Jim Cornette on "The Model" Rick Martel
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 ก.ย. 2024
- From Episode 182 of Jim Cornette's Drive Thru
Artwork by Travis Heckel!
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One of the few guys from that era who never had any bad habits, left the business on good terms and went on to live a normal life afterward. That alone should be commended.
Same with Tito Santana
Yes, he was a model.
He was always a professional in the way he behaved. Many young guys could learn from that.
👀
@@marcovanbasten8035 Chico.
The Boston Crab was a schoolyard terror.
I used it all the time and redubbed it " the no brainer"
Oh hell yeah it was!!!!
I always tried to stun my friends but they didnt know that they had to sell.
@@albertgiagnacova1775 You should've slapped the figure 4 leg lock on the teacher's aide. Make her tap out...lol😂
@@Baastilein31 Nah, man, give them the stun gun instead
Martel was a great talent. I liked him with Tito Santana as strike force
Strike Force was awesome, loved the Girls In Cars theme.
I will even go back further when he was a tag team with Tony Garea
Ditto. Hated el matador
Arriba.
They were dope
"The Model" as a gimmick just sounds silly in thought, but he got it over. That attests to the talent of the man. I always loved when he had that oversized atomiser full of "Arrogance" that was the catalyst for the Jake Roberts feud. He should have had at least one run with the IC title, and he should in the HOF now.
Yes to everything you said. Martel was also ultra-smooth in the ring, just top notch.
@The Jazzman I think "The Model" totally makes sense as a gimmick. It's the stereotypical narcissistic archetype in pro wrestling.
He pulled it off.. He had Swagger to pull that gimmick off pretty well.. He is one of my favorite Wrestlers..
This!
*This is such babbling nonsense- the Model gimmick was a pathetic joke, a complete cartoon character and could only be liked by a clueless WWE mark*
As a kid, I hated Martel. As an adult, I appreciate the hell out of that dude's in-ring work and his ability to get The Model gimmick over as much as he did. Martel is grossly underrated!!!
I hated him as ‘The Model’ but I have a lot of respect for Martel and I watched him from 1993-1995
Martel is a legitimate legend. He was AWA champion when Hogan and Flair were the respective champions of WWF and NWA during their peak run.
I loved that Rick was different from them, he was more of an old school babyface Champ. A good heart and great wrestling skills. And he looked good to boot.
Can confirm: Martel still gets over up here in Montreal.
He’s still in the ring? Wow that’s awesome. Will have to find his latest matches
Rick Martel retired on the 15th of July 1998. Other sources say that after WCW, Martel wrestled his last match in Kailua, Hawaii for Hawaiian Islands Wrestling Federation defeating The Metal Maniac on March 23, 1999.
Good to hear. (total mark for the guy)
Saw him at a house during his run of matches against Razor Ramon. Whether or not you loved the "Model" character, his work was always solid.
When you were at the show did you actually use the word worker? Because that would make you seriously awkward
I wish I had some Arrogance cologne.
They still should make a cologne called “Arrogance”.
Martell slid into being a heel like it was nothing. He and the Ravishing one were great cocky bad guys. Built like an action figure and never phoned it in.
For a company that sticks a wwe logo everything. Undertaker Wine,Hulk Hogan Light-switches, Stone Cold Steve Austin condoms you think the wwe marketing would of made a cheap cologne. WCW did.
Him and Rude could of been tag team gods
@@HISbeloved619 The original 'le sex gods'
@@SteelSunday WWE does have a fragrance. Maybe not in 1990, but pretty sure they do now. Check Amazon.
@@HISbeloved619 That would've been a great team. Call them The Ravishing Models
Even in the late 90's of 1998, Rick Martel defeated Booker T for the WCW Television Championship. He was 41 going on 42 and wrestled a good match. Shame that he got injured to end his title run. He really would've made that title very competitive though the whole year since Martel was a great talent in the ring.
I remember Ric Flair mentioning in his book that Martel could wrestle just as smooth as Steamboat when he wanted to.
