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Sherri Martel

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Sherri Martel United States
BornFebruary 8, 1958
Louisiana New Orleans, Louisiana
DiedJune 15, 2007(2007-06-15) (aged 49)
Alabama Birmingham, Alabama
WebsiteOfficial site
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Peggy Sue
Sensational Sherri
Sensuous Sherri
Sherri Martel
Sister Sherri
Sensational Queen Sherri
Billed height5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Billed weight[undue weight? – discuss]
Trained byButch Moore
Donna Christanello
The Fabulous Moolah
Debut1980

Sherri Martel (born Sherri Russell)[1] (February 8, 1958 - June 15, 2007) was an American professional wrestler and valet, better known by her ring name, Sensational Sherri.

Throughout her career, Martel competed in the American Wrestling Association (AWA) and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) as Sherri Martel, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) as Sensational Sherri, Sensational Queen Sherri and Peggy Sue, and in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) as Sensuous Sherri and Sister Sherri.

Career

American Wrestling Association

After training under The Fabulous Moolah, Sherri Martel debuted in 1980. She eventually joined the AWA, and on September 28, 1985 at SuperClash she defeated Candi Devine for the AWA Women's Championship. Later that year, the title was taken from Martel and awarded to Devine, but Martel regained the title on October 17, 1985.

On April 20, 1986 Martel won a battle royal at WrestleRock '86. On May 10, 1986 she helped Buddy Rose and Doug Somers win the AWA World Tag Team Championship. Having previously vacated the AWA Women's Championship, Martel defeated Devine on June 28, 1986 to begin her third reign as champion.

In the spring of 1987, Martel began managing Kevin Kelly. Her most memorable moment as his manager came when she interfered in an arm wrestling match between Kelly and Tommy Rich on ESPN's AWA Championship Wrestling. Rich got immediate revenge by cornering the escaping Martel and ripping her dress off to reveal a strapless pink teddy and black stockings. In the following weeks, Rich would come to ringside during Kelly's matches and taunt Martel with her stolen dress.

On May 2, 1987 Martel defeated Madusa Miceli at SuperClash 2.

World Wrestling Federation

On July 24 1987 Sherri Martel debuted in the WWF and defeated The Fabulous Moolah for the WWF Women's Title. At this time she was still the AWA's Women's champion, however, losing this title 3 days later. This makes her the only wrestler (woman or man) to hold world title for two major organizations at the same time. Renaming herself Sensational Sherri, she reigned as WWF Women's Champion for fifteen months, taking on opponents like Debbie Combs, Velvet McIntyre and Desiree Peterson. At the 1987 Survivor Series, Martel's team consisting of Martel, The Glamour Girls (Leilani Kai and Judy Martin), Dawn Marie, and Donna Christanello lost to The Fabulous Moolah's team consisting of Moolah, Velvet McIntyre, Rockin' Robin, and the Jumping Bomb Angels (Noriyo Tateno and Itsuki Yamazaki). It was on October 8 1988 that she was finally defeated for the title by the young fan favorite Rockin' Robin. In the early months of 1988, she portrayed Peggy Sue, the valet of The Honky Tonk Man, while appearing as Sherri in the same period (Peggy wore sunglasses and a blonde wig, so she was not recognizable). She was often jealous of Miss Elizabeth and even attacked her during one match.

Throughout the remainder of 1989, Martel and Savage feuded with Hogan and Elizabeth. At the 1989 SummerSlam, Hogan and Brutus Beefcake defeated Savage and Zeus. After the match, Elizabeth knocked out Martel with her purse, and she, Hogan, and Beefcake cut Martel's hair (a long ponytail hair extension). Shortly after, she became known as Sensational Queen Sherri. At the 1990 Royal Rumble, Martel appeared on the "Brother Love Show" with Sapphire. After insulting the "common woman", Martel was slapped by Sapphire. At WrestleMania VI, Martel and Savage lost a mixed tag-team match against Sapphire and Dusty Rhodes after Elizabeth, who was in the corner of Sapphire and Rhodes, interfered and shoved Martel. At the 1990 SummerSlam, Martel defeated Sapphire by forfeit when Sapphire failed to appear for the match (It was later revealed that she had betrayed Rhodes and was now working for Ted DiBiase). Martel and Savage also appeared on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous with Robin Leach. At WrestleMania VII, Savage lost a career match against The Ultimate Warrior. Martel attacked Savage but was thrown from the ring by Elizabeth, who was watching from the audience. When she and Savage parted ways following the career match, Martel became the right hand woman of the "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase.

