Rick The Model Martel

[The Brain]

Long before he became the Model, Rick Martel had already had a successful wrestling career. He was an AWA World Champion and WWF Tag Team Champion. Despite those and other accomplishments, I’d like this thread to be specifically about his time as The Model. Where do you think Rick Martel ranks among the heels of the WWF in the late 80s and early 90s?

When discussing the heels of this era the names that always come up are Ted Dibiase, Rick Rude, Mr. Perfect, and The Honky Tonk Man. Rick Martel seems like someone that belongs in that group but he is often overlooked. He was very good in the ring, had a good gimmick for the time, and feuded with some popular stars such as Tito Santana, Brutus Beefcake, and Jake Roberts. Martel lasted a bit beyond the Hulkamania era and feuded with Tatanka and Razor Ramon as the New Generation was beginning. Martel never did capture a singles title in the WWF but that wasn’t such a big deal during his time. Plenty of successful wrestlers never won a title back then. So why is Rick Martel so overlooked?

I’ll take a shot at answering my own question and point out that The Model did seem to disappear from time to time. Martel was originally scheduled to wrestle Santana at SummerSlam 90. He was replaced by the Warlord. Martel disappeared again in mid 1991 and was noticeably absent from both SummerSlam and Survivor Series before remerging in early 1992. Rick Martel was the original opponent for Marty Jannetty for SummerSlam 93 before being replaced by Ludvig Borga. These absences were never explained on television. Maybe if we had internet access in the early 90s we would have been aware of injuries or personal issues that kept Martel away, but despite no knowledge of that I never expected Martel actually left the WWF and figured it was always just a matter of time before I saw him again. Maybe it was all the time away that causes Martel to be overlooked. After all, there were not many pay per views back then so missing three SummerSlam events was kind of a big deal. Also WrestleMania VI was not very good for Martel. Yeah, he got a win but it was in the opening match against Koko B. Ware. There was no storyline and Koko was not really a strong opponent so despite the win WM6 was kind of a letdown for Martel.

What do you think about Rick The Model Martel? Do you think he ranks among the better heels of his era? If not, why not? Was it all the time he missed and if he was around more consistently would he be better remembered?

 

[NxtBigThing]

For me Rick Martel was only an average heel. It wasn't that he didn't have potential but he never really feuded with any top talent. Probably the biggest talent he had a decent feud with was Jake the Snake leading up to WrestleMania VII. As a 10 year old I bought into the whole idea The Model "accidently" blinded Jake the Snake which led to the blindfold match. I remember a week or so before Rick Martel had a warm up match beating either Virgil or Koko B Ware but never really felt he would beat Jake. I thought he was some what entertaining but looking back nothing really sticks out besides the Jake feud so it could be either he wasn't given enough top talent to work with and or that he did disappear and appear here and there in the early 90s.

 

[wrestler36]

I absolutely loved The Model as a heel, especially the vignettes of him playing tennis, riding horses and all the other preppy stuff to promote his 'Arrogance.' In all honesty, though, he never elevated above midcard heel. He had the background and the wrestling acumen, but he may have peaked with the Jake feud in WW7. Him and Michaels could have been something special, but they were both heels, so it didn't make much sense.

As far as him disappearing for stretches, I'm not sure why. It may be part of the steroid allegations, as if you look at his physique from the mid 80s to the time he was The Model, he went from Rocky to Rambo.

 

[Pedigree1]

I actually watched Royal Rumble 91 where he lasted something like 45 minutes or something. The Model had an awesome gimmick,was a tremendous tag team champ with Tito Santana and a great AWA champion. Like the Brain said,had the internet existed back in the day,then perhaps we would have known more about his injuries or personal problems.

His Gimmick definitely ranks right up there,a cocky and very arrogant heel. Man he got on my nerves so i guess he did his job right. IMO had things been different,he would have been a great IC champion.. The model ranks up there most definitely!!! I liked him

 

[THTRobtaylor]

His absences were due to his wife being sick at the time, so he took time off to care for her - arguably costing him his position as Vince was not a "time off guy" in those days, whatever the reason.

The Model was some what like Dolph Ziggler should have been, he didn't need "push" or a title. His gimmick and skills sold the character and he could rise and drop down the card as needed without the artificial pushes a lot of characters needed. He could vanish for a while, reappear at the Rumble and he and Tito would tear into each other and he was then back where he was...

