Rick Martel - Reimagining His WCW Run

Following great runs in the AWA and the WWF, Rick Martel returned from seemingly out of nowhere in 1998 to WCW and was immediately programmed into a feud with Booker T and Perry Saturn over the WCW Television Championship. While he seemed to be in the best shape of his long career, everything would be sidetracked during a match at SuperBrawl VIII when he tore a ligament in his right knee, also fracturing his leg and suffering cartilage damage. As someone who has suffered similar injuries in my life, I can’t begin to explain how painful this is and the fact that he continued the match calling it to a new finish is a testament to the man’s toughness and professionalism. At the time Martel seemed to be on the right track to a well-received career resurgence, and today we take a look at what could have been.

What Happened?

Martel made his WCW debut in January of 1998 and was immediately working with Booker T, who at the time was feuding with Perry Saturn over the WCW Television Championship. Upon his return, he was initially working as a babyface and assisted in Booker in avoiding some beatdowns from The Flock who Saturn was aligned with at the time. Following a save, he asked Booker for a match for the title, and on the February 16th, 1998 episode of Nitro was successful in capturing the title. The SuperBrawl match was scheduled with Martel facing off against first Booker T, and the winner moving onto face Saturn with the last man standing being the champion. It is now widely known that Martel was scheduled to defeat both men but after the injury, he advised Booker what had happened, and they called a new finish. Unfortunately during a botched Harlem Sidekick, he was further injured. Booker would win the bout and he and Saturn would be forced to call a brand-new match on the fly, which they did a fantastic job of. 

Martel was sidelined but did make a return a few months later in a match with Stevie Ray that he, unfortunately, suffered another injury that effectively put the kibosh on any further career he may have hoped for. But what could have been?

Pic: Uproxx

Reimaging His WCW Run

Let’s take a look at what could have been had that injury not happened.

Given the depth of WCW’s roster in 1998, as well as the political machinations backstage, Martel likely would have remained in the mid to upper-mid card that he was in at the time. It would be foolish to think that he would have been facing Hollywood Hogan a few months down the line. That said, there was still a lot of value in a worker of Martel’s caliber and name value. Knowing that Martel was slotted to walk away with the strap, it is realistic to expect that the feud built into the match would have continued.

The next scheduled WCW pay-per-view was Uncensored, which in reality saw Booker defend the title against Eddie Guerrero. If the continued feud had happened, Guerrero could have been slotted in as a fourth, giving viewers one hell of a fatal four-way match. At this point we would see Booker win the title, freeing him up for the forthcoming feud with Chris Benoit which would eventually see their legendary best of seven series that helped elevate both men’s careers. Saturn would be free to move on with the Flock and their feud with the up and coming Goldberg, and Martel would be slotted with Eddie Guerrero for a series of matches that given both men’s technical abilities would certainly give viewers some great matches. By this point, Martel would be the full-fledged face after his role as a tweener at the beginning of this run. 

By the time that Spring Stampede rolls around, we could see Martel and Guerrero blow off their feud, likely with Eddie coming out on top as he would need it more. This would free Martel up to work with several different talents around the roster, such as Raven, Chris Jericho, Konnan and others. Eventually, I would program him with Bret Hart which would give us a series of incredible matches that we never really got in the WWF. Given Martel’s age at the time, he would be more of a gatekeeper to the upper mid-card while also offering his technical abilities in the ring to establish the talents and helping bring them to another level.

It's an interesting concept to see what would have been had Martel not suffered the injury, and we will never know what could have been.

What would you have liked to see the former Model do had he not been hurt in his WCW run?

Pic: Sportskeeda