Foreign Object Friday: Rick Martel's Arrogance

The Model
Courtesy: WWE

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

Listen to the podcast

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

In 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. 

SummerSlam A to Z: Fists Banned

 By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter
Listen to the podcast

Follow my blog with Bloglovin 
Check out other SummerSlam A to Z blogs

SummerSlam '92 featured an interesting match between two great competitors.  Many talk about the match up between Bret Hart and Davey Boy Smith, but the one I'm writing about today was between Shawn Michaels and "The Model" Rick Martel.  Michaels had been wrestling as a heel for a short time at this point and the Model had been established as a bad guy for a few years by this point.  The heel vs. heel component was just one interesting side to this match as the WWE rarely booked these matches back then.

Courtesy: WWE

Both men were full of themselves and very interested in having Sensational Sherri with them.  Shawn and Sherri were the couple at the time, but when Martel started making advances; the Heartbreak Kid got mad.  So not only was a match signed between the two, but the stipulation was added that fists to the face were banned.  That was Sherri's idea.  

The two put on a great match as Shawn was on the cusp of super stardom and I always thought Martel was a top notch competitor.  Both men made it through most of the match without punching one another, but a slugfest ensued and the match ended in a double count out.  Rewatching the match, Michaels clearly throws the first punch, but the referee didn't disqualify him.

Courtesy:  WWE

Technically speaking, closed fists are not supposed to be a part of any wrestling match, but it's a "rule" that's often ignored.  The Michaels-Martel match helped to bring it to light, at least for a few minutes.  I don't remember this feud going anywhere after SummerSlam as Shawn would soon beat Smith for the Intercontinental title and have a mini-feud with Bret.