Could WWE have done more with The Model, perhaps, had his personal issues not been there. But this is the fed who didn't give Rude, DiBiase or Hennig the belt - all 3 were slightly better than Rick but not by much. The Model should have had an IC title somewhere for sure or a KOTR win "King of the Catwalk" might have worked - I'd rather have seen him involved with Bret and Piper than Jacques Rougeau for example. He had some strong storylines like the one with Jake, but the payoff was simply atrocious... They'd have been better having that "blindfold" match at the Rumble and letting both men do something different at Mania. That too hurt him and with the kind of knowledge we have now of Vince and how things worked then it smacks of a rib/punishment on Martel AND Jake rather than the cracking story we remember.

Later on they really didn't know what to do with him and it showed with the ridiculous match v Shawn at Summerslam. A classic example of why Heel v Heel is hard to make work.

The last thing I remember him doing was runner up in the ficticious tourney for the IC that Razor won... Even then he never got shots at the belt so the whole thing seemed a bit pointless for him.

As good as he was, he wasn't "great" in the way some others are, but he's a definite Hall Of Famer - that being said, while Rude, Pillman and Davey Boy are not in there then it's hard to say Martel should go in first... but I got a feeling this next class will feature him but he only goes in first cos he's alive to pick the honour up himself - sad but true...

 

[jbwphoto1]

Like others have posted, as a child I had no idea why The Model was gone other than what Daddy Vince told us. I know RF Video has a three hour shoot on YouTube with Rick Martel which may have more answers http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Io-Hrr1RQyY.

I was a Martel fan since AWA and was happy to see him in WWF. He was great inside the ring and the model gimmick was just annoying. Did anyone really want to smell like Arrogance? His character ushered in more of a metrosexual feeling then previous Gorgeous George whom fans just called gay. wrestler36 reminded me of the vignettes. I'll have to look those up. With that French-Canadian accent, you either loved the vignettes or hated them.

Although it was always presented storyline-wise why he got rid of his tag partners, I think it was more true to life as he didn't need a tag partner and tag belts to get over. I agree that the absences did hurt as Vince expects you to be his 24/7/365, but the steroid scandal may also be more than a pinch of the truth.

 

[AhSpicyDrop]

Things I remember fondly about Martel's run in WWF:

1) The heel turn on Santana, and how it helped catapult Santana to the next level. I thought they had some great matches and they could have drug their feud out a bit more.

2) His dropkick was awesome. It was almost always believable when he hit it. Always thought he and Curt Hennig had the best dropkicks of those days.

3) Feud with Jake 'the Snake' Roberts. The facial expressions that both of these guys used during this feud and the intensity they sold with those expressions should be studied by today's workers. You really felt like Martel was scared shitless of Roberts, and Roberts always looked the murderous part. It's just a shame the feud was blown off by a shitty hood match. These two could have stolen the show at that years Mania, but instead they got hindered by the hoods. Still a decent match and it didn't tarnish the intensity of their rivalry.

4) His matches on the early episodes of Monday Night Raw where he was contending for the IC title on almost a weekly basis were great matches. I always looked forward to anytime he worked Razor Ramon, some really underrated matches.

In hindsight Martel was never going to be a star on his own, but he was really good at getting the guys he was working with over, and that's what a heels job was during those days... So I'd say he was more than average on the heel scale.

I think WWF should have kept Martel around instead of letting him go to WCW, though I don't think a tag team featuring him and Don Callis as the "Supermodels" would have been the answer.... Martel with an up-and-coming star around that time could have been a viable part of the tag division with Martel's chops in that division already being a 3 time champ.

The last thing I remember him doing was runner up in the ficticious tourney for the IC that Razor won... Even then he never got shots at the belt so the whole thing seemed a bit pointless for him.

Uhmm... It was a battle royal that he was the runner-up in, and he did have several cracks at the IC title... against different people, and he always had a strong showing. There was even an instance where he beat Razor for the belt, but he had cheated and the referee overturned the decision. Martel was in the IC title scene for quite a bit during the early RAW days, he just had a lot of injuries so it didn't seem that consistent.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

Kinda makes my point that it wasn't a really memorable time for the IC title. The most you could say in that time was that Martel got into that spot as DiBiase had just been forced to retire. You can guarantee had Ted been fit, he and Razor would have had a longer programme than that one Summerslam match and his main contender for the IC.

