Dark Side of the Ring Season 5 Episode 8
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00:00You want a piece of me little girl, well come and get it, because you're looking at a woman
00:10that invented mean.
00:13Sherry Martell was a chameleon, a performer who broke new ground for women in the wrestling
00:17business.
00:18An in-ring natural that made it all look effortless.
00:22She was an ace, Sensational Sherry was a top line ringer.
00:27You look at the 80s and you look at Sherry's role in some of the biggest storylines, the
00:31biggest moments, the biggest pay-per-views, my God, she was a huge star.
00:36Inside the ring and outside the ring, and on the microphone, and on camera, she was
00:41perfect.
00:42She was really the only great female manager of modern times.
00:46You, Hulk Hogan, are the one that had a failing career, you!
00:52Whatever the gimmick, she would do whatever it needed.
00:55Everybody in the business knew that.
00:58But few knew of the sacrifices that Sherry's total commitment to becoming a star demanded.
01:04Her demons took over, she said she didn't want to be a caged bird.
01:10And the high cost of her trailblazing success.
01:13She worked hard man, she paid a price too.
01:17I knew she was in pain, but you don't work, you don't get paid.
01:20It pushed her the wrong way.
01:21No punches pulled, no nothing!
01:23It became more obvious that she was having issues.
01:27If you can't get your act together, you need to step off Team Harlem Heat.
01:32There were skeletons throughout her whole life.
01:34Some people can get over it, and some people can't.
01:38Luna Vachon picks Sherry up, and she planted Sensational Sherry right out here on the outside!
01:56Could you honestly tell me how much of that is fake?
02:01I got the job, and I go out there and I give everything that I got.
02:05I run all these miles up and down the road, and I wear my body out.
02:09That's not fake.
02:11My body gets slammed on that damn canvas, and on the outside of the ring, I sit in the hospital.
02:17I get glass in my damn eyes.
02:19That's not fake.
02:22Sherry was tough physically, but also she was tough somewhat mentally.
02:26She could take some of the abuses she got from the fans or from the other wrestlers.
02:30And that's why the guys liked working with her.
02:33She was all in.
02:35I'm Jim Cornette.
02:36For almost 40 years, I've done everything in pro wrestling, especially managing.
02:40And Sherry Martell was the first person I ever managed.
02:43And I have signed up, and I would like to introduce Miss Sherry Martell.
02:48I've had people ask me, how did you decide to take Sherry Martell as a client?
02:52Well, I didn't.
02:53Can I make an investment, or can I make an investment?
02:56In 1982, both of us were just getting started.
02:59Sherry was just a rookie wrestler, and we were kind of thrown together
03:02just because the promoter knew that I needed some kind of practice.
03:06So we looked at each other and said, you're greener than goose shit, and I'm even worse.
03:10How can this possibly go wrong?
03:12We bonded from that moment.
03:14Money talks, and you know what walks.
03:17She wasn't the over-the-top personality that you would see from Sherry Martell
03:21five years later or 10 years later.
03:23But at that point, nobody knew she was going to be not only one of the
03:27great female wrestlers of the next generation,
03:30but also one of the most high-profile managers in wrestling.
03:34She was just a girl who wanted to be a wrestler at that point.
03:37You didn't know how far she was going to go.
03:39I know you all want me, but you can't have me.
03:45Sherry was a diva before the divas were divas.
03:49Once she got in that ring, different person.
03:52As soon as she got out of that ring, a sweetheart.
03:55I'm Kathy Fitzpatrick, and Sherry Martell was my best friend.
03:59We kind of had the same kind of childhood.
04:01She didn't know her dad.
04:03Her mom would take her to wrestling shows, and she liked it.
04:07My mom would go to wrestling matches in Hattiesburg, Mississippi,
04:11and there was a livestock arena.
04:13It was a great wrestling atmosphere, and the seed was planted at that point.
04:19I was always deraveled.
04:20I always wanted to do something different than everybody else.
