Rick Martel  |
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|---|---|
| Statistics | |
| Ring name(s) | Rick Martel |
| Billed height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) |
| Billed weight | 236 lb (107 kg/16.9 st) |
| Born | March 18 1956 Quebec City, Quebec |
| Billed from | Cocoa Beach, Florida |
| Trained by | Pierre Martel |
| Debut | June 7 1972 |
| Retired | February 22 1998 |
Rick Martel (born Richard Vigneault on March 18 1956) is a former Québécois professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) between 1980 and 1995.
Contents |
Career
Independent Circuit
Rick Martel is from a family of wrestlers, and made his professional debut at age sixteen when his brother Martin, a wrestler, asked him to replace an injured wrestler. Martel was already a skilled amateur wrestler, and quickly adapted to professional wrestling. Martel wrestled throughout the world, winning titles in Stu Hart's Stampede Wrestling promotion, New Zealand and Puerto Rico. His first real success in America came in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA)'s Portland affiliate Pacific Northwest Wrestling and in Vancouver-based NWA All Star Wrestling, where he became a top talent, holding the Canadian and PNW Tag Team titles simultaneously. He left PNW on August 16, 1980 when he lost a "Loser Leaves Town" match to Buddy Rose.
World Wrestling Federation (1980-1982)
Martel made a number of appearances with the WWF, winning the Tag Team Titles twice with Tony Garea.
American Wrestling Association (1982-1987)
Martel signed with the AWA in 1982 and quickly ascended through the ranks, defeating Jumbo Tsuruta to win the AWA World Heavyweight Championship on May 13, 1984. His reign as champion lasted nearly nineteen months, during which time he wrestled several matches with NWA Champion Ric Flair. Martel lost the title to Stan Hansen who forced Martel to submit to the "Brazos Valley Backbreaker" - a version of the Boston Crab. As it was rare at the time for titles to change hands via submission, the loss hurt Martel's standing in the eyes of many fans.
World Wrestling Federation (1987-1995)
The Can-Am Connection
In 1987, Martel returned to the WWF with his then tag team partner, the American Tom Zenk, as the Can-Am Connection. The Can-Am Connection had been formed by Martel in the Montreal International Wrestling Association in 1986. Tom Zenk was the boyfriend of Martel's sister-in-law, and had been introduced to Martel in the AWA by Curt Hennig. The Can-Am Connection quickly garnered the affections of fans, and they looked certain to win the WWF tag team titles in the near future. However, the team split shortly after WrestleMania III; Zenk claimed Martel had secretly negotiated an individual contract worth three times more than his partner's contract (traditionally, tag teams are paid roughly equal salaries). [1] Martel claimed Zenk "...was overwhelmed by it all... Wrestling is very hard on your body. Hard on you also mentally. It's hard physically. Tom wasn't mentally or physically hard as I thought he would be."[2]
Strike Force
Upon the departure of Zenk, Martel formed a new tag team with Tito Santana, Strike Force, ending the long title reign of WWF Tag Team Champions The Hart Foundation, but later losing the titles to Demolition at WrestleMania IV. Shortly afterwards, Martel suffered an injury after taking Demolition's finisher on the floor, splitting up the team for several months until his return at WrestleMania V. During a match with the Brain Busters (Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard) Tito accidentally hit Martel with his signature Flying Forearm and knocked him out of the ring. A frustrated Martel refused the tag, leaving Tito to be beaten down and pinned. Later, in an interview with Gene Okerlund, Martel claimed (kayfabe) "I’m sick and tired. Sick and tired of him. I was doing great as a singles wrestler, but Mr. Tito wants to ride my coattails some more."