It just seemed off that he walked into WCW and was winning the TV title etc when he couldn't buy a title win in the WWE. Either Vince took his time off as a major cardinal sin or perhaps more likely - he never intended to push him as a major star - let's face it, the other "world champions" who came in during that era, Flair, Hennig and Kerry at least won a singles belt.

Martel is probably the poster child of what today's roster need to accept their future is going to be under unified titles... They ain't getting a sniff, the glory is going to be in being in regular feuds.

 

[AhSpicyDrop]

Kinda makes my point that it wasn't a really memorable time for the IC title. The most you could say in that time was that Martel got into that spot as DiBiase had just been forced to retire. You can guarantee had Ted been fit, he and Razor would have had a longer programme than that one Summerslam match and his main contender for the IC.

Martel may have gotten the spot because of DiBiase's career ending, but it was a spot he was familiar with. He was a constant challenger for the IC title throughout the early 90s, he even had a mini-feud with Bret Hart over the IC title in arena matches that were featured on Collesium Home Video releases. Martel was constantly sniffing around the IC title, and I really have no idea why he never won it. He had charisma, was a work horse in the ring(which was one of the main requirements of the IC holder in that time), and could get over when he needed to, as well as the already mentioned ability to make his opponent look like a million bucks.

I think WWE had plans for Martel in the early 90's but his injuries and personal family issues destroyed the chances. Let's not forget his entire team survived and looked strong at Survivor Series 90, and he had a decent showing against Santana, Warrior, and Hogan in the one-off Main Event survivor match.

He also stayed in the 1991 Rumble for over 50 minutes and was put over heavily throughout the whole thing... So yeah, I would say they had some plans for Martel, because lasting that long in the Rumble was a fairly big deal in those days.

It just seemed off that he walked into WCW and was winning the TV title etc when he couldn't buy a title win in the WWE. Either Vince took his time off as a major cardinal sin or perhaps more likely - he never intended to push him as a major star - let's face it, the other "world champions" who came in during that era, Flair, Hennig and Kerry at least won a singles belt.

How did it seem kind of off? If he was constantly contending for the IC title then it wasn't unfamiliar for him to be in a title picture. The TV title was always looked at as a lower-level version of the WWF's IC title(in that it was for the workhorses generally).

He was made into a gimmick in WWE, and made it fairly successful. In WCW he was more of a "No Gimmick Needed" style of grappler, and just portrayed an arrogant attitude. He wasn't being paraded around with colognes, and having to wear dumb shit all of the time. He was looked at as more of a mechanic in the ring in WCW and taken a lot more seriously until the Harlem Heat jacked him up. He had some damn good matches with almost everybody he got into the ring with during his short run before Harlem Heat injured him.

 

[thebarber]

How can anobdy say Santana was catapaulted to the nexct level when Martelturned on him? The heel turn solely got Martel up the card to the next level, Santana lost preety much their fued, and was buried on ppv ever after, stoppnig for Survivor Series 90 where he was the sole survivor and made the 3 on 5 match at the end of the card teaming with Hogan and Warrior.
On to Martel, quality performer. Was a bland face, but he was great as the arrogant cocky heel. Martel surely deserves a place in the WWE Hall of Fame, being a former AWA World Champion and multiple tag team champion.
Martel did seem to come and go from WWE programming, but the way they taoped back in those days, one missed taping was 4-6 weeks of weekly programming so it may have given the image of him being away for some time, when in fact he may have just missed a taping session for whatever reason(injuries/personal). I read somewhere the entire reaosn Martel was booked vs Michaels for Summerslam 92 was to give Martel a nice payday due to his service and being a company guy. Hvaing in a mid card match on a huge UK Summerslam ppv must have paid well, and also gave HBK a credible opponent in his thirs ppv appearance asa singles heel.
Martel could have flourished in WCW with the TV title but his knee injuries squashed that and in the end, his in-ring career. Martel joining the nWo as a cocky arrogant heel could have worked nicelty, similar to other side projects like Hennig/Rude.

 

[AhSpicyDrop]

How can anobdy say Santana was catapaulted to the nexct level when Martelturned on him? The heel turn solely got Martel up the card to the next level, Santana lost preety much their fued, and was buried on ppv ever after, stoppnig for Survivor Series 90 where he was the sole survivor and made the 3 on 5 match at the end of the card teaming with Hogan and Warrior.

Ridiculous...