Too many Ricks
One of my favorite as a kid. Even though he was a heel I just love his attitude and doing jumping jacks in the ring after he beat someone ass🤣🤣🤣
Same here. I loved the attitude and arrogance.
@@andyc9979 that damn arrogance lol
@@retepoteil not to be weird but great physique too.
@SP I remember always playing his theme song in the royal rumble game.
@@andyc9979 hell yeah he was jacked
I was always a fan of Rick "The Model" Martel. I just wish he was given much more of a better booking procedure. He was someone who I personally seen so much potential of being a real good Intercontinental Champion.
Had Curt Hennig, Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels not held the reigns it wouldve been a good call.
for real, in fact, one of my favorite underrated matches was between Martel and Razor Ramon for the vacant IC title.
If you take Martel at his word, he said he didn't want a full time schedule in the very late 80s/early 90s so that basically would rule him out of a IC title reign since I am guessing the WWF would want him on the road 32 days a month
The thing is, he had that perfect cocky, arrogant (no pun intended) attitude. He was a fantastic heel and had great in ring work. I truly feel he doesn't get the proper recognition he deserves. Cause, "The Model" gimmick was something fresh and new. I never felt it was mediocre or cheesy. (Some may debate about his theme), but I digress. I think he would've had solid feuds with likes of Razor Ramon, Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, (possibly Diesel), Tatanka, Crush. As some notable mentions.
@@newkirkgman2 His promos and vignettes featuring arrogance were gold "One shot of Arrogance and you'll be in the royal box" hahahah
His feud when he blinded Jake the Snake was so believable as a kid. He oozes arrogance.
I remember Jake saying the only thing about that that he hated was the referee put his hand inside the mask and held it up and people could see see that you can see through it exposing the fact that they weren't actually blindfolded and could see what was going on. Luckily I guess most people didn't really notice when the guy did that so it didn't totally ruin it for everybody.
@Edgar Poe I was trying to see if there's somewhere where I spelled colour with a u LOL nope Canada we have the same queen as the UK.
"Arrogance"😂
I'll never forget his Promo's 🤣
I think he had a commercial 😆
I heard the model was Rick's idea. He felt like he would like a heel run even though Vince was against it at first. On a side note if you ever look at his career he always seemed to win gold wherever he went. I also heard he really didn't get the biggest push in the WWF because Rick wanted time off over a title run(IC) after Strike Force
Martel was actually granted time off after Wrestemania 4 because of his ailing wife. It was Ricky Steamboat that got pushed back because he wanted a little time off for the birth of his son.
His TV Title matches with Booker T were tremendous.
Seems like everybody who has a match with Booker T has really great ones..
@@kenrickeason HHH disapproves
Yeah Martel's short run in 1998 really made me see what a great worker he could be. The Model gimmick in WWF hindered him to show off
@Jay Harv28 he came back afterwards, and immediately got injured again unfortunately in a Nitro match against Stevie Ray
@@kenrickeason funny thing is, Martel didn't like to wrestle Booker. He thought he was sloppy. And it's the reason why Martel ended his career.
2 things. Him and Tom Zenk could have really been something. And does anyone remember him doing jumping jacks when Kerry was on drugs? Haha.
Loved Rick "The Model" Martel in old school WWF! Loved the whole gimmick and the Arrogance vignettes.
People forget that his older brother ( and mentor) Michel Martel died suddenly in Puerto Rico in 1978, when Rick was only 21. To his credit, Rick overcame the heartbreak and had a very good career. Had his brother lived we would have had a formidable brother duo of Rick and Michel Martel.
When I was younger I always wanted a bottle of Arrogance
People forget his tag team title run in the WWWF with Tony Garea.
Lol Tony Garea. I hate autocorrect
@@jasonstinebaugh8447 Didn't they win it twice?
@@MissterX yes. First beating the Samoans then beating the Moondogs. They lost the titles the final time to Mr. Fuji and Mr. Saito.
@@Rockhound6165 Damn that Mr. Fuji and the salt in the eyes!
