Rick The Model Martel | WrestleZone Forums

Being a fellow Quebecer, Martel remains one of my favorites of all-time. He really was a gifted technical wrestler (especially in his earlier days), which often gets overlooked in the gimmick-laden "Hulkamania" and "New Generation" eras. As a baby face, he was really over especially in his tag team runs with Tom Zenk and Tito Santana. He was extremely agile, yet also had power moves that could rate among the heavyweights.
I wasn't a huge fan of his heel turn, as the Model. He had a couple of decent feuds out of that run (Jake the Snake was probably the best), however it lost its luster especially in his Heel vs. Heel WM match against Shawn Michaels. I think the breaks he took for personal issues lost him a lot of steam in that time, and his character never really had the chance to take off. Also, I would have loved to see an extended and bitter feud with Tito Santana, perhaps over the IC title during that time. It would have done a lot for both wrestlers, I think.
My biggest disappointment for him, though, was when he reappeared in WCW, on the verge of a huge comeback. I believe it was his first match back on television, where he came out to quite the ovation, only to blow out his knee or some such thing. It was the beginning and the end of his comeback, and he has pretty much faded from recognition ever since. I do believe he has earned a spot in the WWE Hall of Fame, for both his tag team successes as well as his decent heel work as "The Model".

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