04:22I met Sherry Martell in 1974.
04:27I'd say at the time she was probably 17.
04:30And I was 18.
04:33I was a referee for Mid-South Wrestling, and she was a fan.
04:39I remember Sherry being in the front row watching the shows.
04:43One night in Lafayette, Louisiana, we met, we talked.
04:48And it moved forward very fast.
04:54Aurelion Smith is my legal name.
04:56Jake the Snake Roberts is how most people might know me.
04:59What's going through that evil mind?
05:01Tremendous crowd.
05:02There it is.
05:03He did it.
05:03Sherry and I had spent some raw time together.
05:07We were going to get off again for about four or five years.
05:10Just her walking into a room, she was a star.
05:12I mean, that's just how captivating she was.
05:15She was beautiful.
05:16But she wasn't your typical, oh, dainty, printy girl.
05:20She was a kick-ass, in-your-face girl.
05:25Was I in love with her?
05:27I was in love with something.
05:30There was that connection.
05:31Both of us wanting something that seemed so far out of reality.
05:36I was in love with her.
05:37I was in love with her.
05:37I was in love with her.
05:38I was in love with her.
05:39I was in love with her.
05:40Out of reality, it seemed like we'd never get to the big show,
05:44or to the WWE, or even Mid-South.
05:49He's out for blood.
05:49He's not out to wrestle.
05:53Sherry Martell wanted to be a wrestling star from the get-go.
05:58In those days, there were no training programs that were advertised.
06:02You had to just hang around until somebody was willing to take a chance on you
06:06if you wanted to be involved in wrestling.
06:09Grizzly Smith, at the time, was a road agent and a matchmaker for Mid-South wrestling.
06:15And if he would see prospective talent, he would take an interest in it.
06:20I had went to Grizzly Smith when I was 16 years old.
06:25It was Jake Robbins' father, and he told him I wanted to learn how to wrestle.
06:28He told me to come back when I was 21.
06:31Dreaming of being a wrestling star, but with no avenue to begin her training,
06:35by 1976, Sherry is living and working in New Orleans.
06:40She was gorgeous, had a good sense of humor, and just, we got along.
06:48I'm Leroy Gonzalez, and I'm the ex-husband of Sherry Martell.
06:54June of 1976, I was in training in a restaurant,
07:00and she was sitting in a booth and complained about Roach in the booth.
07:06I just looked up at her and said,
07:09I wish I'd have been that Roach.
07:12So, she says, later on, she says, why don't you come and meet me and have a drink?
07:17She was working across the street.
07:20I didn't know where I was going, really.
07:22And so when I walked in, I realized it was a club.
07:30And she was on stage.
07:32After her dance was over, she came and sat down.
07:34We got to talking, and she just swept me off my feet.
07:40She was wanting to get out of that business.
07:44And I bought a trailer, and she moved in with me.
07:49One day, I got in from work, got on her knee, and asked her to marry me.
07:54But she'd go out with her girlfriends, and party, yes.
07:58But any drug, marijuana, uppers, mollies, downers, quaaludes, cocaine.
08:07We got into some pretty heated discussions about it, and, you know, it just never stopped.
08:18At that time, she wanted to have a family.
08:21She wanted to have a family.
08:24And we had Jared in July of 1978.
08:31He wanted a child, now we have one.
08:35Time to put your big girl pants on and take care of the child.
08:40Couldn't take it.
08:42When she told me she was going to pursue a career in wrestling, I laughed at her.
08:49Had no idea.
08:52She left when the baby was like three months old.
08:59And I know it hurt, it bothered her.
09:02But sometimes you have to do what you have to do.
09:06Sherry moves to Memphis, where she again finds work as an exotic dancer,
09:10while continuing her search for a way to break into the wrestling business.
09:14In those days, there was always some independent, or what we call outlaw wrestlers,
09:19around a major wrestling city.
09:22And I went to a school that Butch Moore had in Memphis.