Rick Martel and Tony Garea, were an incredible tag team!
(two time?) tag champs together!
The most underrated and cohesive team in WWF history . They were over huge and should’ve gotten a third reign as champs. Drew a lot of money.
@@MissterX yep.
Martel is an unfairly forgotten very good wrestler, even in '98 WCW he still had it. Shame the SuperBrawl leg injury basically ended his career.
I love the model gimmick, it’s a good heel gimmick which gets instant heat because he was such a cocky asshole.
It was better than the other “working man” gimmicks like lumberjack or garbage man, that shit was lame as hell.
My favorite wrestler growing up!!! My friends ripped me apart for it... him and Bret Hart!
Loved the model gimmick as a kid. Still do. Dude looked awesome.
His feud with Jake Robert's was fun to watch. It was one of those mid card stories that WWF actually focused on
That blindfold match was a lot of fun. I know it wasn't wrestling, but it was just fun to watch.
@@nygblue24 “We do it better in the dark...”
I was always more impressed with his final run in WCW even though it was brief he was in amazing shape and was putting on some really good matches with Booker T and Saturn. I did love his Model gimmick though as he was the perfect arrogant heel his match with Shawn Michaels at SummerSlam 92 was a great example of this where they both try to out do each other on who had the biggest ego.
I was lucky enough to see him as AWA champion when ESPN used to run their shows. AWA was my 1st taste of wrestling from outside the northeast WWF bubble.
I thought he was a great AWA Champ. I saw a match between him and Bockwinkel that was epic.
I remember Martel breaking a glass over his own head in a promo. It was INTENSE.
Me too..You went all the way back 🤣🤣 That's old school right there I think he was cutting a promo on Steve Strong..
I thought that was Piper when he was teaming with Martel
@@Playerzville That's SADISTIC Steve Strong to you! But seriously, he might have done that bit several times. I saw him bust a beer bottle over his head during a promo and it seemed like the feud was with Tarzan Tyler or Jos LeDuc.
One of the most underrated talents ever. Fantastic heel and great worker
Loved his run as AWA champion. Rick Martel is definitely one of my favorites.
A very under appreciated wrestler indeed.
Other jobs include:
Barber, matadore, corrections officer, inmate, or Iraqi sympathiser.
Taxman
And a dragon actually breathing fire... But I am not sure if this is a recognized profession 🤣
@@max__p1765 A costumed fire breather? Oh... Ricky Steamboat.
@@albertgiagnacova1775 Irwin... Irwin!
@@jasonjimerson7046 Yes. I´ve found his fire breathing on the top turnbuckle and his "dragon suit" way too much.
One if the saddest things in wrestling was when Martel blew his knee out in 98 in WCW. He was just getting his second wind after fading out of WWF in 95 and was having good matches for the TV title.
When The Model winked at Sherri was one of the funniest things ever.
Very underrated
I hope Martel goes into the WWE HOF
@@MorganTyler86 me 2
Interesting mentioning Martel was solid in the ring into the late 90s, he was another one of those 80s/90s "technician" wrestlers that worked a very safe, low-risk style that looked good, Ted Dibiase Sr. was another good example - ditto Tito Santana, it's why they worked so well together as Strike Force (and had some great matches with the Brain Busters), I'm willing to bet it extended his career considerably. I think he probably deserved an IC title run during his "Model" gimmick as he really ran with it, but given that the scene was crowded due to Hogan and Warrior's lock on the World Title I'm guessing it was as much he was a victim of the numbers game as anything, he was certainly a small step below someone like Hennig or Rude in my opinion.
I was fortunate enough to be in the Onondaga County War Memorial in Oct. 1987 when Strike Force beat the Hart Foundation for the tag titles. The place went crazy. Good times.
Awesome !
I may be in the minority but I don't care. I liked his final run in WCW a lot, too bad it was cut short.
Super underrated heel! And a fantastic babyface! He had it all! He was an AWA world champion and he won gold where ever he went! This guy is one of those supertalents that is not talked about enough!
