Chad D. Aaron shines the spotlight on a legendary performer inside the ring–and personality outside of it–Rick Martel!

The Throwback Spotlight will bring you a profile on some of the under-appreciated stars of days gone by. Today, we look back at the career of Rick Martel’s and, of course, make a couple of comparisons to some stars of WWE today.

Martel began his career in the territory days, as many of his peers did in that era. He had a background as a stand-out amateur wrestler. That, along with his clean-cut looks and physique, helped make him a popular draw. He worked all over the globe, spending time in Georgia, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, and various Canadian territories before landing in the Pacific Northwest, where he really began to develop into a bona-fide wrestling star.

In July 1980, he came to the WWF and was soon paired with Tony Garea, a tag team veteran with three title runs to his name at the time. It did not take long for them to become top contenders and in November they won the WWF World Tag Team Championships. They regained the championships later in 1981 for a second title run together as well.

In 1982 he headed back west, this time for the AWA. Martel quickly became a crowd favorite and before long was regularly challenging Nick Bockwinkel for the AWA World title. When Bockwinkel dropped the title to Jumbo Tsuruta, Martel quickly stepped in as Tsuruta’s top challenger. Martel claimed the AWA World Championship from Tsuruta in May of 1984. Martel was AWA champion when I first watched the AWA on ESPN.

As I became a regular reader of the Apter magazines, I read of AWA vs. NWA Title vs. Title matches at large joint shows. I was (and still am) a big fan of Ric Flair and Four Horsemen, so this news really caught my attention at the time. And when I read about Martel and Flair going to hour-long draws at these shows, it made an impression on me. In my young eyes, it put Martel on the same level as Flair and Hulk Hogan, the guys who I knew as world champions.

Martel’s AWA title run lasted over a year and a half, which was impressive at the time for the AWA title. Martel’s 595-day reign ranks as the third longest run, trailing only WWE Hall of Famers Bockwinkel & Verne Gagne. Gagne, the promoter, always put his top belt on guys who had legitimate in-ring acumen. He never featured gimmicks as his champions. Verne keeping the title on Rick that long says something to me about his in-ring prowess and his ability as a top draw for the company.

After his AWA exit, Rick was soon back in the WWF, as part of a tag team he had formed in Montreal with Tom Zenk: The Can-Am Connection. They had good chemistry together and were starting to get a decent push on WWF programming. The duo got a win at Wrestlemania III. The team turned out to be short lived, but what followed that was one of the more popular tag teams of the 80’s

Tito Santana and Rick Martel were even more over with the WWF crowds than Martel and Zenk. Although they were both ring veterans at this point, they were presented as a young, exciting, pretty boy tag team much in the way the Rockers would be later on. Of course, it did not hurt that both men were top workers in the ring as well. Tito Santana was a former Intercontinental Champion and was regularly featured on WWF TV. The team had a number of matches with the Islanders and eventually turned their attention to the Hart Foundation. They succeeded in unseating The Harts as WWF Tag Team Champions, giving Martel his third such title run in the WWF.

After dropping the titles to Demolition, Strike Force split up and Martel transformed into his most well-known persona, ‘The Model.’ He sprayed his trademark ‘Arrogance’ perfume at his beaten opponents and became the textbook narcissistic heel. He had a series of really good matches with Santana, Jake Roberts, as well as a young Shawn Michaels in one of HBK’s first feuds as a singles wrestler. This was now the early 90’s WWF, filled with over-the-top characters, and The Model fit right in. His in-ring ability led him to be called upon frequently when a new champion needed to look good in a title defense, or if there was a new star needing a push. The WWF would put Martel across the ring, knowing that he would get them the result they needed.

Being a native of Quebec, English was not his primary language. Despite that, during this time, his promo skills made huge strides, as his character necessitated him talking down to his opponents and extoling his own virtues. Looking back at some of his early career interviews, such as in his AWA run, you can tell he is not comfortable talking in front of a camera at all. At the time, in certain places, you could be a legit superstar based on ring work alone. This was no longer the case. When forming Strike Force with Santana, he gave a passionate interview about “Striking back with lightning force” that helped coin the team’s name. The improvement was evident, but he still had leaps and bounds to go with that side of the business. As the Model, he became a much better interview and really helped get his character over.

Martel vanished for a few years and the business changed. He re-emerged, kind of out of nowhere, in WCW in the late 90’s and had a couple of really good matches with yet another guy getting his first real singles push, Booker T. Martel won the WCW Television title during this time. However, this run was cut short due to an in-ring knee injury. His comeback match resulted in yet another injury, and Martel retired for good soon after.

Martel was one of the 80’s and early 90’s most successful, yet least heralded wrestlers. With his clean-cut image and good physique, he was the epitome of the white meat babyface for much of his career. Later on, he showed his versatility by transforming into a heat-drawing heel. Martel had classic wrestling matches with legends like Flair, Bockwinkel, and Michaels He could mix that up by going toe to toe with the best of the brawlers as well, such as a Stan Hansen and Jake Roberts. An in-ring great, he developed into a solid promo guy as well.

In my eyes, The Model was the clear inspiration for Tyler Breeze’s gimmick in NXT. Where Rick had his Arrogance, Tyler had his selfie stick. They filled similar roles in the company as well. When WWE needed a good Takeover match with Jushin Thunder Liger, or someone to main event an NXT show with the likes of Adrian Neville or Sami Zayn, there was Tyler Breeze to fill the spot. He made it believable, made his opponent look good, and keep the crowd invested.

Martel’s early career could be compared to someone like the early WWE run of Daniel Bryan. A top-notch ring technician who was not considered a good promo guy. Luckily, both were able to overcome that and show their abilities. Much as Bryan was often considered too small as well, the WWF of Martel’s day was the land of the giants. His 6-foot, 230-pound frame was looked at as perhaps too small. But, transplant Martel into today’s WWE, his body type and ring ability makes him a real candidate to grab a top spot.

So, as we talk and argue about the best wrestlers of all time, make sure we give Rick Martel his due. He found success everywhere he went, he could hold up as a top worker, he could play a gimmicky character. He was a top baby face and a heat-drawing heel.

Until next time, watch some wrestling this week, stay safe, and never forget to #UseYourHead!