The Model
In mid-1989, Martel adapted a narcissistic heel character, becoming "The Model." In case anyone forgot he was a model, he wore a giant button which read "Yes, I am a model". He had his own brand of perfume called "Arrogance," which was kept in a large atomizer and would be sprayed in the eyes of his opponents to blind them. Martel would also strike his adversaries with the comically large pink atomizer to defeat them. In the 1991 Royal Rumble, he survived in the ring for 53 minutes, the longest that anyone had ever survived in the Royal Rumble at the time [3] (a record that would be broken in 1992 by Ric Flair, 1993 by Bob Backlund, and again in 2004 by Chris Benoit. Martel was a very strong performer in Royal Rumbles. In 1989 he was 4th after being thrown out by Akeem whilst in 1991 he was 5th whilst he repeated this in 1992 when he was eliminated by Sid Justice. Martel was pushed out by Justice and Rowdy Roddy Piper also fell over the ropes at the same time (Piper was attempting to eliminate Martel when Sid pushed them over). He was again 4th in 1993 after being eliminated by Bob Backlund. One of Martel's most famous feuds during his stint as "The Model" was against Jake "The Snake" Roberts. He blinded Roberts with his perfume on an episode of "The Brother Love Show" in October 1990, which led to a symbolic "blindfold match" at WrestleMania VII, where Martel was defeated. He later feuded with Shawn Michaels, as both men sought the affections of Sherri Martel (no relation). The feud ended with an entertaining and comedic chain of events that concluded in a double count out at SummerSlam 1992 with Michaels in a match that carried a "No punching in the face" stipulation. He followed that with a lengthy rivalry with Tatanka. It revolved around Tatanka's sacred "eagle feather," which Martel stole from him. Martel did not appear on WWF programming for many months, but returned in September 1993 ironically in a match on Raw against Tatanka. In the same TV tapings, he was declared co-winner of a battle royal for the vacant Intercontinental Championship. He lost a match in the following week's tapings to Razor Ramon to fill the title vacancy in 1993. He remained a regular feature on WWF programming until shortly after Wrestlemania X and again would not be seen on programming again. He made one sole appearance 8 months later at the 1995 Royal Rumble (contractual details are unknown, Martel was drafted in to replace Jim Neidhart). He formed a tag team with Don Casablancas known as "The Supermodels." His wrestling career began to slow as he pursued a career in real estate.
World Championship Wrestling (1997-1998)
Martel reappeared in World Championship Wrestling in 1997, feuding with Booker T for the WCW World Television Championship, which he won on February 16, 1998. Martel's comeback was cut short when, at SuperBrawl VIII on February 22, 1998, he landed badly during his match with Booker T, hitting his leg on one of the steel cables that WCW used as ring ropes. He tore an inside ligament of his right knee, fractured his leg and suffered cartilage damage, effectively ending his in-ring career. He was originally supposed to retain the Television Title in the match, which was designed to be a gauntlet match in which he would beat Booker and then Perry Saturn, but ended up suffering the knee injury. Martel and Booker worked out a finish in the ring (through which Martel suffered a worse injury after a botched Harlem Hangover), and then Booker and Saturn called the second leg of the match entirely in the ring. Martel was out injured for several months. After suffering another injury in his first match back (against Booker T.'s tag team partner Stevie Ray), Martel decided to retire from the ring. He then worked for WCW as a trainer and as the host of the French versions of WCW programming.
Guest appearances
At the end of a house show in Canada in 2003, Brock Lesnar brought out Martel as a surprise. Martel put Lesnar over as a legitimate star by shaking hands with him. At WWE's 2007 Vengeance, Martel, along with Tony Garea, saved Jimmy Snuka and Sgt. Slaughter from Deuce and Domino.
Ringrat Hunters
Rick appeared in YouTube series, The Ringrat Hunters, along with his former tag team partner, Tom Zenk. The show consists of Tom and Rick on the prowl for women, before somebody prevents them. Tom and Rick stop them by eqaculating on them. Rick was on season one, before being replaced by Brian Pillman. However, he does make an appearance on the Resident Evil episodes on Season Two.
Wrestling facts
- Finishing and signature moves
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- Quebec Crab (Boston Crab)
- Swan Dive Splash (Catapult Splash)
- Flying crossbody
- Bridging belly to back suplex
- Backbreaker
- Gutwrench suplex
- Rolling spinebuster
- Double Dropkick (with Tom Zenk)
- Signature illegal weapons
- Managers
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- Slick
- Patricia Steinman
Championships and accomplishments
- Lutte Internationale (Montreal)
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- NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship (Vancouver version) (1 time) – with Roddy Piper
- Mid-Pacific Promotions
- NWA New Zealand
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- NWA British Commonwealth Heavyweight Championship (New Zealand version) (3 times)
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- PWI ranked him # 48 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the "PWI Years" in 2003
- PWI ranked him # 70 of the 100 best tag teams during the PWI years with Tito Santana in 2003.
- PWI ranked him # 74 of the 100 best tag teams during the PWI Years with Tony Garea in 2003.
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- WWC North American Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Pierre Martel
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- WWF World Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Tony Garea (2) and Tito Santana (1)
