Punishment Martinez Makes His WWE NXT Wrestling Debut and Cuts A Backstage Promo

Just a few weeks after reporting to the WWE Performance Center, Punishment Martinez made his NXT wrestling debut at Friday’s live event in Fort Pierce, Florida.

The former ROH star was introduced as Punishment Martinez and he took on The Mighty’s Nick Miller in the opening match. The match ended with Martinez getting ready to chokeslam Miller, but he got distracted by Shane Thorne. Miller then hit a slam of his own to score the win.

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There is punishment on deck in #NXTFtPierce… @realpunishment

A post shared by WWE NXT (@wwenxt) on Nov 2, 2018 at 4:37pm PDT

We have the NXT debut of @RealPunishment here in Fort Pierce FL. pic.twitter.com/ryrfMsLH0F

— JJ Williams (@JJWilliamsWON) November 2, 2018

Billed as "Punishment" Martinez by the ring announcer as he faces Nick Miller of The Mighty pic.twitter.com/uEMyYVuTO3

— JJ Williams (@JJWilliamsWON) November 2, 2018

Punishment has arrived. @RealPunishment pic.twitter.com/Zx2wYS2zyj

— JJ Williams (@JJWilliamsWON) November 3, 2018

Martinez was asked backstage how he thought his first match went.

“It went exactly how it should,” Martinez responded. “The entire roster knows “Punishment” has arrived. So from now the entire universe, the entire roster could prepare for war, could prepare for battle, but the only thing they should be prepared for is to be punished.”

After his NXT Live Event debut in #NXTFtPierce, we caught up with @RealPunishment and got his reactions. pic.twitter.com/tvpYoNwBQT

— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) November 3, 2018

Martinez — real name Luis Martinez — joined WWE last month as part of their latest group of Performance Center acquisitions. He is 36 years old, 6-foot-5, 270 pounds and has been wrestling since 2004. Initially trained at the Monster Factory in New Jersey, Martinez has primarily wrestled under the ring name Punishment Martinez. Martinez is a late bloomer as he didn’t accomplish anything of note until arriving at Ring of Honor in 2015. A couple of impressive dark matches gave way to a place in the promotion’s Top Prospect Tournament in early 2016, with Martinez losing to Lio Rush in the second round.

Martinez earned a contract on the strength of his debut, going on to win the 2017 Survival of the Fittest tournament and joining the company’s tour of Japan alongside New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Martinez won his first ROH title on June 16, 2018, defeating Silas Young for the ROH World Television Championship. His ROH contract expired on September 29 and in his final appearance for the promotion, Martinez dropped the ROH World Television Championship that night against Jeff Cobb.