She managed Ted DiBiase until early 1992 and then parted ways with him after she announced that she was in love with Shawn Michaels,she also sang Michaels theme song called "Heartburn" then renamed Sexy Boy. She would go on to manage Michaels during his feuds with Bret Hart and Rick Martel. During this time, Michaels had a brief feud with Savage, and Sherri attacked both Elizabeth and Mike McGuirk at ringside during the matches. One night in late 1992, Marty Jannetty, Michaels' former tag team partner, entered the ring before one of Michaels' matches. He grabbed Martel's mirror; and when he swung the mirror at Michaels, Michaels pulled Martel in front of him, and she was smashed with the mirror. Martel disappeared but returned to the WWF at the 1993 Royal Rumble. She was in a neutral corner for the match between Michaels and Jannetty. Near the end of the match, Martel confronted Michaels outside the ring and slapped him. At the end of the match, she entered the ring to smash him with her shoe, but he ducked, and she hit Jannetty instead. Michaels finished the match and won.

The following week, Martel thanked Jannetty, and she later appeared in his corner for a match against a jobber. There were rumors that the WWF was planning to hire Madusa and promote a Martel/Jannetty vs. Michaels/Madusa feud, but Jannetty left the WWF before this ever happened. Martel was soon left without anyone to manage and found herself accompanying Crush and Randy Savage to the ring for their matches against Michaels at house shows. Most matches ended when Martel would be invited into the ring, and she would slap Michaels.

At WrestleMania IX, Martel accompanied Tatanka for his match against Michaels, who brought Luna Vachon with him. After the match, Luna attacked Martel, and they began feuding. On the April 12 1993 edition of RAW, Martel attacked Luna in the first women's segment on RAW. They erupted into a catfight that spilled into the audience, and both women ripped each other's clothes off. Throughout April and May 1993, Martel also appeared in United States Wrestling Association (USWA). She wrestled Miss Texas (Jacqueline) and helped Randy Savage in his feud against Jerry Lawler (who ripped off Martel's dress after she interfered in a steel cage match). On May 31 1993 Martel appeared in the returning Jannetty's corner for his match against Bam Bam Bigelow on RAW. After the match, Martel called Luna into the ring for a fight. Bigelow interfered, and Tatanka ran to her rescue. During this time, Martel and Luna began having matches at WWF house shows. A couple of weeks later, Martel interrupted an interview with Bigelow, and Tatanka again came to her rescue. When Martel was scheduled to face Luna on TV one week, Luna came to the ring with her arm in a cast (she had broken it in an earlier match against Martel).

National Wrestling Alliance

Martel re-emerged in Smoky Mountain Wrestling later that year and feuded with Tammy Sytch. She also appeared in the independent NWA promotion. On October 22, 1993 at the NWA Weekend of Champions, Martel accompanied Terry Funk against Kevin Sullivan (with Woman). After the match, Martel attacked Woman and put her in a head-scissors. She then appeared at the NWA Bensalem Bash on October 30, 1993. Martel, with Kathy Fitzpatrick in her corner, defeated Jim Cornette (with Tammy Sytch in his corner) in a "loser gets spanked" match.

Extreme Championship Wrestling

In autumn of 1993, Sherri joined ECW and soon managed Shane Douglas to the ECW World Heavyweight Championship.

ECW began promoting a feud between Martel and Madusa and scheduled a match between them at November to Remember on November 13, 1993. At ECW Ultraclash '93, Martel wrestled in a battle royal. In February 1994, Martel was going to join WCW to feud with Missy Hyatt, but Hyatt left the company. She later made appearances in WCW aiding Kevin Sullivan and Dave Sullivan in spring 1994. On February 5, 1994 Martel accompanied Shane Douglas for a triple threat match against Sabu and Terry Funk. Paul E. Dangerously (Paul Heyman) attacked Martel before the match, but she recovered and was active throughout the match (which ended in a time limit draw). Martel made a brief appearance in the Mexican Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA) promotion and accompanied Jake "The Snake" Roberts against Konnan. She returned to ECW to accompany Shane Douglas in matches against Pat Tanaka and Paul Diamond and then joined WCW.

World Championship Wrestling

Martel appeared in World Championship Wrestling in 1994 under the name Sensuous Sherri. She appeared at Slamboree scouting potential new clients in May 1994. She announced that she would manage who she felt was WCW's top star.

At Clash of the Champions XXVII, just as the match between Ric Flair and Sting got underway, Martel approached the ring wearing face paint identical to Sting's. Indeed, she was cheering for him to defeat Flair. Late in the match, Sting attempted to dive over the ropes onto Flair, but The Nature Boy yanked Martel into his path. Martel then entered the ring to embrace Flair. The new couple attacked Sting until Hulk Hogan ran them off. She helped Flair in feuds against both Sting and Hulk Hogan.