Martel turned on Santana and it reignited Tito's popularity that he had in the early-to-mid 80's. Santana dominated Martel, and pretty much beat him all over the world, with the exception of when they did 6-man tag matches; Martel would occasionally steal a victory or two then. And I think he got a few cheap victories over him... But Tito won the feud. He even went over Martel in the Finals of the 1989 King of the Ring to win it.

And it was no coincidence that Santana stood alongside Hogan & Warrior at Survivor Series 90, because he was the biggest Mexican demographic draw that they had, as well as majorly popular in the states at that time. After that, yes, Tito's career took a dive, but age caught up with him... But to say Martel's turn didn't catapult Santana back into single's fame is just a stupid statement to make.

 

[peter_midnight]

What you seem to be missing here is that Rick was brought in to be part of the Can-Am Connection. When Tom Zenk F'd that up, they replaced him with Tito Santana, resulting in StrikeForce. Santana wasn't nearly as over as Zenk, which affected their push. Martel blames his lack of success from Zenk leaving the company. From what I remember, he enjoyed the Model and never had any bad feelings about it. He said he took time off to develop his real estate business, which would become his job after retiring.

I think this was the time when he cut his hair, which would make sense if he were running a business and had to look more "presentable." So The Model wasn't supposed to get a huge push and I remember the Can-Am connection being the hottest tag team back then. We could use a few more babyfaces like them. Their gimmick was just good looking, young guys that did their best to win matches. It's simple and works more often than not.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

The Can-Am's were not necessarily going to be as big as all that from the get go... but they got over quickly (Zenk in particular) and Vince saw the opportunity for a slightly better version of the team he'd had with the US/American Express which never really worked out as planned.

Where it went wrong was that Zenk was unhappy about not getting the same as Martel. Now to be fair that makes Zenk a dick as Martel was a former World Champion in the AWA, of course he should get more for that. So I can see why Martel is pissed even now. But to say it killed his career is a misnomer as he was never going to be a star as a face in the WWE. As it turned out it forced a heel turn that actually gave him some longevity and interest from the character. Had Zenk stayed the Can-Am's would have fizzled, Demolition would still have kicked everyones asses and Martel would have probably been blamed as the weak link and he'd have been gone...Vince would still sign the Rockers to take that spot within a year of them forming. By ending up with Tito they lost a bit of the "Young Stud" image, but actually lucked into what could have been an enduring and all round classic team until fate intervened. Martel's wasn't the last to have to care for someone close to him, but he perhaps did worst out of it than guys like Batista and Jarrett later had because rightly or wrongly back then Vince didn't want guys with lives/families. If you were getting push it was at the expense of them in Vince's favor, not the other way round. His break came the same time as Steamboat's and while I can see Vince not being as mad about Martel's - to say it never cost him would be wrong.


What would have been interesting is if he'd gone to NWA/WCW instead during that late 80's period. While it's hard to see him dethroning Flair for long, it's possible that a feud and even a brief reign would have worked out for Martel. As a face he was a classic "Horseman" foe, the kind they could rough house, stamp on and he'd build up to that "explosion" where he gets over. Martel would have really benefitted from working with AA, Tully and even later guys like Vader.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

The Can-Am's were not necessarily going to be as big as all that from the get go... but they got over quickly (Zenk in particular) and Vince saw the opportunity for a slightly better version of the team he'd had with the US/American Express which never really worked out as planned.

True. The U.S. Express came about during an inopportune time for guys like them. The team was comprised of Barry Windham & Mike Rotunda, but neither guy really stood out in the way Vince wanted at the time. Both were very sound in the ring, but this was the Rock 'N' Wrestling era and, as a result, Vince was ultimately wanting guys who had more of a mainstream appeal. Windham & Rotunda weren't a particularly charismatic team, nor did they really have that look. Rick Martel and Tom Zenk were a couple of handsome, well tanned, well muscled guys who, in Vince's mind, comprised more of what he was looking for in a top tag team. They had their stuff in the ring, they were over with fans and they had that handsome, clean cut image.

