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Post by The Brain on Aug 24, 2021 15:09:21 GMT -5
One hell of an underrated talent right here. Easily in my top 10 favs of all time. Shame he never got a run at the IC belt. But hey at least he got to hold the AWA and TV belts respectively. Feel free to post your memories/fav matches from his career. And remember humanoids.... Arrogance is not just a fragrance, It is the way of life  |
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Post by Grumpyoldman on Aug 24, 2021 15:36:02 GMT -5
My first recollection is when he & Tony Garea were tag team champions in the WWF. Blows my mind that he's 65.
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Post by UltimateCollector78 on Aug 24, 2021 15:47:16 GMT -5
Rick Martel was a very underrated performer, one of the few that was great as a heel or a face. The Model gimmick was just awesome. Mind boggling he's not in the HOF yet.
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Post by Grumpyoldman on Aug 24, 2021 15:53:53 GMT -5
Rick Martel was a very underrated performer, one of the few that was great as a heel or a face. The Model gimmick was just awesome. Mind boggling he's not in the HOF yet. I think he's turned them down a few times. He rarely does anything wrestling related anymore. That's why I was very surprised he was doing a signing. |
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Post by The Brain on Aug 24, 2021 16:00:37 GMT -5
Rick Martel was a very underrated performer, one of the few that was great as a heel or a face. The Model gimmick was just awesome. Mind boggling he's not in the HOF yet. I think he's turned them down a few times. He rarely does anything wrestling related anymore. That's why I was very surprised he was doing a signing. Yeah that's why I jumped on the signing. I was like damn talk about a rare opportunity. |
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Post by PJ on Aug 24, 2021 18:36:01 GMT -5
My first recollection is when he & Tony Garea were tag team champions in the WWF. Blows my mind that he's 65. Mine as well. |
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Post by The Brain on Aug 24, 2021 18:59:36 GMT -5
This should've happened...  |
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Post by HandsomeHollywood on Aug 24, 2021 19:02:03 GMT -5
Fun fact, when I was a kid, even though I was Canadian, I did not clue into the fact that Martel was a French Canadian. I classified his accent as just generally snooty.
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Post by MKSavage on Aug 24, 2021 19:40:58 GMT -5
Great wrestler. Very underrated. He was so good as the Model character you would think he was like that in real life, but from all of the shoot videos, it seems like he was a really nice person. I don't recall hearing anyone say anything bad about him. He would have made a great heel IC champion, too bad the Model character came about at the same time Mr. Perfect was really getting going, that would have been the best time for him to be the IC champion (1990-91).
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nibs92
Main Eventer
Joined on: May 29, 2008 5:47:21 GMT -5
Posts: 2,240
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Post by nibs92 on Aug 25, 2021 1:18:30 GMT -5
I loved the continuity of him and Tito Santana disliking each other. It seemed every time they were in the ring (Rumbles, Battle Royale’s etc) they would go for each other. Not sure if by design or maybe because they were of similar style but always got a kick out of it!
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Post by MKSavage on Aug 25, 2021 7:58:45 GMT -5
I loved the continuity of him and Tito Santana disliking each other. It seemed every time they were in the ring (Rumbles, Battle Royale’s etc) they would go for each other. Not sure if by design or maybe because they were of similar style but always got a kick out of it! Yeah, that reminded of Shawn and Marty, if I remember correctly, in both the 1994 and 1996 royal rumbles they had a little fight during it. Great stuff that they carried the feud over 2+ years. |
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Post by MKSavage on Aug 25, 2021 8:01:39 GMT -5
This should've happened... Yeah, shame they never got a proper blow-off to their feud. I know they faced each other in the KOTR finals in 1989 but I don't think that was televised. WM6 would have been great especially since they were fighting one another in the 1990 Royal Rumble. Tito could have won or lost at WM6. And Barbarian could have destroyed Koko to build him up. I think Martel and Tito could have had one hell of a kick-off match to WM6. |
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Post by hbkbigdaddycool on Aug 25, 2021 10:43:55 GMT -5
Rick Martel was always entertaining to watch, whether it be good guy or bad guy versions of him.
I liked Strike Force. My problem though was I liked the British Bulldogs way more, so I never liked that they had the belts over the Bulldogs.
The heel turn at Wrestlemania V was very well done. It kind of goes forgotten sadly in that era, because everyone remembers Savage turning heel a month earlier on Hogan to create the main event of Wrestlemania V.
Martel was like the uncrowned IC Champion though in 1993. To lose the belt to Ramon without ever holding it was unfair to his credentials. But at the time, that's all they could do. Someone had to be the loser in that finals, and Martel was the one to put over Ramon to make Ramon seem like the real deal and to be taken serious.
His baby face WCW run was so out of nowhere. It was like shades of his early WWF and AWA runs. Too bad the knee injury took him out though, but at least he had that one final singles run with the WCW TV Title even if it was for a short period of time.
