Sephiroth
Wade Wilson
Surviving
Posts: 28,884
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Post by Sephiroth on Dec 21, 2016 9:03:57 GMT -5
Been reminiscing on this one since there was a thread about heel vs heel angles in the WWE forum. This is probably the best heel vs heel feud I can think of in my life-at no time did either of them turn face during the program, and they both played it to the hilt. For any who may not know the set up: at the time HBK had Sherri Martel as his manager. Rick Martel was in the midst of his "Yes I am a model" gimmick, as cartoony as it was. So Rick Martel starts hitting on Sherri, which Shawn Michaels doesn't take kindly to. So the two of them had a match, but with a stipulation: since Sherri couldn't stand to watch either of them ruin each other's good looks, they weren't allowed to hit each other in the face. The match itself was actually pretty decent, as the two of them worked a similar style at the time. But they played up that whole "no face punches" aspect of it to the hilt; I remember vividly how one of them would wind up for a punch and then the other would wave a finger "no no no!" The pay off to it all was that they finally snap and start punching each other, causing Sherri to faint. Martel ran backstage, and as Michaels helped Sherri up and to the back Martel came running back out and tossed a bucket of water on them, presumably intended to revive Sherri. And Sherri proceeded to do her best Wicked Witch of the West imitation, screaming her lungs out with her hair dripping and her make up pouring down her face. Sure, it was mainly all played for laughs, but it was still a heel vs heel match in which neither one turned face and the audience didn't find themselves cheering either of them. A rare example of heel vs heel done right.
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Post by Limity (BLM) on Dec 21, 2016 11:37:15 GMT -5
I don't remember this at all, but it sounds awesome as all hell.
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Mozenrath
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Post by Mozenrath on Dec 21, 2016 11:40:23 GMT -5
I imagine that must have been confusing for fans, Rick hitting on someone with his same last name.
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Post by dirtyoldman on Dec 21, 2016 11:47:05 GMT -5
Where they testing a face turn for one of them or just thought that 2 narcissists and a woman would be an interesting fued? Surprised they didn't put them in a tag team first and then have them split (although admitingly, they had done it for both men with the rockers and strike force)
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Post by Nickybojelais on Dec 21, 2016 12:39:23 GMT -5
Where they testing a face turn for one of them or just thought that 2 narcissists and a woman would be an interesting fued? Surprised they didn't put them in a tag team first and then have them split (although admitingly, they had done it for both men with the rockers and strike force) I've always wondered if the Michaels/Martel feud occurred simply because there was a lack of experienced faces available for him to work with. It was his first year of singles competition and during this year he was working with the likes of Tito, Macho Man and Bret (all experienced veterans). I wonder if Martel was the only real experienced veteran available for him to work with and learn from at that time.
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Post by Big Bad Kahuna on Dec 21, 2016 13:28:51 GMT -5
Didn't Shawn interrupt a Bret/Martel title match (probably post WM-8) when Martel had the Quebec Crab hooked in, so that ref was distracted, and Martel got possibly screwed out of the title because of Shawn??
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Post by dirtyoldman on Dec 21, 2016 13:58:21 GMT -5
Think that's how the fuest started. Actually think it might have been Shawn punching Bret when he was in the Boston crab, Martel getting DQ ed but thought he won.
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Post by HMARK Center on Dec 21, 2016 15:08:54 GMT -5
Right: Martel had the Crab in on Bret during an IC title match, but Bret was close to the ropes. Shawn had been making noise for most of the year that he wanted to challenge Bret, so he attacks Bret in that spot, giving Bret the DQ win while Martel initially celebrated because he thought Bret had submitted. Kind of crazy to think how far back Bret and Shawn's on-screen history goes, and that's not even counting any Hart Foundation vs. Rockers angles.
