Rick Martel is a Canadian legend in professional
wrestling. Not only has he wrestled all over Canada and captured Canadian
titles, including some in the Stampede area, he is one of only a handful
of people ever to hold titles in the WWF, WCW and the AWA.
Charismatic and handsome, Martel was a big draw
wherever he went.In the late 70s and early 80s, Martel formed a tag team
with fellow Canadian Roddy Piper to some success. He was one of the first
big stars of the Minnesota based AWA, and he held the World title there.
Later, he jumped to the WWF where he won Tag Team gold with two different
partners, Tony Garea and Tito Santana. After splitting with Santana, Martel
took the persona, "The Model", an arrogant Parisian male model. Martel
spent many years in the WWF.
Late in the 90s, Martel took a stab at wrestling
in WCW, ending up in a feud with Booker T, where he won the TV title. During
his time there, he injured himself and never fully recovered. Martel is
currently semi-retired.
Vital Statistics:
Real Name: Richard Vigneault
Height:
Weight:
Hometown: Montreal, Quebec
AKA: The Model
Titles Held:
Stampede Tag Team Champion
3 Time WWF Tag Team Champion
AWA World Heavyweight Champion
WCW Televesion Champion
PNW Heavyweight Champion
2 Time New Zealand Commonwealth Champion
2 Time PNW Tag Team Champion
Canadian tag champion (Vancouver)
International champion (Montreal)
PWI Rankings
Best PWI Ranking: 35 (1992)
All-Time PWI Ranking: 48
All-Time PWI Tag Rankings: With Tito Santana:
70
With Tony Garea: 74
Chronology:
1974:
Martel teams with Lennie Hurst to beat Stan "Killer"
Kowalski and Duke Savage for the Stampede Tag Titles.
November: Martel and Hurst lose the titles to Pat
and Mike Kelly.
1980:
March: Martel beats "Playboy" Buddy Rose for the
Pacific Northwest Wrestling Heavyweight Title.
August: Martel loses the PNW Title back to Buddy
Rose.
November: Martel wins the WWF Tag Titles with Tony
Garea from The Wild Samoans.
1981:
March: Martel and Garea lose the Tag Titles to The
Moondogs.
July: Martel and Garea win the WWF Tag Titles back
from the Moondogs.
October: Martel and Garea lose the Tag Titles to
Mr. Fuji and Mr. Saito.
1984:
May: Martel beats Jumbo Tsuruta for the AWA Heavyweight
Title.
1985:
December: Martel loses the AWA Title to Stan Hansen.
1986:
April: Martel wrestles NWA champion Harley Race
to a double countout at the Wrestlerock supercard.
Summer: Martel begins teaming with Tom Zenk as the
Can-Am Connection.
1987:
March: Martel and Zenk to beat Don Muraco
and "Cowboy" Bob Orton at Wrestlemania 3.
Summer: Martel begins tagging with Tito Santana
in a team called Strike Force
October: Martel and Santana beat The Hart Foundation
(Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart) for the WWF Tag Titles.
November: Strike Force compete at the annual Survivor
Series.
1988:
March: Martel and Santana lose the Tag Titles to
Demolition at Wrestlemania 4.
1989:
April: Martel turns on Santana at Wrestlemania 5,
allowing him to lose to The Brainbusters (Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson).
Martel debuts his Model character soon afterwards.
August: Martel teams with the Fabulous Rougeau Brothers
at Summerslam beating the Rockers and Tito Santana.
November: Martel competes in the annual Survivor
Series.
1990:
April: Martel beats Koko B. Ware at Wrestlemania
6.
November: Martel competes at the Survivor Series.
1991:
April: Martel loses to Jake Roberts in a blindfold
match at Wrestlemania 7.
1992:
April: Martel loses to Tatanka at Wrestlemania 8.
August: Martel wrestles Shawn Michaels to a double
countout at Summerslam.
November: Martel loses to Tatanka at Survivor Series.
1993:
November: Martel competes at the Survivor Series.
1997:
Winter: Martel enters WCW.
1998:
January: Martel loses to Booker T at Souled Out.
March: Martel wins the WCW TV Title from Booker
T, then loses it a week later to Booker T at Superbrawl 8.
Links:
Rick Martel Page of Fame: http://www.garywill.com/wrestling/canada/martel.htm
Rick Martel Page at Canoe: http://www.canoe.ca/SlamWrestling/martel.html