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Post by MKSavage on Aug 25, 2021 12:26:04 GMT -5
Rick Martel was always entertaining to watch, whether it be good guy or bad guy versions of him. I liked Strike Force. My problem though was I liked the British Bulldogs way more, so I never liked that they had the belts over the Bulldogs. The heel turn at Wrestlemania V was very well done. It kind of goes forgotten sadly in that era, because everyone remembers Savage turning heel a month earlier on Hogan to create the main event of Wrestlemania V. Martel was like the uncrowned IC Champion though in 1993. To lose the belt to Ramon without ever holding it was unfair to his credentials. But at the time, that's all they could do. Someone had to be the loser in that finals, and Martel was the one to put over Ramon to make Ramon seem like the real deal and to be taken serious.His baby face WCW run was so out of nowhere. It was like shades of his early WWF and AWA runs. Too bad the knee injury took him out though, but at least he had that one final singles run with the WCW TV Title even if it was for a short period of time. To bad they didn't let Martel cheat and win the Battle Royal on Raw to become the champion then drop the belt to Razor at RR94. At least then he would have had a few months as the IC champion. |
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Post by hbkbigdaddycool on Aug 25, 2021 12:34:28 GMT -5
Rick Martel was always entertaining to watch, whether it be good guy or bad guy versions of him. I liked Strike Force. My problem though was I liked the British Bulldogs way more, so I never liked that they had the belts over the Bulldogs. The heel turn at Wrestlemania V was very well done. It kind of goes forgotten sadly in that era, because everyone remembers Savage turning heel a month earlier on Hogan to create the main event of Wrestlemania V. Martel was like the uncrowned IC Champion though in 1993. To lose the belt to Ramon without ever holding it was unfair to his credentials. But at the time, that's all they could do. Someone had to be the loser in that finals, and Martel was the one to put over Ramon to make Ramon seem like the real deal and to be taken serious.His baby face WCW run was so out of nowhere. It was like shades of his early WWF and AWA runs. Too bad the knee injury took him out though, but at least he had that one final singles run with the WCW TV Title even if it was for a short period of time. To bad they didn't let Martel cheat and win the Battle Royal on Raw to become the champion then drop the belt to Razor at RR94. At least then he would have had a few months as the IC champion.
Couldn't be done though.
The whole point of Razor being IC Champion was for HBK to return with his IC Title and say he was still champion and Razor wasn't.
You couldn't do that with Martel as IC Champion since he was a heel.
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Post by Mongo Bears on Aug 25, 2021 21:12:51 GMT -5
I was much more a fan of him as a heel than a face.
I do think he was underrated but he never felt like one of the main players in any time I was watching. In other words, I felt like he was a good distraction from the main storyline
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ClassicFan2
Main Eventer
Joined on: Oct 22, 2010 15:25:00 GMT -5
Posts: 3,251
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Post by ClassicFan2 on Aug 25, 2021 21:51:32 GMT -5
loved him in can-am connection, strike force and as the model. the heel turn was great.
also wish he got a run with IC belt before Razor did.
his visionaries team at survivor series was awesome.
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jason1980s
Main Eventer
Joined on: Sept 30, 2009 14:58:56 GMT -5
Posts: 2,311
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Post by jason1980s on Aug 25, 2021 23:48:54 GMT -5
He was slated to face Tito at Summer Slam 1990 but was replaced and oddly enough he was scheduled to face Marty at the 1993 PPV and was replaced. It's strange a guy would want to miss PPV money but I guess it didn't matter to him. Other than 1992 he normally disappeared during the summer months like 1990, 1991, 1993 I think to do real estate. It does stink he and Tito didn't get that match. I do feel like it would have been too far though. If they didn't have a Mania match it shouldn't have gone to Summer Slam.
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Zincdust
Main Eventer
WF 20+ Year Member
WF Day 1 Member
Redefining "Old Toy Weirdo"
Joined on: Dec 18, 2001 15:13:21 GMT -5
Posts: 3,473
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Post by Zincdust on Aug 26, 2021 9:25:27 GMT -5
First off, I always found Martel bland as a good guy.
He was AMAZING as a heel. The Model was one of my favorite gimmicks at the time. Everything he did, from moves in the ring to his mannerisms to his promos to his facial expressions were gold.
I got to see him wrestle live at house shows a couple of times as the model in 1992. Once in Boise, once in Salt Lake City, and both against Tatanka.
The SLC show went as you'd expect. But the Boise show really stood out to me for the fact that Martel beat Tatanka by countout. A loss is a loss, so it REALLY chapped my hide that for nearly 2 years, they announced Tatanka as "the undefeated Native American".
(And YES, I'm aware of the old adage that "if it didn't happen on TV, it didn't happen". But IT'S STILL REAL TO ME, DAMMIT)
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dixol
Main Eventer
Joined on: May 26, 2012 12:33:57 GMT -5
Posts: 2,083
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Post by dixol on Aug 27, 2021 7:23:52 GMT -5
He was slated to face Tito at Summer Slam 1990 but was replaced and oddly enough he was scheduled to face Marty at the 1993 PPV and was replaced. It's strange a guy would want to miss PPV money but I guess it didn't matter to him. Other than 1992 he normally disappeared during the summer months like 1990, 1991, 1993 I think to do real estate. It does stink he and Tito didn't get that match. I do feel like it would have been too far though. If they didn't have a Mania match it shouldn't have gone to Summer Slam. He missed 90 due to injury. He still made appearances on the Brother Love show, but didn’t get in the ring. He missed 91 due to the steroid scandal. There were 4 guys who were listed as Zahorian customers. Martel, Piper, Hogan, and I forget the 4th. Piper disappeared Summer 91 the same time as Martel due to this. Hogan made less appearances from the Arsenio appearance (July-ish)up to SSlam 91, then disappeared for 2 months right after to get off the juice. I dunno about 93. |
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