But yeah, I'll wager a lot of it had to do with the thinning roster at the time, and thus having to turn to Martel, who was still marketable as a heel and thus wasn't going to be turned face, to work with Shawn to keep breaking him in to big time singles work. Given the build up and given how both men acted during the match Martel was definitely playing babyface a bit more while Shawn was clearly the main heel, but Martel never went too far with it and was still firmly heel in the months to follow.
I love when Sherri faints, then the camera zooms in and she super-obviously opens one eye...not a botch, just her clearly faking it and hoping the two guys will fight over giving her attention, then getting more than she bargains for when Martel throws water at her and Shawn. I had always preferred Sherri hanging out with DiBiase to her being valet for Shawn, and I know Shawn didn't like having a valet at the time, but this was one instance where they made gold out of the whole thing.
After that point, the final time Rick Martel got a big WWF moment was when he and Razor were the two last men standing in an IC title battle royal on Raw, setting up a one-on-one match for the belt the next week. It's too bad, always felt Martel still had enough left in the tank during that era that they could've done more with him, but Vince was pretty eager to start getting away from the Hulkamania era guys in late '92 and into '93, it seemed.
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Post by edgestar on Dec 21, 2016 15:18:58 GMT -5
I remember Sherri's ass hanging out at SummerSlam 92
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Mozenrath
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Post by Mozenrath on Dec 21, 2016 15:20:46 GMT -5
I love when Sherri faints, then the camera zooms in and she super-obviously opens one eye...not a botch, just her clearly faking it and hoping the two guys will fight over giving her attention, then getting more than she bargains for when Martel throws water at her and Shawn. I had always preferred Sherri hanging out with DiBiase to her being valet for Shawn, and I know Shawn didn't like having a valet at the time, but this was one instance where they made gold out of the whole thing. Sherri was awesome for stuff like that.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 21, 2016 16:03:12 GMT -5
I imagine that must have been confusing for fans, Rick hitting on someone with his same last name. Some fans. Maybe. I think she used the last name when she first started with the WWF, but as long as I had heard of her (early 1989) she was just known as Sensational Sherri.
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MiLB Fan
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Post by MiLB Fan on Dec 21, 2016 18:22:49 GMT -5
SummerSlam '92 was my first PPV, and I remember cracking up over Vince's reaction to the stipulation for the Michaels/Martel match.
Vince: "Okay now, what about this provision: 'no hitting in the face'? Give me a break! This isn't the sixth grade; this is the World Wrestling Federation!"
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Post by "Playboy" Don Douglas on Dec 21, 2016 20:43:58 GMT -5
Heel vs heel programs used to be a little more common in the Mid-Atlatlic territory, where they would typically end up being called the "battle of the bullies."
I read a good article about one between Ivan Koloff and the Iron Sheik. They began as occasional partners, each talking up their country and its great history of wrestling.
As time went on, they got more obnoxious to the other about which country was greater for wrestling.
It became a full blown argument, then interference in singles matches, and finally a series of bloody matches. Ivan seemed to win them all, ending in cage matches around the loop. They actually carried it on for 2 or 3 months, which was a short feud then.
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Post by ThankGodForSidJustice on Dec 21, 2016 23:08:21 GMT -5
Where they testing a face turn for one of them or just thought that 2 narcissists and a woman would be an interesting fued? Surprised they didn't put them in a tag team first and then have them split (although admitingly, they had done it for both men with the rockers and strike force) I've always wondered if the Michaels/Martel feud occurred simply because there was a lack of experienced faces available for him to work with. It was his first year of singles competition and during this year he was working with the likes of Tito, Macho Man and Bret (all experienced veterans). I wonder if Martel was the only real experienced veteran available for him to work with and learn from at that time. Summerslam being in London instead of Washington D.C., which was scheduled as the original location, was the reason for it. At the time Martel was feuding with Tatanka and Shawn was feuding with Bret which according to Bret was supposed to lead to a ladder match at Summerslam if it had been Washington. However with Summerslam being in London they needed to give Bulldog a big match as him against Repo Man wasn't going to cut it. So they put him against Bret as they could do the story with the brother in laws fighting and the Hart Family being divided. However that left Shawn without anything to do so they ended up hastily throwing together a heel vs. heel feud with him and Martel which was a really fun outside the box storyline that was very unlike WWF to do. After Summerslam both men were still full fledged heel and just went back to they were doing before (Shawn pursuing the Intercontinental title and Martel resuming his feud with Tatanka which ended up getting blown off at Survivor Series instead).