Where it went wrong was that Zenk was unhappy about not getting the same as Martel. Now to be fair that makes Zenk a dick as Martel was a former World Champion in the AWA, of course he should get more for that. So I can see why Martel is pissed even now. But to say it killed his career is a misnomer as he was never going to be a star as a face in the WWE. As it turned out it forced a heel turn that actually gave him some longevity and interest from the character. Had Zenk stayed the Can-Am's would have fizzled, Demolition would still have kicked everyones asses and Martel would have probably been blamed as the weak link and he'd have been gone...Vince would still sign the Rockers to take that spot within a year of them forming. By ending up with Tito they lost a bit of the "Young Stud" image, but actually lucked into what could have been an enduring and all round classic team until fate intervened. Martel's wasn't the last to have to care for someone close to him, but he perhaps did worst out of it than guys like Batista and Jarrett later had because rightly or wrongly back then Vince didn't want guys with lives/families. If you were getting push it was at the expense of them in Vince's favor, not the other way round. His break came the same time as Steamboat's and while I can see Vince not being as mad about Martel's - to say it never cost him would be wrong.

Yeah, pretty much. In the grand scheme of things, Martel was perfectly justifiable in making more money than Zenk. By the time Martel returned to the WWF in '86, he was a 13 year veteran and he was only 30 years old. He'd wrestled and been a star in a number of respected promotions, had been a 2 time WWF Tag Team Champion in the early 80s and became a major player in the AWA that culminated with a 19.5 month run as AWA World Heavyweight Champion. Tom Zenk was in his late 20s when he arrived in the WWF and had only been in wrestling since 1984. Martel had long since proven himself as a substantial success in a number of other companies and was been a widely recognized World Champion in one of the top wrestling promotions in history. I can understand Zenk being a little put off, it's human nature I suppose, but I think that Zenk ultimately sabotaged his own career. After only being in the business for a couple of years, he thought he should earn as much as his decade+ veteran, former AWA World Heavyweight Champion tag team partner? Zenk thought FAR too highly of himself. As for their long term success as a tag team, who knows? I think they'd have had at least one run as tag champs before ultimately breaking up. When I think of Strikeforce, Martel's team with Tito Santana, it was basically the Can-Am Connection in everything but name. Strikeforce broke up after they lost the tag titles to Demolition and I believe that would've happened with the Can-Am Connection. Had Zenk stayed, Strikeforce would probably never have existed.

As far as Martel outside of AWA, I think he would have had a better shot of being a top level guy had he gone to Jim Crockett Promotions/WCW after his stint in the AWA. Personally, however, I don't believe he'd have been a main eventer. I think he could have been a good opponent for someone like Ric Flair for a time, but Martel is someone who ultimately struck me as someone as strictly a mid-carder. I could genuinely see him having a couple of strong runs as NWA/WCW World Television Champion, maybe a run as the United States Champion and a couple of tag title runs. Overall, I think he'd have finished out his career with a much stronger legacy.

 

[thebarber]

Ridiculous...

Martel turned on Santana and it reignited Tito's popularity that he had in the early-to-mid 80's. Santana dominated Martel, and pretty much beat him all over the world, with the exception of when they did 6-man tag matches; Martel would occasionally steal a victory or two then. And I think he got a few cheap victories over him... But Tito won the feud. He even went over Martel in the Finals of the 1989 King of the Ring to win it.

And it was no coincidence that Santana stood alongside Hogan & Warrior at Survivor Series 90, because he was the biggest Mexican demographic draw that they had, as well as majorly popular in the states at that time. After that, yes, Tito's career took a dive, but age caught up with him... But to say Martel's turn didn't catapult Santana back into single's fame is just a stupid statement to make.

Martel won the feud and went on to have a successful singles heel career in WWE after he was elevated by Santana. Santana went on to have a complete gimmick overhaul, slide down the card and eventually leave the company due to his perceived lack of Vince coming through on title promises(read his book).
the 1989 KOTR was a one night show, and Santana stole the win against Martel. Tell me one other ppv victory Santana had following Wrestlemania 5, excluding being the sole survivor in the initial 4-4 match at Survivor Series 1990,which was to make Slaughter look dominant? tick tock, tick tock, tick tock, tick tock..........Warlord, Barbarian, The Mountie in 2 minutes at Mania 7 in the biggest throwaway match since Bundy vs SD Jones, HBK, hell Mania 9 Vince found a spot for Tito ON THE PRE-SHOW against Papa Shango and got only his 2nd victory on the big show.....Santana was CLEARLY used to elevate mid card heels after his feud with Martel, Santana had a great run on top between 1984-1985 and a short tag title fame run with Martel in 1987-early 88, while Martel went on to have successful money feuds with Jake the Snake Roberts and Tatanka and being involved in the IC Title race in the early 90s. If you categorize singles fame as putting over mid card heels then your point is valid, but clearly that isnt an elevation. Must be a Tito lover

 

[MINISTRYrising]

I loved the Model and I think he was by far the most intresting character Vigneault ever played and while I think there were too many tallented Heels around at the Time for him to break into the Main Event, I am surprised that he never got a shot at the IC title and would have been a far more deserving champion then The Mountie or Jannetty. If he had joined WCW instead of WWE in 89, then there is every chance he would have been far more successful and I think he would have at least recieved a run as the US champion during the Early 90's.

