 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Richard Vigneault (1956-03-18)March 18, 1956 (age 69)[1] Quebec City, Quebec, Canada |
Spouse | |
| Children | 1 |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Gus Griffin Pat Kelly Rick Martel The Model[1] |
| Billed height | 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)[2] |
| Billed weight | 230 lb (104 kg)[2] |
| Billed from | Montreal, Quebec, Canada Cocoa Beach, Florida (as The Model)[2] Quebec City, Quebec, Canada (WCW) |
| Trained by | Pierre Martel |
| Debut | June 7, 1973[1] |
| Retired | March 23, 1999 |
Richard Vigneault (born March 18, 1956) is a Canadian retiredprofessional wrestler,trainer, andtelevision presenter, better known by hisring name,"The Model" Rick Martel. He is best known for his appearances with theAmerican Wrestling Association, theWorld Wrestling Federation andWorld Championship Wrestling.Championships held by Martel over the course of his career include theAWA World Heavyweight Championship,WCW World Television Championship, andWWF World Tag Team Championship.
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Martel is from a family of wrestlers, and made his professional debut at age seventeen when his brotherMichel, a wrestler, asked him to replace an injured wrestler. Martel already was a skilledamateur wrestler, and quickly adapted to professional wrestling.
Martel wrestled throughout the world, winning titles in Canada (inStu Hart'sStampede Wrestling andVancouver-basedNWA All Star Wrestling), New Zealand, Japan, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico–basedWorld Wrestling Council (WWC). His first real success in the United States came in theNational Wrestling Alliance (NWA)'sPortland affiliate,Pacific Northwest Wrestling in 1979, where he became a top talent, holding theCanadian andPNW tag team titles simultaneously. He left PNW on August 16, 1980, when he lost a"loser leaves town" match toBuddy Rose. Martel also served a stint as abooker for a wrestling territory in Hawaii, where he would help the promotion set up matches and construct the storylines that would play out inside and outside of the ring.
Martel debuted in theWorld Wrestling Federation (WWF) in July 1980. That fall, he formed a tag team withTony Garea. On November 8, they defeatedThe Wild Samoans to capture theWWF Tag Team Championship.[3] They successfully defended the title until dropping the belts toThe Moondogs on March 17, 1981.[3] They regained the title from The Moondogs on July 21.[3] Their second reign came to an end on October 13, when they lost toMr. Fuji andMr. Saito.[3] Though they would challenge the champions numerous times, Martel and Garea were unable to recapture the belts, and Martel left the WWF in April 1982.
Martel signed with the AWA in 1982 and quickly ascended through the ranks, defeatingJumbo Tsuruta to win theAWA World Heavyweight Championship on May 13, 1984.[4] His reign as champion lasted nearly nineteen months (the third-longest title reign and the longest title reign of the 1980s), during which time he wrestled several matches withNWA World ChampionRic Flair, as well as withJimmy Garvin,Nick Bockwinkel andKing Tonga. Hisfinishing move alternated between the slingshot splash and the combination atomic drop/back suplex. On December 29, 1985, Martel lost the title toStan Hansen, who forced him to submit to the "Brazos Valley Backbreaker" (Hansen's version of theBoston crab).