09:27I told him I wanted to learn how to wrestle.
09:30He got up, and he slapped the living hell out of me.
09:36And at that point, I looked at him, and I said,
09:40is that all you've got?
09:46There you go, outlaw wrestler.
09:49Here, let me slap you and see if you're tough enough.
09:51What the f**k is that?
09:52I would have been interested to see if she slapped him back, if he could handle it.
09:57How male-dominated it was, I was going to succeed in this.
10:03I went and I told Grizz, I've got a year of training under my belt.
10:09I threw my driver's license out at him.
10:11I said, I'm 21 now.
10:12I'm ready.
10:13I had a son.
10:15I'm divorced.
10:16I said, this is what I want to do.
10:18And he says, why?
10:20I said, because I think that I can be the best person that I possibly can be.
10:24This is the career that I want.
10:27He said, okay.
10:31Tell me about her skills in the ring.
10:34Great.
10:35That's my sister.
10:37Rockin' Robin.
10:39The first time I met Sherry was when she would come in town,
10:41and often she would stay, actually, at my father's house.
10:45I'm Rockin' Robin, and I defeated Sherry Martell for the WWF Women's World Title.
10:52History made here, new ladies champion, Rockin' Robin.
10:57Like a lot of the other girls, if they were in town, I would go and hang out with them.
11:02I guess, try to make them more comfortable.
11:05My father, Grizz, he had a liking, you know, very much for younger girls.
11:12I mean, he was no good son of a bitch, man.
11:17Actually, she was a little old for his wheelhouse.
11:21I would go to the matches and watch her wrestle.
11:24Sherry could be strictly business, even at that young of an age.
11:30She had those rough edges.
11:33But that's what made her Sherry.
11:35After Grizzly saw, well, we've given her the basics,
11:38she needs to go to work with Moolah to continue her career.
11:42The fabulous Moolah!
11:45The fabulous Moolah was not only the World Women's Champion wrestler for 30-something years,
11:51but also, she booked all the women wrestlers to the various territories around the United States.
11:56So, if you were an aspiring female wrestler, you almost had to not only be trained by Moolah,
12:02but then stick with Moolah and work with Sherry.
12:04Not only be trained by Moolah, but then stick with Moolah and work as part of her troop.
12:09And one of the most adhered to rules was that you have to give Moolah her booking kickback,
12:16or elsewise, you're in serious trouble.
12:19It was almost like a military school type of operation for lady wrestlers.
12:24You did what Moolah told you.
12:26I figured that if I was going to make it in this business and I got through her camp,
12:30then there was nothing that was going to stop me.
12:33Moolah had a lot of rules.
12:34There were curfews.
12:35The girls had to be in at certain times.
12:37And Moolah said at the time, she was just into that nightclub.
12:41And darling, that was just too much for me.
12:45And Moolah asked her to depart the compound.
12:49Once Sherry got away from Moolah, she was able to create more of her own personality
12:55and get over on her own merits rather than somebody else telling the promoter how to use her.
13:00In the months after Sherry leaves her husband and infant son behind to pursue wrestling,
13:07Leroy struggles to put their family back together.
13:10I was trying to get her to come back home.
13:13I hired a private investigator to follow her.
13:16And I found out where she was at and some of the things that she was up to.
13:23I was making a night deposit at the bank and three big guys walked up to me.
13:30And point blank told me, hey, leave Sherry alone.
13:34She belongs to us.
13:36I have no idea if they were just friends with Sherry,
13:40if it had anything to do with the wrestling association.
13:43When they said she belongs to us, well, she belongs to wrestling.
13:48I left her alone after that.
13:50After stints in Japan and Mid-South wrestling, by the mid-1980s,
13:55Sherry Martell is working as a wrestler and manager in the AWA,
13:59a regional promotion based in Minneapolis.
14:03Vern Gagnon, the AWA, that's one guy that had never had a relationship with the fabulous Moolah.