Thank you Rick Martel! ...and yes he IS a model!
Long overdue for the WWE Hall of Fame induction
I wanted to be a model when I grew up because of Rick Martel.
Hearing fans say things like "great in-ring worker" makes me cringe. They talk like they're IN the wrestling business lol
Came to appreciate the Model more as I got older. Martel is criminally underrated when it comes to ring work. Great facials, knew how to pander to the crowd.. and the giant bug sprayer with his 'Arrogance' cologne was just silly enough to be awesome, lol.
Also loved the cartwheel and jumping jacks he would do sometimes after being thrown into the ropes. Simple, but effective.
His match with Razor for the vacant IC title is one of my favorites.
Love Corny in Travis's artwork. The match Martel has with Jake I actually liked the blindfold match. It shows psychology can get a match over without 100 flips.
this picture xD
Say what you will I loved his Model character. Also his feud with Jake Roberts was great I thought
That blindfold match was a lot of fun. I know it wasn't wrestling, but it was just fun to watch.
I really enjoyed Rick Martel. Especially during his "essence" era. Great worker. Also, as a kid watching him with that tanned skin to go along with that type of blue outfit just really stood out in that ring among the others in there.
wasnt he offerd hof from wwe and he refused? i thought i read this somewhere.
I remember him and Tony Garea popped up at a WWE PPV in 2007 I think when they were honoring all the former champions. They got into a scrap with Deuce & Domino I think. Martel and Garea got instantly over just because they knew what they were doing.
Actually the Can-Am Connection was RUDICULOUSLY over to the point where guys like Hogan, and Mr. Wonderful and others said that they had the "it" factor and would have been monsters if Zenk hadn't have left. I loved Strike Force but the Can-Ams were more over and had a much longer shelf life.
Model was one of the best heel characters of all time. His feud with Jake was great.
The one part about his life was that he had to limit his appearances in the late 80’s onwards, even taking about 6 months off to care for his wife who got violently ill, I think it was cancer. I also remember him mentioning in an interview that during that time he and his wife got involved in real estate and his wrestling stint in the 90’s was to really help finance his businesses.
Man I hated him when he turned against Tito. I was almost heartbroken because as a kid I couldn’t understand how can a guy do that to his own best friend haha
@Edgar Poe You mean when Marty jumped through that window to escape from Shawn?
I liked him better as a babyface, AWA champ, Can-Am Connection, Strike Force....
Babyface Rick Martel as AWA champ and in tandem with Tito was way better than the model .
He wasnt so in shape by 1994 and was putting guys over. I mainly remember him as The Model and he was great at that. Maybe the accent would hurt him as a top guy. He seemed to not have good relations with WWE since he left and still isnt in the HoF.
I didn't hate the Model character because it fit his accent, and he could be a great pompous heel. He was entertaining during that time. I feel like otherwise, without the gimmick tailor made for his accent, his promos just didn't have much in WWE.
I thought the Model was a dumb gimmick at first but Rick Martel did a hell of a job getting it over his feud with Tatanka was kind of funny when he called Tatanka a Indian giver for taking his feathers back.
Guys like tyler breeze as prince pretty emulated the Model..cody rhodes in his dashing gimmick too
I met Rick and he was a really nice guy. He was apparently very close with Andre.
One of my favorite hated as a kid, wrestlers. Great gimmick...great wrestler. Good guy. Legend!
I remember that awful match he had with a very messed up Kerry von Erich which was in way Martels fault .
The funny part is he was a white baby face most his career. He was awesome as the model is a heel but had spent most of time as a baby face
I watched Martel when he beat Botwinkel in AWA. So underused
Martel was in WWE in the early eighties as well, teaming with Tony Garea.
He was awesome as the "The Model"
he was always one of my favorite guys, even as a kid.
Also don’t forget he was tag team champions with tony garea also
Loved Rick's promos as the model.
One shot and you'll be in the royal box
Rick Martel was honestly the best heel of 1990. His blinding of Jake Roberts was such an insane angle and he was so detestable that you hated his guts.
