God damn Rick Martel was great

[Clash, Never a Meter Maid]

www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4z70RojGBs&t=2s

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlwl7lJ2fls

This dude was not only great from an in-ring standpoint, he could play both an amazing old-school babyface and also a slimy heel you want to see get punched.

The Model was my boy as a kid, and I was always disappointed he never got an IC title run. Razor was cool too but I wanted to see Martel get his due.

(Also, gotta love that Gorilla Monsoon outrage at the beginning.)

[Spider2024]

Definitely very good midcarder. Gets overlooked often because that era of WWF had many good midcarders, but Martel was one of the better ones.

[Deleted]

Rick was absolutely fantastic. This match vs Flair, AWA vs NWA champ still stands out

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ter1k5_Gd24

[Deleted]

He was a great heel. I came in to watching WWF full time with WrestleMania 5, so I pretty much completely missed his babyface era entirely.

Great wrestler.

HOF ____. Any time now, Vince.

[Deputy Muscle]

100% agree with this.
Loved The Model as a character and he could obviously go in the ring. Always felt he deserved a decent heel run as IC champ ala Honky Tonk.

[Captain Stud Muffin (BLM)]

Yeah, such a good character

Seemed like when he finally got that big feud with Jake that was sort of it for him which is sad when you think about it. From the last few months of 90 until WM 91 he was on fire with that feud and you could make a case that run should have gotten him an IC title run

However, once that steroid scandal hit he shrunk a lot which took some of his star power away but he was still a guy who could get it done.

Too bad the knee injury took him out when he was getting his groove back in WCW

[Honeybear Lyder]

Read somewhere he was not being pushed in the WWF because of his French-Canadian accent.

[chronocross]

Even though it was short, I really enjoyed his WCW run and heel turn on Booker.T winning the TV title.

[Deputy Muscle]

I would definitely buy Arrogance and douse myself in it.

[Deleted]

great tag wrestler as well

[Clash, Never a Meter Maid]

Dec 10, 2018 16:57:08 GMT -5 Honeybear Lyder said:

Read somewhere he was not being pushed in the WWF because of his French-Canadian accent.

Their loss. I loved his promos, he was fun to imitate.

[Squirrel Master]

I was in attendance when Martel lost the AWA World championship to Stan Hansen in New Jersey. Martel sold the back injury well, as 32 years later that match stands the test of time.

[Slingshot Suplay]

Rick was great. I loved how he wasn't just a pretty boy wrestler, he was a tough babyface that would stand to to toe with Stan Hansen.

[Guacamole Anderson]

I grew up in AWA country and Rick was the first champion I really remember, so I'll always have a bit of a soft spot for him.

Great athlete and rock solid in the ring. Underappreciated, in my opinion.

[arrogantmodel]

You know I'm a fan. We even have the same birthday. 😊

[MolotovMocktail]

In that first video, did they dub in Jim Powers' music? By 92, he was basically enhancement talent, and I can't ever remember him getting a unique entrance.

[Deleted]

The way he sold Fuji's salt in the tag title loss made me really believe he was blinded.

Vince: "NOTHING BUT PURE SALT, RIGHT IN THE FACE!"

[MrElijah]

Dec 10, 2018 17:02:15 GMT -5 chronocross said:

Even though it was short, I really enjoyed his WCW run and heel turn on Booker.T winning the TV title.

That whole TV Title scene was, on the low, was filled with some good talent. But back to Rick, he was always a good hand. One of those guys, up or down the card, that delivered.

[Jumpin' Jesse Walsh]

The Model’s entrance music is the peak of recorded sound.

[grungesmurf]

Dec 10, 2018 20:39:58 GMT -5 Squirrel Master said:

I was in attendance when Martel lost the AWA World championship to Stan Hansen in New Jersey. Martel sold the back injury well, as 32 years later that match stands the test of time.

That match ending was fantastic haven't seen it used again and it absolutely should.