 |
| The Model Courtesy: WWE |
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter
Follow my blog with BloglovinIn the early and mid-80s, Rick Martel was the personification of 'white meat babyface.' He was the AWA World Heavyweight Champion around the time I started my wrestling fandom. In late 1986 or early 87, he and Tom Zenk headed to the WWF. The duo was known as the Can-Am Connection. They were wildly popular, but Zenk left abruptly and Tito Santana filled the void and the tandem was known as Strike Force.
 |
| Strike Force Courtesy: WWE |
They worked well together and even beat the Hart Foundation for the WWF Tag Team Championships. But it was villainous actions of Mr. Fuji that cost the team their titles to Demolition at WrestleMania IV. Then Ax and Smash injured Martel and he ended up on the shelf for quite a while.
By WrestleMania V, Martel and Santana were back together and facing the Brain Busters. There was a miscommunication during the match and Martel left in a huff, leaving Tito to face a two-on-one challenge. He couldn't overcome it and Strike Force lost in their much-anticipated return.
 |
| Martel & Slick Courtesy: WWE |
That's when Martel dropped the ultra good guy persona and became an arrogant jerk. He adopted the moniker The Model and picked up Slick as his manager. I still find that to be a strange pairing, but I digress...
 |
| The Model Courtesy: WWE |
The Model gimmick included Martel toting around a cologne atomizer filled with his specially created fragrance Arrogance. He would use the cologne to gain the upper hand and win a variety of matches. The most famous incident involving Arrogance was when Martel sprayed it in the eyes of Jake "The Snake" Roberts.
 |
| The blinding Courtesy: WWE |
The Snake was blinded for what seemed like months and the two had their pay off match at WrestleMania VII. They wore blindfolds and fumbled around the ring until Jake finally hit the DDT and picked up the win. The Model continued to carry around arrogance and use it on others, but nothing will top the feud with Jake Roberts in my 1-2-3 cents.
No comments:
Post a Comment