TNA loses another Knockout

Photo courtesy of obsessedwithwrestling.com

Shortly prior to last night's Total Nonstop Action (TNA) wrestling pay-per-view, "No Surrender," TNA Knockout Shelly Martinez (pictured above), better known as "Salinas" of the Latin American Xchange (LAX) and formerly "Ariel" in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), announced on her official website via a personal blog that she quit TNA as she was selected for a role in an Italian thriller movie and the movie schedule would have conflicted with her commitments to TNA.

Reportedly, Martinez, whose contract was due to expire next month, told TNA that she would give up the role in the film if TNA agreed to increase her pay, which they refused. As a result of the stalemate, Martinez handed her in her notice to the company and was written off of TNA programming by being attacked backstage by fellow Knockout Jacqueline Moore at "No Surrender."

It was also reported by PWInsider.com that TNA president Dixie Carter was said to be the most upset over this sudden development as she was a fan of Martinez and was the one who gave her the name "Salinas."

Personally, I don't view this as a big loss for the company, unlike them losing Gail Kim several weeks ago. Martinez wasn't technically a wrestler as she was more of a "valet" and wasn't the face of the "Knockout Division" as Kim was.

Also, TNA had to constantly work around her schedule as a lot of her adult shows got in the way of her TNA commitments. Just a while back, Martinez had to miss several TNA shows as a result of her opting to go to some promotional gigs to push her softcore dominatrix porn DVD with Jewel DeNyle, which was called, " The Notorious Jewel De'Nyle & Shelly Martinez."

Can you imagine how much the chips would have hit the fan backstage with all the other female wrestlers in TNA if TNA had given Martinez more money to stay but not Kim? I mean, Martinez is hot and sexy when she's not wearing 10-pounds of make-up but oh well. Martinez wasn't that vital to the company and seems more interested in her extracurricular activities.