Former AWA champion Rick Martel is probably better known to the WWE generation as 1/2 of “Strike Force” (with Tito Santana) and before that 1/2 of the “Can-Am Connection” (with lookalike Tom “Z-Man” Zenk). He also had a heel run as “The Model” Rick Martel. He’d been around the sport for awhile prior to his AWA days–I remember seeing him in the late 1970’s on Georgia Championship Wrestling.

Anyway, I found this when looking for the Sheepherders video in the previous post. I think I remember the workout footage from about the time he entered the AWA to challenge for the title. It doesn’t age well in any circumstance–working out shirtless in a park, the little workout shorts, his friend’s cheesy mustache and tank top didn’t look as silly in the mid-1980’s. At least they don’t show Martel and his buddy riding a “bicycle built for two” together. Making matters worse is the excited Spanish voiceover of WWC announcer Hugo Savinovich. And putting it over the top into the realm of downright bizarre is the choice of background music–if you thought the use of “Bohemian Rhapsody” in the Sheepherders video didn’t make a damn bit of sense wait until you get a load of this…