Rosa Mendes Announces Retirement
The longtime WWE employee has decided to walk away.
After months of speculation regarding the future of her career, Rosa Mendes has confirmed that she has decided to retire from professional wrestling.
In an Instagram post celebrating the first birthday of her daughter, Mendes took the opportunity to make the announcement publicly.
She wrote:
"As I write these words I have tears in my eyes because of the love I have for my WWE family, and especially for the WWE universe. For the last 10 years, WWE was my life, my world and my family. I was Rosa Mendes. Now I am Milena Roucka, Jordan's mother, a soon to be wife and a hard working entrepreneur. For years I have been fortunate to put smiles on people's faces worldwide, performed for hundreds of thousands of fans and lived off of the adrenaline from the WWE audience."
She promoted her new business, Totally Fit Mama - a recipe and meal-planning service - while proudly proclaiming that she'd found immense happiness outside of the industry and was very excited for what the future has to offer.
Mendes, a former model, got her start with WWE in the summer of 2006 as a competitor in the Diva Search, and despite her only making it to the final eight the company still offered her a developmental contract. She debuted as a member of the main roster two years later in an angle with then-WWE women's champion Beth Phoenix.
Rosa never quite found the perfect role nor did she made much of an impact, bouncing back and forth between wrestling and managing, serving as a valet for lower card acts such as Fandango and Primo and Epico. The last few years of her tenure with the company were spent primarily as a member of the Total Divas cast rather than appearing on regular WWE programming.
Regardless, lasting over a decade with the promotion is a respectable run for any talent, especially the ladies.