14:10That was good for Sherry because
14:13There were never a lot of lady wrestlers in the AWA,
14:16but the ones that they picked and that they did use were very accomplished.
14:21And Sherry was physical and she could dish it out.
14:27Sherry knew the business and she just wanted to make a living with it.
14:32She wanted to make money.
14:33She wanted to make money.
14:34She wanted to make money, and she just wanted to make money.
14:36She wanted to make money.
14:38And she was going to make money.
14:39Sherry knew the business and her psychology was on point.
14:46Her timing was incredible.
14:49Hey guys, WWE Hall of Famer,
14:51known as Alundra Blaze and Medusa.
14:55Robinsdale, Minnesota, Medusa Michelli.
14:59I looked up to her a lot
15:01and kind of trying to emulate what she did
15:04and how strong she was,
15:05even though she was caving inside in so many ways.
15:10I went over to her house
15:11and I remember her saying that her son was away.
15:16Having a child in this business was frowned upon for women.
15:20So her son, I felt, was purposely not to the forefront
15:26for she was really trying to do something with her career.
15:30All right.
15:33All right.
15:55I think he has cancer,
15:57even though he's never said it straight out to me.
16:00From what I understand, he lost part of his tongue due to cancer.
16:04This is what I'm sure she loves.
16:08Don't judge her for what she did.
16:13I was always taking care of her and she made sure of it.
16:18In a way, she made the best decision for me.
16:23Sherry had him, but Pat raised him.
16:28Jared was three years old when we told him.
16:32We told him who his mother is.
16:34My oldest member was a magazine
16:38and it was published in Japan.
16:43We started making arrangements for Jared to fly out and meet her.
16:49It was supposed to be for a week and ended up maybe two days.
16:54She'd send him back.
16:56Did that make you angry as a kid that you couldn't see your mom more often?
17:00I'm so f****** angry.
17:04It was very difficult for women to even have a relationship,
17:07let alone have a child.
17:09And I feel that it really took a toll on women mentally
17:13because we were trying to push the envelope harder than we needed to
17:20to prove a point, to take us seriously.
17:23Basically, that's the whole thing in the business.
17:25You just, you know, do what you're told and do your job.
17:28And hopefully, maybe you got escalated.
17:31And Sherry Martell, she shows me a lot of confidence. I like that.
17:36Two of the biggest stars that had worked in the AWA
17:39that had since gone to the WWF working for Vince McMahon
17:43were Jesse Ventura and Kurt Hennig.
17:45That's right, McMahon. For once in your life, you're right.
17:48And I just might let you keep your job.
17:50Their word carried a lot of weight with Vince
17:53and they both put good words in for Sherry.
17:55As soon as Sherry arrives in the WWF,
17:58she is pitted against her former mentor.
18:01Fabulous Moolah, reigning women's champion for quite some time, I might add.
18:06By 1987, Moolah has had the women's world title for most of 30 years
18:12and she's in her mid-50s.
18:14And at that point, a change had to be made
18:17and Vince McMahon was the one to be able to pay Moolah
18:21what she required to do that
18:23and they put the belt on Sherry Martell.
18:25Moolah well in control of this one. Slams her back in.
18:28Oh, look at that. Sherry hooked her. Takes her over.
18:31It's unreal. History been made here.
18:35As a wrestler, that was the peak of Sherry's career.
18:39I alone, me, myself and I beat the fabulous Moolah.
18:43I pinned her one, two, three. Right?
18:46That says a lot.
18:47Okay, I'm not finished yet.
18:49Rockin' Robin, you can rock and rock and rock around the block all night long
18:53but there'll never come a day in your life to where you can defeat me.
18:58They put me on a dark match with Sherry
19:01and then the next thing I know, I'm working in the WWF.
19:09We were wrestling. We were working every night
19:12and we were on the road with Hulk Hogan and Jake, Randy Savage
19:17and we were at a different arena every single night, on a plane every single day.
