As if the WWE doesn’t already provide us with enough hot wrestling content on their weekly shows, and their Network, but they also have a YouTube channel with great wrestling matches old and new. They posted this enjoyable classic match from 25 years ago featuring the “Model”, Rick Martel.
As the “Model,” Rick Martel looks exactly the same as when he partnered with Tito Santana in the tag team known as “Strike Force” — the ultimate Baby-Faces in white gear.
He was a beloved Fan Favorite then, but simply by adopting a sneering, arrogant facial expression, he is transformed into a hated Dickhead Heel. He has that same thick dark hair, the same spectacular physique, the same colorful trunks, yet our impression of him is completely changed just due to his disdain for us.
(But honestly Martel came off as a bit of a cocky dick, even when he was trying to portray a beloved Fan Favorite…)
Wow, I never knew the famous Indy wrestler Jerry Lynn — master of the sexy Cradle Piledriver — began his career as a hapless, soft-bellied jobber in the WWE. Seeing him already in the ring when Martel walks down the aisle is a sure sign that this Rookie is going to get that soft body stomped into utter submission.
Wow — this is gonna be fun. I am digging that amazing pumped-up body on Martel and those sexy red trunks already riding up Lynn’s crack.
I sure hope Martel remembers to pull this jobber around by his golden mane of hair as he utterly man-handles this pretty-boy.
Poor Jerry Lynn’s only offensive maneuver — his only Hope Spot in the entire match — is this brief Armlock on the superior Model. Of course, Martel will easily twist right out of it, and then REALLY punish the uppity jobber for even trying to fight back.
Martel as the “Model” was the poster child for the sissified, alternative form of masculinity common among Heels at this time in pro wrestling. He was an Ideal Male with his pumped up physique but at the same time overly concerned with his looks for a Real Man, frequently flexing in the mirror and spraying perfume on himself and his opponents. At this time in pro wrestling, the traditional view of masculinity as stoic, unfashionable, and unfabulous was undergoing a transition.
One scene that plays out frequently in this match is the image of Lynn in the foreground, suffering down on the canvas with Martel in a standing (dominant) position in the background — bouncing around just waiting for Lynn to get up so he can knock him down again.
I almost want to call this position — laying down at the dominant male’s feet — “Jerry Lynn Position” because he assumes the pathetic position so often and looks so great doing it.
Martel fulfills my sadistic wish to see Jerry Lynn pulled by the hair several times. This vicious act confirms our impression of both Lynn as a submissive weakling (unable to prevent the other man from snatching his mullet) and of Martel as a sissy-bitch — willing to fight like a woman by pulling hair.
The fans chant “TI-TO!” to rile up Martel (who recently broke up with former partner Santana.) Did these sadistic fans know that poor Jerry Lynn would bear the brunt of Martel’s roid rage when they started that chant?!
Lynn is such a willing jobber, laying helpless on the mat so Martel can kneel on his neck. We can relax and enjoy Lynn’s suffering without feeling outrage or guilt over his abuse because he seems so game to go along with it — to pay his dues — to demonstrate just how much abuse and punishment he can absorb without fighting back.
Martel then climbs the ropes and finishes off his victim in similar fashion, landing a spectacular Flying Kneedrop to utterly crush his helpless victim’s ribs. Not even bothering to lay chest-to-chest on Lynn, Martel disrespects the jobber by Knee-Pinning him.
If this match was meant to showcase Martel’s beastly power — mission accomplished! The fans are made to understand that their jealous urge to see this arrogant man punished and humbled will never be fulfilled — he is too damn strong and powerful.
They will be forced to watch him saunter to the ring spraying his perfume, flexing his muscles arrogantly, and showing off his power and there is nothing any of his opponents can do to stop him. What a wonderful mind-fuck!
One of my favorite matches of all time was between Martel and Roddy Piper. The gimmick on that one was that Piper had a bad knee. Martel took advantage of the weakness then the tables turned and Piper totally dominated the prettyboy to his bitter end. I like it when, once one wrestler gets the upper-hand, he totally destroys the helpless rag doll. I don’t like the seesaw matches.