Richard Vigneault (born March 18, 1956) is a retired Canadian professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) between 1980 and 1995 under the ring name Rick Martel. He is also known for his two-year long reign as AWA World Heavyweight Champion.
Martel is from a family of wrestlers, and made his professional debut at age sixteen when his brother Michel, a wrestler, asked him to replace an injured wrestler. Martel was already a skilled amateur wrestler, and quickly adapted to professional wrestling.
Martel wrestled throughout the world, winning titles in Canada (in Stu Hart's Stampede Wrestling and Vancouver-based NWA All Star Wrestling), New Zealand and Puerto Rico. His first real success in America came in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA)'s Portland affiliate, Pacific Northwest Wrestling, where he became a top talent, holding the Canadian and PNW tag team titles simultaneously. He left PNW on August 16, 1980, when he lost a Loser Leaves Town match to Buddy Rose. Martel also served a stint as a booker for a wrestling territory in Hawaii.[clarification needed]
Michael Shawn Hickenbottom (born July 22, 1965), better known by his ring name Shawn Michaels, is a retired professional wrestler, and an American television host. He is currently signed to WWE, where he has served as an ambassador for the company since December 2010. Hickenbottom consistently wrestled for WWE, formerly the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), from 1988 until his first retirement in 1998, due to injury. He appeared in non-wrestling roles from 1998 to 2000, and resumed his in-ring career in 2002, retiring in 2010. He also hosts the show MacMillan River Adventures, airing on the Outdoor Channel.
Hickenbottom began his wrestling career with Mid-South Wrestling, now known as Universal Wrestling Federation, and American Wrestling Association (AWA). During his time with AWA, he performed in partnership with Marty Jannetty, as The Midnight Rockers; winning the AWA World Tag Team Championship twice. Hickenbottom and Jannetty briefly signed with World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1987, while in contract with AWA. They returned to AWA, only to go back to the WWF in 1988.
Richard Morgan Fliehr (born February 25, 1949) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Ric Flair. Also known as "The Nature Boy", Flair is considered to be one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time with a professional career that spans 40 years. He is currently working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), and is noted for his lengthy and highly decorated tenures with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and the World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (now known as WWE). Flair is officially recognized by WWE, TNA and PWI as a 16-time World Heavyweight Champion (seven-time NWA Champion, seven-time WCW Champion and two-time WWF Champion) although his actual tally of World Championship reigns varies by source—Flair considers himself a 21-time world champion.
In World Championship Wrestling (WCW), he also had two stints as a booker—in 1989–1990 and 1994. Flair also became the first and only man to have won the WWF Championship in a Royal Rumble match, when he accomplished this in the 1992 edition of the event. In 2012, Flair became the first ever double inductee in the WWE Hall of Fame, first inducted in 2008 for his individual career, and for a second time in 2012 as a member of the Four Horsemen. He is also an NWA Hall of Famer (class of 2008). Flair's hair styles and mannerisms are based on those of Buddy Rogers, who previously and famously used the "Nature Boy" gimmick in the 1950s and '60s. Coincidentally, Flair also followed Rogers in becoming the second man to win both the WWF and the NWA World Heavyweight Championships.
Plot
WCW Title: Hulk Hogan vs. Sting, WCW United States Title: Dallas Page vs. Chris Benoit, WCW Tag Team Titles: The Steiner Brothers vs. The Outsiders, WCW Television Title: Rick Martel vs. Booker T, with the winner to face Perry Saturn, WCW Cruiserweight Title (Title vs. Mask Match): Chris Jericho vs. Juventud Guerrera, Davey Boy Smith vs. Steve McMichael, Lex Luger vs. Randy Savage, Goldberg vs. Brad Armstrong, Disco Inferno vs. La Parka
Keywords: bad-guy, hulk-hogan, number-in-title, professional-wrestler, professional-wrestling, sequel, superbrawl, wcw, wrestler, wrestler-hero
Hogan vs. Sting II