In 1986, Martel returned to the WWF, with histag team partnerTom Zenk. They were billed asThe Can-Am Connection. The Can-Am Connection had been formed by Martel in theMontreal-basedLutte Internationale in 1986. Zenk was the boyfriend of Martel's sister-in-law, and had been introduced to Martel in the AWA byCurt Hennig. The Can-Am Connection with their youthful looks and high energy in-ring performances quickly garnered the affection of fans, and they looked likely to win the WWF Tag Team Title in the near future. AtWrestleMania III in front of 93,173 fans at thePontiac Silverdome, The Cam-Am connection defeatedAce Cowboy Bob Orton andThe Magnificent Muraco in the opening match, when Martel pinned Muraco with a flying cross-body helped by what commentatorGorilla Monsoon called "a schoolboy trip from behind" by Zenk. They split shortly afterward; Zenk claimed Martel had secretly negotiated an individual contract worth three times more than his partner's contract (traditionally, tag teams are paid roughly equal salaries).[5]
Martel strongly disagreed. InMad Dogs, Midgets and Screw Jobs, he said: “Ever since I had been fired by Jim Barnett, I decided not to discuss money matters with other wrestlers . . . I did the same thing with Tom, and he put it in his head, or some other people put it in his head, that I made more than him. But as far as Vince was concerned,if you were in a tag team, you earned the same amount of money.”[6] He also claimed Zenk "...was overwhelmed by it all... Wrestling is very hard on your body. Hard on you also mentally. It's hard physically. Tom wasn't mentally or physically hard as I thought he would be."[7]
At the time of Zenk's departure, The Can-Am Connection was in a feud withThe Islanders (Haku andTama); Zenk's departure was worked into the feud, with the Islanders claiming that Zenk was a quitter and abandoned Martel because he knew they could never beat them. In July 1987, Martel defeated both Haku and Tama in singles competition. Then on the August 15, 1987, episode ofSuperstars of Wrestling after Martel defeatedBarry Horowitz, he was jumped by The Islanders.Tito Santana, who was doing commentary in theSpanish broadcast booth, ran to the ring to help Martel fight off his attackers. Martel and Santana then formed a tag team calledStrike Force. The team were played off as good looking pretty boys (a storyline that came directly from the Can-Am Connection), even using the theme called "Girls In Cars", which was originally made for the Can-Am Connection. The name Strike Force came from Santana's promise that as a team they would, "be striking (The Islanders) with force." Martel immediately came up with the team's name based on this.[8]
After winning their feud with The Islanders, Strike Force immediately challengedThe Hart Foundation (Bret "Hitman" Hart andJim "The Anvil" Neidhart) for the WWF World Tag Team Title. Strike Force won the titles on an episode ofSuperstars after Martel made Neidhart submit to aBoston crab. Strike Force would hold the titles for five months, defending primarily against the Hart Foundation and the Islanders, before losing toDemolition (Ax andSmash) atWrestleMania IV inAtlantic City when Smash pinned Martel as a result of Martel being hit on the back of the neck by Ax usingMr. Fuji's cane as a weapon when Martel had Smash in the Boston crab and the referee was distracted by Santana beating up Mr. Fuji on the ring apron.[3]
Shortly afterward, Martel (kayfabe) took time off due to injuries sustained in a title rematch against Demolition at aPrime Time Wrestling taping inOakland, California, on June 1, 1988 (aired July 11). Smash hit Martel with a steel chair, then Demolition performed their "Demolition Decapitation" finisher on him at ringside, leaving him unconscious on the floor. On the June 18Superstars, it was announced he suffered back injuries and a concussion. In the storyline, he briefly retired due to these injuries. In reality, he was granted leave from the WWF and took six months off to help care for his severely ill wife.[9][10]
Before returning to the WWF Martel returned briefly to theWWC where he defeatedKamala. Martel returned in January 1989 as a singles wrestler,[11] before reforming Strike Force with Santana atWrestleMania V to faceThe Brain Busters (Arn Anderson andTully Blanchard). During the match, Santana accidentally hit Martel with his signatureflying forearm smash and knocked him out of the ring. A frustrated Martel refused to tag in and walked away, leaving Santana to be beaten down and pinned.[12] Immediately after the match in an interview with"Mean" Gene Okerlund who asked him how he could leave his partner "high and dry" and said that Strike Force was "supposed to be a team, a team", an irate Martel said, "I'm sick and tired. I'm sick and tired of him. You know, I was doing great as a singles wrestler, but no, Mr. Tito wants to ride my coattails some more. You saw his timing was off". Then angrily addressing Santana he said "You're lucky that being the gentleman that I am that I just walked off. That could have been a lot worse for you Tito Santana."