19:21Those days, we were doing seven days a week.
19:24Every week. There were no days off.
19:27Kidding me?
19:29The women were out there working their tails off.
19:32But Sherry probably worked harder than she needed to.
19:36She wanted to be a part of the show.
19:39A big part.
19:42Pat and I, which was my ex-wife, would turn it on and watch wrestling.
19:47Chad was jumping up and down. His mom was on TV.
19:52I never even liked it.
19:54Took her away.
19:56But then again, that was her choice.
19:59My mind was so focused on wrestling, everything else took second.
20:03Everything.
20:04And that was including my ex, my family, everyone.
20:11Sherry was emotionally wrecked.
20:15There was a lot of pain and anger there.
20:18Probably from her leaving people behind.
20:20But she was close-lipped about all that.
20:23And she knew how to keep her nose to the ground and grind.
20:27In those days, the female wrestlers were an attraction.
20:31They were a special thing to put on the card.
20:34So, if any of the female wrestlers wanted to be taken seriously,
20:38they had to be accepted in the locker room.
20:41And then the guys would have greater appreciation for their work in the ring.
20:46And all the guys liked Sherry.
20:48She was one of the boys.
20:50And that was the ultimate compliment in those days
20:52that any of the male wrestlers could give one of the girls.
20:55You're just like us.
20:57You're tough. You're a partier.
20:59You're stiff in the ring.
21:01We accept you.
21:03I think she probably could have drank or snorted them under the table.
21:08Absolutely.
21:10Whatever Sherry did, she did to the max.
21:14Sherry loved her pot.
21:17And so, when you get the mix of cocaine and marijuana and then drinking,
21:22I mean, I don't know how they kept going for two or three nights.
21:26There were nights I wrestled Sherry and she was going on 48 hours.
21:30She was never late for a match, though.
21:32She always showed up.
21:34I think it was like an outdoor show.
21:37I keep looking at her, and you know how when somebody just kind of looks right past you.
21:42And I'm like, I don't know if she even sees me.
21:46I was down on all fours on the mat, and she threw a kick,
21:51and it caught me right on the throat.
21:55It was full force.
21:57I couldn't breathe.
21:59I just remember thinking, oh my God, this is it.
22:02I'm going to die at a state fair in the middle of a wrestling ring.
22:15Intoxicated but still performing in the ring,
22:18Sherry Martell has kicked Rockin' Robin in the throat,
22:21leaving her struggling for breath.
22:24Finally, I was able to get that big breath.
22:29Then we got back to the dressing room,
22:33and she just grabbed me and gave me the biggest hug,
22:36and she knew that it was bad.
22:39She did like pot. It was no big deal.
22:42But if there was anything else that really impaired you to do your job in the ring,
22:48you know, that's when it becomes a problem.
22:52They don't call me the Sensational Sherry for nothing,
22:55and in a moment, I'm going to show you exactly how sensational I am.
23:00By 1990, Sherry Martell is a dominant force in the WWF
23:05as one of its premier female wrestlers.
23:08But that is about to change.
23:11Vince McMahon was never fully sold on the idea,
23:15back in those days, of an entire women's division.
23:18I think he just decided to wrap it up.
23:21He still had Sherry Martell there,
23:23and Sherry was able to exhibit the fact that she could do a promo,
23:28and she was this wild, over-the-top personality.
23:32Then Vince figured, heck with women's wrestling,
23:35I'm going to put her in the corner of one of my main event male stars
23:40and make her more money than she's ever made.
23:42Because that's the thing, you could be the world women's champion wrestler
23:46and make eh,
23:48or you could be the manager for a main event male star in the WWF
23:53and make a fortune.
23:55I think Vince McMahon probably saw the same thing everybody else saw,
23:58which is a very gifted, athletic, physical woman
24:02that was very attractive, the camera loved her,
24:05and there's not a microphone she couldn't own.
24:08My name is Eric Bischoff, former president of World Championship Wrestling.
