Evolution Schematic 08.29.07: Sherri Martel (Part 1)

Thanks to the good people at D-Link, I now have a wi-fi wireless network around my home, and thus, I’m now online with my Xbox 360 and Wii! Well, it’s not technically my 360, long story. Regardless, feel free to add me to your 360 Friend list. I’m Ascornfilm. I’m up for mostly Uno and Catan at the moment, since those are all shiny and new. I’d give you my Wii friend code, but I’m not sure what that is, having just been told where to look for it 15 minutes ago. Besides, gotta save something for next week.

I still wish to give another shout out to Vince Chiucchi. He, again, does the Select & Start News report over on 411Games. Despite his recent turn, you should still read him, because while he’s gone over to those evil red and black Wolfpac bastards, he still brought us this.

New Smash Order Hollywood 4 Life!

And hopefully look for JD Dunn making jokes about my appearance and/or the jokes my boss made about my appearance soon. You’ll see. After all, he can afford to work in a shoot style. I, in the confines of this column, can’t.

Overview

With some people, Wrestling is both a dream and a nightmare. A gift and a curse. A desire and a job. It’s both what they always wanted, and just what they do for a living. Sherri Martel was one of those people. After growing up with dreams of joining the circus, she eventually began wanting to be a Pro Wrestler. And she did, ending up with several title reigns. But she’s most remembered for her managing skills, her time spent doing her job as a manager of men. Shawn Michaels, Ted DiBiase, Randy Savage, Ric Flair, Honky Tonk Man, Harlem Heat, Tatanka, Kurt Angle for 5 minutes. Men she helped guide, lead, men who paid her to help their careers succeed. So while she was involved with a business she loved, it was still, at the end of the day, a business. One that, in part, ended her life, alas.

But then, it also took her to incredible heights.

Origins- Curse You Grizzly Smith!

Sherri as a kid wanted to join the circus. She wasn’t allowed to. So, after a couple of years wondering what to do, she eventually began wanting to become a wrestler. So, as a fresh faced 16 year old, she approached a veteran wrestler called Grizzly Smith to inquire as to how someone got trained to become a wrestler.

He reportedly told her to come back when she was a woman.

I’d like to give a hearty ‘Screw You’ to Mr. Smith on behalf of all Sherri’s fans for making us miss a few years of her possible career.

Regardless, she followed his advice and did go out and become a woman, getting married, divorced, having a kid and working as a stripper, not necessarily in that exact order. But the Wrestling Bug just kept gnawing at her, and soon she approached a different grizzled vet, Butch Moore, to inquire as to training. He sent her to The Fabulous Moolah, the woman who seemingly trained an entire generation of women. She trained her. And then, at the start of 1980, Sherri debuted.

Debut- 5 years of injury and obscurity! Huzzah!

Sherri, as a student of Moolah, had certain doors opened for her. She got some work in Memphis, Japan, and over smaller companies, although most companies at that time were small. But her managerial skills also developed early, Sherri quickly finding that wrestling AND managing men meant more money in her pocket. However, as her career just started to get a little traction, in a mixed battle royal (now there’s a match concept you don’t see nowadays) she suffered a somewhat major injury that put her out of the business for a bit, and began her life long fight against medications.

But by the time 1985 rolled around, she was back, and calling on a few favors, she debuted in the AWA with some small degree of fanfare.