After Flair lost a retirement match to Hogan, there were rumors that Martel was going to be paired with Steve Austin, but Austin was soon injured and on his way out of WCW at the time (during this time, Martel was also scheduled to manage Austin and Shane Douglas in a tag team match in ECW, but Austin was replaced by Brian Pillman due to his injury). Behind the scenes, Kevin Sullivan wanted her to be the manager of Ron Simmons. However, this was during the time of the Nicole Brown and O.J. Simpson investigation, so they thought that might be pushing it a little. Instead, Martel began managing Harlem Heat (Booker T and Stevie Ray) using the name Sister Sherri (an irony that she discusses during her 2006 WWE Hall of Fame induction speech) [2].

In late 1994 (while still managing Harlem Heat in WCW), Martel made a return appearance in ECW managing Shane Douglas and Brian Pillman (substituting for an injured Steve Austin) against Ron Simmons and 2 Cold Scorpio. It was soon evident that Martel only returned to ECW to humiliate her former protege on behalf of Ric Flair. Late in the match, Douglas tried to pin Scorpio but Martel grabbed Scorpio’s foot and placed it on the rope to break up the count (which Douglas didn't notice). Then Martel went to the top rope and came off with a double axe handle on Douglas. Simmons and Scorpio won after Simmons pinned Pillman. Martel was on the outside showing no remorse for accidentally hitting Douglas. Pillman then went outside and tossed her back in the ring by her hair. Douglas pointed to her chest after Pillman ripped off her jacket and she had a picture of Ric Flair taped to her dress. Douglas ripped the picture off and tore it up, then gave Martel a piledriver for revenge [3].

Back in WCW, at one point in 1995, it was planned for Martel to manage the tag team of Jean-Paul Levesque and Lord Steven Regal. The duo was slated to capture the tag team title with Martel as their manager and feud with Rick Steiner and Scott Steiner. The plotline was for Martel to turn on Harlem Heat during a title match but Levesque decided to go to the WWF despite offers from then-booker Eric Bischoff of working fewer days for more money [4].

At Clash of the Champions XXXI, Harlem Heat and Martel defeated Bunkhouse Buck, Dick Slater, and Col. Robert Parker (11:01) when Martel pinned Parker. Martel hit her head on the mat, and suddenly fell in love with Parker. At Clash of the Champions XXXII Martel and Paker were going to get married, but Madusa interrupted the wedding. She and Martel engaged in a catfight, and then wrestled in the first women's match on WCW Monday Nitro on January 29, 1996 (Martel pinned Madusa).

She once again managed Harlem Heat and even became involved in a catfight with Debra on an episode of Nitro [5]. At the 1996 WCW World War 3 pay-per-view, Martel defeated Col. Robert Parker by count-out. Martel left WCW in the summer of 1997 [6].

Independent Circuit

In the late 1990's, Martel worked on the independent circuit. In the Summer of 1999, she appeared on the Heroes of Wrestling pay-per-view managing George Steele against Greg Valentine. Also in 1999, she was awarded the AWA Superstars Women's Championship.

World Championship Wrestling (Revisited)

In 2000, Martel made a brief return to WCW to wrestle Madusa and Mona. She returned and wrestled Mona on the March 11, 2000 edition of WCW Worldwide. After the match, she and Madusa had a confrontation.

Independent Circuit (Revisited)

In 2002, she made appearances in Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) feuding with Victoria and managing Rob Conway. In 2005, Martel appeared at "Wrestle Reunion" in an 8-woman tag team match.

World Wrestling Entertainment (Revisited)

In 2005, she made a return to WWE SmackDown! as part of the Shawn Michaels/Kurt Angle feud leading up to WrestleMania 21. There she sang a parody of Michaels' theme song with Angle, but a video showing Shawn's history moved Sherri emotionally. Kurt then saw this and applied the Ankle Lock to her.

She was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by Ted Dibiase on April 1, 2006. She and the rest of the inductees (excluding Bret Hart) made an appearance at WrestleMania 22 when they were each introduced to the crowd. She was accompanied by DiBiase during her appearance.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling

On September 4, 2006, she worked for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, taping a backstage vignette trying to offer her managerial services to "free agent" Bobby Roode that aired on the September 21, 2006 TNA iMPACT!.

Death

On June 15, 2007, WWE.com announced that "Sensational" Sherri Martel had passed away at the age of 49. She had died that morning at her mother's residence in Birmingham, Alabama. [7], and her cause of death has not yet been determined.

Wrestling facts

  • Finishing and signature Moves
  • Managers

Championships and accomplishments

References

  1. ^ Sherri Martel dead at 49, SLAM! Sports. June 15, 2007.
  2. ^ WWE Hall of Fame
  3. ^ ECW Nostalgia (December 12-8-94 Edition)
  4. ^ Solie's Tuesday Morning Report
  5. ^ DDT Digest - April 14, 1997
  6. ^ DDT Digest - July 7, 1997
  7. ^ Corey Clayton (June 15, 2007). "WWE.com - "Sensational" Sherri passes away".
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