24:12Hello, everybody!
24:13I grew up as a young man, a fan of Sherry Martell,
24:16and I had the opportunity to work with her in the 90s.
24:20Back when Sherry was at her peak in managing,
24:23the producer would say to you,
24:24OK, you're going to be doing this and this,
24:26you're going to be doing it on this night,
24:27you're going to be in a ring with these two.
24:29That's it! Boom. Ready, set, go!
24:32I look in there, what do I see?
24:34I see Hulk Hogan laying flat on his back.
24:37She would figure out a way to tweak her personality
24:41and her appearance, the way she dressed, the way she acted,
24:44to kind of more closely fit the guy she was with
24:46while still being at the root of it herself.
24:50And indeed, we have a new Macho King, Randy Savage,
24:53accompanied, of course, by Queen Sherry!
24:56If you go back and you look at the wrestling world
24:58and what the product was during the peak of Sherry's career,
25:02I think she had a ridiculously powerful impact on it.
25:07I had no idea that she was really going to do it that well.
25:11Oh, yeah!
25:13And as time went on, she just became very famous.
25:18Please welcome Sensational Sherry.
25:25She would fly out and go and meet her and a bunch of the wrestlers.
25:31When I was going to go with my mom, that's when I knew it.
25:37You know, my mom wasn't the moomoo every day.
25:44No.
25:46My mom's a legend.
25:50And this is how legends are made.
25:53Sherry was completely different than what any other female
25:58had been presented as in the WWF up to that point in time.
26:02Introducing first, the manager, Elizabeth.
26:06Miss Elizabeth was brought in with Randy Savage
26:09because she was his real-life wife.
26:11And you had Sable and you had Sonny,
26:14but they weren't trained wrestlers.
26:16Sherry was.
26:17Sherry wasn't afraid to get in there and mix it up
26:20and do what needed to be done in the finish
26:22to get people on the edge of their seat.
26:24She didn't care if she was wearing a $5,000 ball gown.
26:27She's going to be down on the floor
26:29choking the guy that her wrestler is opposing.
26:38She was always taking bumps, crazy bumps, big bumps,
26:41tall bumps, concrete bumps, right?
26:44In a woman's frame, there's a little less sometimes, right?
26:48And she was banged up.
26:53I'm sure she had injuries.
26:55How bad is a question.
26:57Do you know how she dealt with her pain?
26:59I'm sure she took meds.
27:02If I would have ever opened my mouth and looked at Sherry,
27:09I wouldn't have been able to go back and see her.
27:15I don't ever will tell if I know if she and my mom are sober.
27:23There's so much that we put our bodies through on a daily basis,
27:27things that God did not intend us to do.
27:30And in turn, people find ways to compensate or to get through.
27:36I found ways to get through.
27:39Somas are a muscle relaxer
27:43that many of the wrestlers began to rely on,
27:48and it began to become a problem in wrestling in the late 80s
27:53and into the 90s like a number of other substances did.
27:57It was like candy.
27:59It was ready available, and they took the somas.
28:02They took the Vicodins.
28:03They took whatever the hell else they took.
28:06Sometimes you had doctors that wrote these prescriptions out.
28:09It was crazy.
28:10I saw it firsthand.
28:12You can believe in the WWF and their new testing policies and procedures.
28:16When the WWE first started drug testing,
28:19it was because of the steroid scandal that Vince McMahon got himself into,
28:23with Hulk Hogan and a few of the guys that were really over the top on the steroids.
28:28But they were testing for all kinds of street drugs and illegal drugs as well,
28:33and Sherri failed a number of times for marijuana.
28:40I got called up to the office,
28:42and it was J.J. Dillon, Bruce Prichard, and Vince McMahon sitting there.
28:48He said, Sherri, your drug test has come back positive again.
28:53We have to let you go.
28:55What would have been the point of getting up and yelling and screaming?
28:59I knew I screwed up.