Following hisheelturn, Martel acquiredSlick as his manager. Hefeuded with Santana on and off over the next two years, losing to him in the finals of the1989King of the Ring tournament, then defeating him atThe Main Event IV taping on October 30, 1990 (aired November 23).[13][14]As 1989 came to a close, Martel's association with Slick quietly ended.
In late 1989, Martel adopted anarcissistic gimmick, as the Model. Just before the1989 Survivor Series (where in a continuation of their feud, Martel pinned Santana in the opening elimination match of the night), he introduced his own (fictional) brand ofcologne calledArrogance, which he carried in a largeatomizer and sprayed in the eyes of his opponents to blind them. He wore a turquoise sweater tied around his neck to the ring (later replaced by a turquoise sportcoat), with a largelapel pin that read "Yes, I am a model."[15] Martel made his pay-per-view singles match debut atWrestleMania VI at theSkydome inToronto, where he defeatedKoko B. Ware via submission with his signature Boston Crab.[16]
Martel's most high-profile feud during his stint as the Model was withJake "The Snake" Roberts, sparked when he blinded Roberts withArrogance on "The Brother Love Show" in October 1990. Martel and Roberts captained opposing teams at theSurvivor Series. "The Visionaries" (Martel,The Warlord andPower and Glory) defeated The Vipers (Roberts,Superfly Jimmy Snuka andThe Rockers) in a 4-0 clean sweep, the first time this had happened inSurvivor Series history. In the 1990 Survivor Series (unlike previous editions), the heel survivors faced off against the babyface survivors in a grand finale "Match Of Survival". There "The Visionaries" teamed with"The Million Dollar Man" Ted Dibiase to face Tito Santana,Hulk Hogan andWWF World Heavyweight ChampionThe Ultimate Warrior. Martel was eliminated from the match after he got himself counted out by abandoning his team after receiving beatings from both Hogan and The Warrior.[17] Martel continued to have the upper hand over Roberts in the1991 Royal Rumble match, eliminating Roberts from the match en route to lasting (a then-record) 53 minutes, before being eliminated by theBritish Bulldog Davey Boy Smith.[18] Roberts would ultimately get his revenge atWrestleMania VII, defeating Martel in a blindfold match. For the rest of 1991, Martel represented the WWF on Japanese tours forSuper World Sports. In December 1991, he lost toNaoki Sano in a match to determine the inaugural SWS Junior Heavyweight Champion.
In early 1992, Martel began a feud withTatanka, leading toWrestleMania VIII, where Tatanka pinned him.[19] He went on to work against Santana on house shows that spring.
During that time he unsuccessfully challenged Bret Hart for theWWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship atUK Rampage (1992). Also that summer, Martel had a brief feud withShawn Michaels, as both men sought the affections ofSensational Sherri. The feud ended with a chain of events that resulted in a doublecountout atSummerSlam 1992 held at theWembley Stadium inLondon,England in front of what remains theSummerSlam record attendance of 80,355. The match carried a "no punching in the face" stipulation, mutually agreed upon and eventually disregarded by the two narcissistic heels.[20]
Martel then resumed his rivalry with Tatanka by stealing his sacred eagle feathers, to add to his wardrobe. The feud was resolved at the1992 Survivor Series, where Tatanka again defeated Martel and reclaimed the feathers.[21]
In 1993, Martel mainly appeared on thelower undercard, and rarely on television, mostly on programs such asAll-American Wrestling andWrestling Challenge. However, at the September 27Monday Night Raw taping, he was the co-winner (withRazor Ramon) of abattle royal (aired October 4) to decide the competitors in a match for the vacant Intercontinental Championship. He lost that match (aired the next week) to Ramon.[22] After this, Martel began moving slightly up the card once again. Martel also briefly feuded withBastion Booger, losing one of their matches when he got fed up with how Booger smelled and started spraying him with hisArrogance cologne.[23] Martel also appeared atSurvivor Series 1993 in a 4-4 elimination match, being eliminated byThe 1-2-3 Kid and in the1994 Royal Rumble as the 26th entrant before getting eliminated by his old rival Tatanka. Martel was set to appear in a 10-man tag team match atWrestlemania X but the match was cancelled during the show due to the show running out of time. The match was later held 2 weeks and 1 day later onMonday Night Raw, with Martel's team victorious. This turned out to be his final WWF in-ring match.