 

[Goldie]

Some wrestling historians are horrified with the Model gimmick Martel was given, compared to his glory days as AWA world champ... but I thought it was entertaining.
When he first turned heel on Santanna in 1989, Martel would have scraped into the WWE top 10 ranked stars.... his 'Arrogance' vignettes were awesome! and he seemed to get the upperhand over his old tag partner Tito....but by the early 90s he was just another midcard heel putting babyfaces over.

I would have loved to have seen Rick win the IC title, he came close a couple of times.... but in that era the belts didn't swap hands so much.

 

[Mustang Sally]

His bad-guy persona seemed forced and contrived. It was as if management decided they needed a bad guy, so they told Martel to act like one. I have memories of Martel as a good guy, fighting on the side of truth and justice .....and then suddenly, for no apparent reason, turning to the side of evil and showing us how very bad he could be by carrying around an atomizer with a scent called "Arrogance" inside....whatever that was. Shades of Gorgeous George!

I remember Martel in a strange PPV match with Jake Roberts, in which both wore bags over their heads and were told to find each other in the ring and battle it out. This is the type of match good guys always win, and Jake "the Snake" prevailed.

It accomplished nothing, much as Rock "the Model" Martel did. He looked good, but couldn't act for shit.

 

[LBGetBack]

Ridiculous...

Martel turned on Santana and it reignited Tito's popularity that he had in the early-to-mid 80's. Santana dominated Martel, and pretty much beat him all over the world, with the exception of when they did 6-man tag matches; Martel would occasionally steal a victory or two then. And I think he got a few cheap victories over him... But Tito won the feud. He even went over Martel in the Finals of the 1989 King of the Ring to win it.

And it was no coincidence that Santana stood alongside Hogan & Warrior at Survivor Series 90, because he was the biggest Mexican demographic draw that they had, as well as majorly popular in the states at that time. After that, yes, Tito's career took a dive, but age caught up with him... But to say Martel's turn didn't catapult Santana back into single's fame is just a stupid statement to make.

What?? This isn't even debatable. Martel won the feud. He won almost every televised match that they had. And while Tito maintained solid popularity with the fans, he rarely won and didnt do much of anything feud-wise after his Martel feud. He became enhancement talent. Still an important guy as he always put in solid matches, was well liked by the fans, and made opponents look good.

 

[Waylon Mercy]

Being a fellow Quebecer, Martel remains one of my favorites of all-time. He really was a gifted technical wrestler (especially in his earlier days), which often gets overlooked in the gimmick-laden "Hulkamania" and "New Generation" eras. As a baby face, he was really over especially in his tag team runs with Tom Zenk and Tito Santana. He was extremely agile, yet also had power moves that could rate among the heavyweights.
I wasn't a huge fan of his heel turn, as the Model. He had a couple of decent feuds out of that run (Jake the Snake was probably the best), however it lost its luster especially in his Heel vs. Heel WM match against Shawn Michaels. I think the breaks he took for personal issues lost him a lot of steam in that time, and his character never really had the chance to take off. Also, I would have loved to see an extended and bitter feud with Tito Santana, perhaps over the IC title during that time. It would have done a lot for both wrestlers, I think.
My biggest disappointment for him, though, was when he reappeared in WCW, on the verge of a huge comeback. I believe it was his first match back on television, where he came out to quite the ovation, only to blow out his knee or some such thing. It was the beginning and the end of his comeback, and he has pretty much faded from recognition ever since. I do believe he has earned a spot in the WWE Hall of Fame, for both his tag team successes as well as his decent heel work as "The Model".