Phase 2- Sherri Martel, YOUR AWA Women’s Champion (off and on)

Sherri rose quickly up the ranks of the AWA Women’s Division (while there weren’t that many ranks in said division, it was still stronger than today’s WWE ranks for the most part), and at the very first AWA/NWA Superclash, she defeated Candi Devine to win the AWA Women’s Title. She then…

A brief little side note here. Now, as you are no doubt aware, I am a Wrestler myself, I wrestle for the AWF, the Australasian Wrestling Federation. Recently, we had Steve Corino, The King Of Old School, wrestle for us. It was a big thrill for me, and a positive for the company, to have our AWF and the AWA World Championship fought for in the same match. And to have our champ, TNT, win, that was just awesome… Until the AWA couldn’t find the paperwork. We sent them, we clearly told them ‘We invite Corino down here for a double title match’, they sent forms, we filled them out, they lost them, Corino remained champ because of it. I bring this up to prove that the AWA doesn’t have a great history of tracking records, of keeping things in check. Hence…

She then either lost the belt or was stripped of it or vacated it, either way she lost the title within a few days back to Candi. But a few days later she won it back again in Canada. This second reign at least lasted through the new year, Sherri losing the belt back to Candi again, at least this time in a match that was recorded on the last AWA show before WWF took over their TV time. Sherri then moved into managing more often, leading Buddy Rose and Doug Somers to the AWA Tag Belts in May 86.

Candi held the belt for a few months, before Sherri won it a third time in June of 1986. This third reign was also her longest (up to that point) as she held the belt into 87, and then into her first period of being stripped. By someone else.

Phase 2b- Got your dress!

She had, while holding the Women’s title, begun to manager Kevin Kelly. Not the interviewer Rock liked to pick on, the other one, the guy Big Bossman locked up illegally. He wasn’t always a felon, he was a wrestler before his time behind bars, then became a really angry one afterwards.

Regardless, she was his manager, and so when he had problems with Tommy Rich, she had problems with him. Then, in a memorable AWA moment, the two men had an arm wrestling match. She interfered, Rich made a comeback, then got his revenge by ripping off her dress to reveal her black stockings to the shocked and applauding crowd.

*urgent whispers*

Oh, she also had a pink strapless teddy on too. She didn’t just wear stockings.

In the weeks after this humiliation, Rich would taunt her, following her around with the remnants of her torn dress. With such anger driving her, it’s no surprise she beat Medusa at the second Superclash show. But as much as it drove her, it also drove her away, and soon, she was wooed by the WWF.

Phase 3- AWA’s Delay is History’s Gain.

On her debut in the WWF, she fought and defeated her old trainer The Fabulous Moolah to win the WWF Women’s Championship. She was however, at the time, still AWA’s Women Champion, and was for 3 more days, thus making her the only person, not woman, person to hold two ‘major’ companies titles at the same time. After those 3 days the AWA realised that their champion was working for the competition and stripped Sherri of the title, before she could toss it in the trash or anything.

Now going by Sensational Sherri, her title reign lasted 15 months, thanks to her take no prisoners attitude and her rather distant, relaxed attitude to the rules. That is to say, she cheated like crazy. She fought Moolah and Moolah’s friends, defending the belt. But this led to a problem for Sherri. See, she was used to supplementing her finances with managerial work, she wrestled, she managed, two paychecks, thank you and good night. But as 1988 began, she found that no-one wanted to be managed by her, for various reasons. She was too evil, she wasn’t needed, people already had managers like Jimmy Hart and Bobby Heenan, guys didn’t want to take her on for fear of losing chances at other women, for whatever reason, no-one was hiring. But, since a lot of people were too focused and only saw her hair and her cleavage/butt, depending on the guy involved, perhaps with a small outlay for a pair of large sunglasses and a blonde wig, she could make that money still.

Phase 4- Me too Colt. I want Sherri and Peggy Sue in a 3 way as well.

Peggy Sue was born. A mysterious bottle blonde, she was the valet for The Honky Tonk Man. Honky had Jimmy Hart as a manager, but this was in the midst of the Anti-Honky crusade, every man and his dog wanted to take him down, so he needed all the help he could get, but even he had limits, he couldn’t sing the equally hated Sherri on as a valet. But no-one knew Peggy Sue, and surprisingly enough, few people caught on. Even when she worked the same show twice, she managed to keep her dual identities a secret. It helped that as Peggy Sue she avoided all contact with the other female wrestlers and mainly had shoving matches with Elizabeth, who was by no means a wrestler. Peggy Sue was jealous of Liz, as was Sherri obviously, and since Savage and Honky were having problems, they often ended up in pseudo catfights.