In August 1994, Martel dropped out of the WWF picture and wasn't seen again until participating in the1995 Royal Rumble (he was a substitute forJim Neidhart, who was fired from WWF due to no-showing events).[24] Martel's final appearance came the following month at a house show in Montreal, as his wrestling career began to slow as Martel pursued a career inreal estate.
In ashoot interview with RF video, Martel claimed that he andDon Callis were set to return to the WWF as 'The Supermodels' in 1997. Callis was slated to betray Martel, which would turn Martel face for the first time since 1989. However, after a pay dispute with WWF ownerVince McMahon, Martel signed withWorld Championship Wrestling (WCW). Callis confirmed that he and Martel were set to debut as a team during an interview with WWE.com in 2015.
In 1994, Martel worked for a few appearances forInternational World Class Championship Wrestling (IWCCW) where in one of the matches defeated his former partnerTito Santana on September 9.
After leaving WWF in 1995, Martel wrestled in the independent circuit in United States and Canada. He had a feud withDon Callis aka The Natural inManitoba. Later that year he went to Germany to work forCatch Wrestling Association. He lost to Santana in a Texas Death match by count out for NWA New Jersey on October 14.
In 1996 he wrestled inMalaysia. In 1997, Martel returned to Canada to team withDon Callis as the Supermodels, feuding with a youngEdge and Christian, then known as Adam Impact and Christian Cage.
Martel debuted for WCW in 1998 on the January 5 episode ofNitro, defeatingBrad Armstrong in his debut. Martel feuded withBooker T for theWorld Television Championship, failing to win it atSouled Out before winning the championship on the February 16 episode ofNitro. Martel's comeback was cut short during his rematch with Booker T atSuperBrawl VIII on February 22, when he landed badly on a throw, hitting his leg on one of thering ropes. He tore an insideligament of his right knee, fractured his leg and sufferedcartilage damage, effectively ending his in-ring career. He was originally booked to retain the Television Title in the match, intended to be agauntlet match, by beating Booker and thenPerry Saturn. Martel and Booker worked out a finish in the ring, and then Booker and Saturn worked the second half of the match entirely on the fly. Martel was out of action for several months.
During his recovery, he worked briefly as aFrench language announcer alongsideMarc Blondin and Michel Letourneur for the French-language WCW programming that was airing inEurope.
After suffering another injury in his first match back on the July 13 episode ofNitro, against Booker T'sHarlem Heat tag team partner (and real life older brother),Stevie Ray, Martel retired from the ring.[25]
After WCW, Martel wrestled his last match in Kailua, Hawaii, for Hawaiian Islands Wrestling Federation defeating The Metal Maniac on March 23, 1999.
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After retiring from the ring, Martel worked for WCW as a trainer, and as host of theFrench versions of WCW programming. Rick also manages commercial properties he invested in from his earnings when wrestling.[26]
After the main event of ahouse show inQuebec City on May 3, 2003, then WWE ChampionBrock Lesnar introduced Martel to the ring as a surprise, and shook his hand. Martel, who received a standing ovation from his home fans, said he was honoured to be associated with WWE and thanked the fans.[27]
At WWE'sVengeance: Night of Champions pay-per-view in 2007, Martel, along with his former teammate Tony Garea, savedJimmy Snuka andSgt. Slaughter from a post-match attack at the hands ofDeuce 'n Domino.[25]
Martel is a playable character inWWE 2K18 andWWE 2K19, his first video game appearances sinceShowdown: Legends of Wrestling.
,Cagematch,Internet Wrestling Database