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Woo
Hank Scorpio
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Post by Woo on Dec 22, 2016 10:24:34 GMT -5
Shawn vs Martel was indeed a really fun match. Great stuff.
My favourite ever heel vs heel match however is Nicole Matthews vs Madison Eagles in Shimmer. Both constantly claiming to be BFF's but all the while cheating like mad and Madison even trying to use a fork to attack Nicole. You also have Matthew's tag partner Portia Perez on commentary insisting they are the best of friends. In fact their whole feud was one of the best things Shimmer ever did as the tension rose from a comic game of them arguing over Tim Hortons vs Starbucks to Matthews throwing a fireball in Madison's face.
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SmashTV
Dennis Stamp
Big Money, Big Prizes, I Love It!
The Excellence of Allocation
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Post by SmashTV on Dec 23, 2016 12:43:59 GMT -5
It was a great little feud, both accomplished wrestlers and yet totally playing it for laughs. Add Sherri to the mix, obviously enjoying herself and playing to the camera and you had some great screen time. It was nice to see Rick Martel being more than just a bland babyface/arrogant model and display some hammy comedy to his performance.
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Post by horsemen4ever on Dec 25, 2016 21:26:30 GMT -5
Early part of the feud, Rick had no interest in Sherri, there is a promo in which Rick says Shawn is jealous of him because he is a model surronded by beautiful and he is stuck with that trailer trash Sherri.
Also add in some forshadowing for some future face turns, when post match you had the Nasty Boys laughing at Sherri, and I think they called her a witch. You could argue it was eitehr forshadowing the Nasty Boys face turn and / or Sherri's face turn in the fall.
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Post by madness50 on Dec 27, 2016 12:34:22 GMT -5
I remember Sherri's ass hanging out at SummerSlam 92 The funniest part of the reveal that she was wearing buttless chaps was Vince and Heenan's reaction. Vince had the line that Sherri was missing a part of her outfit and the Brain just made a bunch of ass puns lol.
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MiLB Fan
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Post by MiLB Fan on Dec 27, 2016 13:20:45 GMT -5
I remember Sherri's ass hanging out at SummerSlam 92 The funniest part of the reveal that she was wearing buttless chaps was Vince and Heenan's reaction. Vince had the line that Sherri was missing a part of her outfit and the Brain just made a bunch of ass puns lol. Bobby: "Look at all the people singing 'Moon Over Miami' " Vince: "Is that Jupiter?" Bobby: "No, that's the moon!" Vince: "Boy, in the States there's a show called Twin Peaks but ...." Bobby: "Cheeks?" Vince: "No, PEAKS!"
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SmashTV
Dennis Stamp
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Post by SmashTV on Dec 27, 2016 14:06:42 GMT -5
The funniest part of the reveal that she was wearing buttless chaps was Vince and Heenan's reaction. Vince had the line that Sherri was missing a part of her outfit and the Brain just made a bunch of ass puns lol. Bobby: "Look at all the people singing 'Moon Over Miami' " Vince: "Is that Jupiter?" Bobby: "No, that's the moon!" Vince: "Boy, in the States there's a show called Twin Peaks but ...." Bobby: "Cheeks?" Vince: "No, PEAKS!" In addition to that - though this was from a Martel/Michaels ass perspective when their trunks were lowered: 'I've never seen so many smiles in all my life!' Fair play to Bobby, he was all for equality when it came to ass puns.
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