Unfortunately, the double life caught up with her, and while she was never exposed, and despite her curtailing her Peggy Sue appearances, she lost the Woman’s title to Rockin’ Robin on October 8th, 1988.

Sensation Sherri then took a step back, reevaluating her career as many wrestlers do. She saw the Women’s Division floundering, and realised it would probably be phased out sooner or later. So, she decided to transition into managing on a full time basis, after challenging and presumably failing to beat Robin after the 89 Royal Rumble. She had made her choice by Wrestlemania V, where the perfect client dropped in her lap.

Phase 5- Sensational Queen Sherri. Well it’s better than today’s alternatives who aren’t Australian.

At Wrestlemania V, she mocked both Miss Elizabeth and Rockin’ Robin backstage, talking about how she was a better wrestler than Robin, a better manager than Liz, hotter than both of them naked rolling around in a vat of ice cream and fudge, and how she could make men go weak at the knees just with a hint of elbow.

Well, maybe not quite those EXACT words, but that was the basic gist of it. And, after she said this, Savage went on to lose the WWF Title to Hulk Hogan thanks to Liz’s existence. Again, not exactly what happened, but it’s what Savage claimed. So he dumped her, and needed another woman to fill that gap, or a woman whose gap he could fill, or whatever. Regardless of their private relationship, Sherri became his manager, then got her hair cut at Summerslam, and then became Queen when Savage beat Jim Duggan to become King of the WWF.

Sherri and Savage made a powerful, if less than dominate team. Although Savage was a major player in the company, no doubt assisted by Sherri, his career hit a bit of a plateau, not falling, but not going up either. The two got into a feud with Dusty Rhodes over the fact Rhodes was a common man, and then lost a mixed tag match at Wrestlemania VI to Rhodes and Sapphire thanks to Elizabeth’s interference. Sherri ended up getting the last laugh, beating Sapphire by forfeit when she failed to show at Summerslam due to Sapphire joining up with Ted DiBiase. This rounded out 1990 for the duo, with little forward momentum. But Sherri thought of a plan.

As the 91 Royal Rumble was going on, the Ultimate Warrior had interview time to discuss his WWF Title match with Sgt. Slaughter, the Iraq Turncoat later that night. Then Sherri stepped into frame. She revealed that Slaughter had agreed to give Savage a title match if he won the belt. All she asked for was the same from Warrior. And she was more than prepared to make it ‘worth Warrior’s while’.

For those slow on the uptake, she was offering sex with her for a title shot. Let it never be said Sherri didn’t go all out to help her clients. But Warrior said no, quite loudly in fact. So, Sherri went back to Savage, they discussed it, and Savage cracked Warrior in the head with his Royal Scepter to give Slaughter the title.

This should have lead to Slaughter/Savage at Wrestlemania VII, but Warrior for some unknown reason was pissed at Savage, and Hogan for some bizarre reason wanted to take on Slaughter. So, for Sherri, her man ended up in a Retirement Match against Warrior at Wrestlemania.

Phase 5b- The Shakespeare Moment

After 5 Elbow Drops, it should have seen Savage win. But it didn’t. After several shoulder tackles, Warrior pinned Savage with one foot, and retired him, in front of a shocked crowd which included a woman in a blue dress and Miss Elizabeth. As Warrior left, Sherri got in the ring. Savage had failed her, her meal ticket was gone, he was pathetic, 5 Elbow Drops, and he still couldn’t win. So, naturally, she began putting the boots to him to vent her frustrations. Then Liz ran in, and tossed Sherri from the ring, and she and Savage reunited, much to Sherri’s disgust. But she was in the arms of another man before the night was out. Her reign as Queen was over.