Nikki Blackheart has spoken out from inside the WWE Performance Center, posting a photo alongside Shawn Michaels and billing herself as the first female Dominican wrestler to sign with the company.

"My heart is overflowing with gratitude,” Blackheart wrote, calling herself “the first female Dominican wrestler to sign with the WWE."

Michaels oversees WWE’s developmental system out of the Performance Center.



WWE officially welcomed her on May 21, when the NXT account introduced its newest four-person Performance Center class. Blackheart joins Mason Rook, Marcus Brown, and Lacey Simon, the daughter of WCW and WWE veteran Dean Malenko. She will compete under the name Nicole Martinez.

The 29-year-old already has one match in a WWE ring. She worked a dark match before the May 19 episode of NXT, wrestling as Martinez and defeating Skylar Raye.

Blackheart was born in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, and trained under former WWE star Gangrel. A former NHL Florida Panthers cheerleader, she made her pro wrestling debut in 2024. In less than two years on the independent circuit, she held women’s championships in Coastal Championship Wrestling and Metroplex Wrestling and worked U.S. spot shows for AAA in 2025. She landed on WWE’s radar after WrestleMania 2025, attended a tryout in February, and signed in March.

Marti Belle, a New York-born wrestler of Dominican descent, represented the Dominican Republic in WWE’s 2017 Mae Young Classic tournament. Blackheart, born in the country itself, is presenting her developmental contract as a first for Dominican women in WWE.

WWE has not announced when Martinez will make her NXT television debut.