in my opinion, that’s WSU and I’m not just saying that because they’ve given me awesome matches, awesome opportunities to prove myself. I feel like I’ve proven that I am a professional wrestler, I don’t think it’s fair for her to say I’m not worthy or I don’t belong. […] This is something I’ve been working towards.”
“For someone who I used to have respect for to say something like that is just… there’s no words. No words to describe how angry and hurt that makes me feel.”
Injury heat
“That’s where a lot of [the heat] stems,” confirms J-Hav regarding Diva Dirt’s report yesterday that there was heat between her and Mercedes over the injury. “For someone to sit there and say that I’m not safe [in the ring], not worthy, not a wrestler — I went through just as much as training as any of those other girls, maybe even more. When I trained to wrestle, I got my ass beat by guys — I was the only girl.”
Havok also points out the exchange of video promos via YouTube between the pair as being part of the issue. In one video, Martinez questioned Havok’s merits as a wrestler. “I know people think they’re just silly videos to help sell a pay per view, but the fact that she says these things and I have sources that tell me she really feels this way, at this point, any kind of conversation — nothing is going to change how either one of us feels right now.”
“I don’t intend to try and patch things up beforehand or anything like that,” says Jessicka. “Whatever happens happens. At this point, enough shit has been talked and enough things have been said, who knows who twisted what around. I think it’s just too far gone.”
It’s somewhat apropos, then, that the Havok vs Martinez main event falls on the same day (March 3rd) as another much buzzed about female fight — Strikeforce’s bout between Miesha Tate and Ronda Rousey — as those opponents have also talked plenty of smack. With Havok vs Martinez on the borderline of “shoot” rather than storyline, could their “Title vs Title” wrestling match turn into a shoot fight?
“Being professional only goes so far. I’m not going to let someone who doesn’t respect me walk all over me. So it might just be a shoot from the beginning,” Havok says bluntly. “I can’t honestly tell you [if it will become a shoot fight]. I’m not afraid of her, and she’s obviously not afraid of me, and that’s fine. I don’t mean for anyone to fear me, but nobody is going to punk me out and make me look weak, especially when I know in my heart I deserve a shot just like everybody else.”
“The shit has hit the fan and this shit is real. You can’t get more legit than this.”
As noted earlier, both women consented (albeit, perhaps reluctantly at first) to their real life issues being made public due to the mentality that it may help business. Of course, this raises the question of whether wrestling should break the fourth wall and acknowledge real life issues or simply stick to the script. Perhaps the most infamous example of real life influencing the product is the Matt Hardy, Lita and Edge saga in WWE. In that case WWE took the real life drama and created its own storyline, while in this one, there are on-screen issues and off-screen issues that are separately identifiable, and as yet, WSU has not really addressed the real life issues aside from insisting the March 3rd main event match will go on.
Perhaps the real winners in this case are the fans as a perfect storm (cynics may say a little too perfect) leads to this already buzzy title match going to the next level and being that much more anticipated. Internet wrestling fans, by nature, crave juicy backstage gossip, and with an iPPV two weeks away things couldn’t be more well timed. Certainly, some fans will now be keeping a closer eye for stiff shots or to see if Martinez and Havok go all out at WSU’s 5th Anniversary Show next month.
Though it will no doubt continue to be debated whether this is real or an angle — or perhaps a blur of both — speaking to those involved, there is a new found heightened tension going into this pay per view that we have felt with so few other shows, and it should create for a unique situation come March 3rd.
Diva Dirt has once again reached out to Mercedes Martinez for comment.