Btw. If you ever wanna see an incredible babyface performance, find Martel vs Tama from the Islanders in Madison Square Garden from 87. The crowd comes unglued at his comebacks and should be showed in wrestling schools on how to be a babyface.
I don’t think anyone is getting over with a bowl cut now...
Truely great talent and got the gimmick over. Some of the best vignettes ever
The Model reminded me always of the singer Falco.
When Martel and Zenk joined the WWF following their time in Montreal, I was shocked. I hadn't been watching wrestling for long, at least long enough to think that the great World Wrestling Federation knew anything about wrestling in Montreal, or anywhere in Canada.
how soon they forget his wwf title with tony garea
Martel and Jake the Snake storyline was great
He did a good job at being un-likeable. Which Rumble did he go 50+ minutes?
1991
91
He did it before Flair and it’s never talked about for some reason...
@@bbones504 because Flair
For some reason the match that stands out so vividly for me is his match against Shawn Michaels when they we're both heels. As a kid I always wanted to see two bad guys wrestle, so this match was a dream come true.
Girls In Cars had to be the absolute worst wrestling theme ever, if you watch the video for the song a better title would've been "Girls In K-Cars" becuase most of the girls appearing in the video were in chrysler lebaron convertables with the mactac wood on the bodies.
My Parents had a Dodge Aries Wagon. That little fella was tough as nails. Had it for 20 years before selling it.
Those Arrogance vignettes were great
We saw a lot of 80s TV wrestling from Canada. Vicious and bloody. Martel excelled as the nice guy who could only be pushed so far. Once during a promo he broke a bottle of beer on his forehead -- legit. Foam flew everywhere and blood just gushed. Let a good heel do most of the talking and Martel was a hell of a believable face.
It was during a feud with a guy named Steve Strong. It's on TH-cam (Rick Martel bottle)
Blindfold matches are generally shitty, but the one Rick Martel had with Jake Roberts was probably the best that I remember seeing.
The model was awesome 😅😅
Should be in the HOF
Plot twist: when he was the model, I never knew he was Canadian.
Has there ever been a question NOT sent to corny drive thru at gmail dot com?
I haven't heard that name in decades...
Strikeforce was good!
The Model was great....Him and Hercules actually lasted the longest of the old school guys into the new gen era. One of the best WM matches EVER in terms of psychology and HOW to work the crowd is Jake vs Rick at WM 7. A perfect example of having the crowd in the palm of your hand - and both guys could fucking SEE lmao
I would say Rick is underrated even here in Québec. The Rougeau's come to most everybody's mind first.
that's because he's from Quebec city and they come from Montreal. And QC was always the little brother to Montreal and never had the recognition
ya know back in 1984-1985, i lived in denver, and followed the awa, and went to most of the matches at the denver auditorium, arena i remember once me my friend, and his grandpa, where standing outside of the arena waiting to get picked up by my friends parents, (i was in high school) about an hour after standing there nobody else was around, and rick martel, and mad dog vachon and the baron von rashke, came out of a little whole of a door out of the arena and walked past us on the sidewalk. Rick Martel was very nice and said hi to us and asked how where doing, a very nice guy. i still remember it at age 54. a very decent guy
Him and HBK in that match were you couldn't hit your opponent in the face at Summerslam was a pretty good underrated match. The ending/theatrics with Sherri was hokey and funny. But the match overall was solid.
Rock the freaking model Martel is so filthy, so freaking good! He was the perfect wrestler! One of the greatest of all time hands down and the the model is a way of life
Martel would've made a great Intercontinental Champion around 89-91. Very underrated...wish he would've gotten singles gold at some point in the Federation.
Classic heel.
One of the all time great heels. You really HATED his ass, but fuck was he awesome.
For years I thought he and Sherri were brother and sister. Apparently not.
There seem to be lots of Martels in wrestling
I think Ricky Steamboat and Rick Martel could have had a great feud or made up a good tag team.