 

[thebarber]

Being a fellow Quebecer, Martel remains one of my favorites of all-time. He really was a gifted technical wrestler (especially in his earlier days), which often gets overlooked in the gimmick-laden "Hulkamania" and "New Generation" eras. As a baby face, he was really over especially in his tag team runs with Tom Zenk and Tito Santana. He was extremely agile, yet also had power moves that could rate among the heavyweights.
I wasn't a huge fan of his heel turn, as the Model. He had a couple of decent feuds out of that run (Jake the Snake was probably the best), however it lost its luster especially in his Heel vs. Heel WM match against Shawn Michaels. I think the breaks he took for personal issues lost him a lot of steam in that time, and his character never really had the chance to take off. Also, I would have loved to see an extended and bitter feud with Tito Santana, perhaps over the IC title during that time. It would have done a lot for both wrestlers, I think.
My biggest disappointment for him, though, was when he reappeared in WCW, on the verge of a huge comeback. I believe it was his first match back on television, where he came out to quite the ovation, only to blow out his knee or some such thing. It was the beginning and the end of his comeback, and he has pretty much faded from recognition ever since. I do believe he has earned a spot in the WWE Hall of Fame, for both his tag team successes as well as his decent heel work as "The Model".

Martel actually won the WCW World TV Title in his first match in WCW, dropped it back to Booker T weeks later blew his knee out in sais match. He was only going to be a bottom mid card guy when re returned in 1998, he had no gimmick and didnt look as clean cut and chiseled as the old Rick Martel. Sure without blowing out his knee he could have been recruited to the nWo, but Buff pretty much had the arrogant cocky good looking heel act down pat.

 

[Waylon Mercy]

Martel actually won the WCW World TV Title in his first match in WCW, dropped it back to Booker T weeks later blew his knee out in sais match. He was only going to be a bottom mid card guy when re returned in 1998, he had no gimmick and didnt look as clean cut and chiseled as the old Rick Martel. Sure without blowing out his knee he could have been recruited to the nWo, but Buff pretty much had the arrogant cocky good looking heel act down pat.

Thanks for clearing that bit of history up for me. I just vaguely remember Martel making his debut with WCW, and for me it was a pretty big moment. I don't remember him looking more haggard or anything, however I do remember he looked legitimately happy to be back in the ring. He seemed to have a real passion for his craft, as I recall. You are right, that he probably wouldn't have amounted to much more of a mid-card talent, however there was a really good pool of talent he could have had matches or feuds with. A baby face Martel against heel Bagwell might have been good, or even against guys like Jericho during his great heel run in WCW. Anyhow, without a decent gimmick, I guess the run would not have sustained itself that much. As Nash so eloquently put it, he would have been considered too "Vanilla".

 

[thebarber]

Agree Waylon Mercy, I was a huge Martel fan, and when he rocked up to WCW, I felt he was probably 12 months late as far as getting a real push in the company. I dare say he would have been used to elevate Booker T, which I guess he did in his short run, but would have more than likely jobbed out to guys like Bagwell, Goldberg of course and the rank and file Nash/Hall/Hogan buddies list. Martel vs Benoit/Jericho/Guerrero/Kidman would have all been entertaining feuds. And yes, he should be already in the WWE Hall of Fame, maybe this year, fingers crossed.

 

[It's...Baylariat!]

I'll give Martel credit. You believed he was a model and believed he was that full of himself. His feud with Jake 'The Snake' Roberts was very underrated, but it ended up leading to the worst match in WWE history with the blindfold match.

The story behind it was Martel blinded Snake with his Arrogance cologne, which led to a very good promo from The Snake which involved showing graphic pictures of his eye, which looked messed up.

So the execution was there, but the match itself was just awful. The stipulation would have been better if they put four boxes in the ring and hid a blindfold in one of them. Whomever gets the blindfold has to put it on the other person the rest of the match.

Instead you get a piss poor ending to a feud that had great potential to lift Martel back up.

Alas, Martel was a great heel and had a great look to him. He was just misused.

 

[duxdelrio]

I loved watching The Model work. He put on tremendous matches with Tito Santana and Razor Ramon among others. I think the fact that he was horrible on the mic may have had something to do with his lack of a singles title.
Also, in his peak run, Ultimate Warrior was the IC champ. Not much chance of anyone (let alone Martel) taking it off of him. And then Mr Perfect had the strap, but they were both heels at the time, and chances of a feud happening were slim and none.
The Model Rick Martel definitely would've been a deserving and believable IC champ. I guess we can add him to the list of the likes of Jake Roberts and Ted Dibiase, as far as great WWE talent never to win a singles Title.