Sherri Martel burst onto the scene in the early 1980s in the American Wrestling Association. She first gained notoriety as a devious rule breaker who would do anything to win a match. Sherri began her career as a wrestler. She realized a dream on September 28, 1985 when she won the AWA Women's World Title from Candi Devine. It was the first of three AWA World Title reigns she would enjoy in the 1980s, each time defeating Devine to capture the gold. While in the AWA, Sherri also spent time as a manager, guiding Playboy Buddy Rose and Pretty Boy Doug Sommers to the AWA World Tag-Team Championship.
Besides Candi Devine, Sherri also battled such women as Debbie Combs and Despina Montegas. In fact, Sherri and Montegas' rivalry spilled over into Sherri's managerial work with the AWA Tag-Team Champions, Rose and Sommers. Sherri and her men were generally despised by fans who were angered by their arrogant attitudes and use of questionable tactics to win matches. Many women often had Sherri on the verge of defeat only to see her men interfere on her behalf and allow her to retain the title.
Sherri also established herself as a manager who was not afraid to physically confront her men's opponents in the ring. A particularly intense battle existed between Sherri with Rose and Sommers on one side and Montegas with the Rockers, Shawn Michaels and Marty Janetty, on the other. The two teams fought over both the Women's World Title and the AWA Tag Team Titles. During this time, fans thoroughly hated both Sherri and her men. One clear example of how much the AWA fans hated them occurred in the middle of a six-person tag-team match. The crowd cheered wildly during the mixed tag team bout involving Sherri, Rose, Sommers, Michaels, Janetty and Montegas when Sherri was spanked by Michaels and Janetty in the center of the ring! In fact, before the match, Michaels had promised the fans he would spank Sherri as a bonus for them, to pay her back for all the pain she had inflicted! The fans loved to see Sherri get what she deserved! Shortly after the end of this heated feud, Sherri's time in the AWA came to an end. In 1987, she decided to move on to bigger and better things in the World Wrestling Federation. |