29:01In any wrestling promotion since the dawn of time,
29:04if you showed up high and screwed something up, you got fired.
29:07Nobody gets sent to rehab.
29:09Everybody gets sent packing.
29:18Fired from the WWF in 1993,
29:21Sherri Martell needs to figure out her next move
29:24to stay working in the industry that she loves.
29:27Nobody could hurt me any more than I've hurt myself.
29:30When I got released, I went back home, and I started making phone calls.
29:35Of all the things I've ever been so excited about in my life
29:38is coming to the Parade of Champions.
29:40The same year that she had been let go from the WWF,
29:44I brought her down to Knoxville for Smoky Mountain Wrestling.
29:47Sherri Martell giving it to Tabby Finch.
29:50She was the same old Sherri and came in and did a wonderful job for us.
29:56But there was one night after one of the shows,
29:59I could tell she was slowing down a little bit.
30:02And I said, Sherri, I'm okay.
30:05I said, having a cruise on Lake Havasoma, I see.
30:10If you're heavily soma-ed, not only are you zombified mentally,
30:16but your whole body is out of control.
30:19She always had bad back pain, and she sometimes took a little too much.
30:25And it was for the pain.
30:27It wasn't for any other reason. It was for the pain.
30:30It wasn't just to pop a pill.
30:33She was medicating on her own, which had gotten out of hand.
30:37That never works out well in the end, does it?
30:40I couldn't see how destructive I was.
30:44I thought the drugs made me perform better,
30:47and I wasn't able to see what other people saw.
30:53Despite her ongoing issues with pain medication,
30:56Sherri returns to the national spotlight with WWF rival World Championship Wrestling.
31:02I am here for a reason, and that is to find a man that can fulfill all of my needs.
31:09I didn't ask Sherri why she was let go from WWE,
31:12if she quit or was fired.
31:14I didn't know, I didn't ask, and I didn't care.
31:17I hired her back in 1993 because she was a great talent.
31:20To be led to the ring by Sister Sherri.
31:24Wow!
31:25From Harlem, New York.
31:28Sherri and Harlem Heat, Booker and Stevie Ray, they looked great together,
31:32and they had not had a major spot anywhere before in a big-time promotion
31:37or on a major television show.
31:39And so, she kind of gave them credibility that they wouldn't have had
31:43because everybody knew who Sherri was.
31:48Sherri's passion and dedication to her career
31:51comes at the cost of never having enough time for her son, Jared.
31:55That's good, that's good.
31:56Wait a second!
32:18She seemed a little more lost.
32:22And uncertain.
32:26My body had just gotten to the point, and my brain had gotten to the point
32:30to where I just could not do it.
32:32I could not perform up to their expectations.
32:36She was let go because she was no longer good on camera.
32:40She would show up under the influence of something.
32:44I'm guessing it was prescription drugs.
32:47It didn't matter to me.
32:48She was under something, and it was affecting her ability to perform.
32:56I don't know what took place between Sherri and Eric.
33:00Maybe she was taking too many somas.
33:02Maybe she wasn't herself.
33:04Maybe she wasn't performing in the ring like she was supposed to.
33:08However, if that was true, and he acted and said,
33:13I'm just going to get rid of her,
33:15then that should have been done twofold on a handful of men.
33:24But it wasn't.
33:26After WCW, there was no place to go.
33:29At that point in time, Sherri was in her 40s,
33:33and younger girls had come along,
33:36so I think it probably was the worst thing that happened at that point in time
33:40that she lost that spot.
33:44I'd heard it over the grapevine that she was deep into the oxys.
33:48They were controlling her life.
33:51You medicate.
33:53F*** it, I lost my job. I'm just going to get f***ed up.
33:57It's not like there's 20 wrestling companies that you can go to.
34:01Sherri spent probably five years up there,
34:06and that's a great accomplishment, but it's never enough.
34:10It's never enough.
34:14WCW
34:20As her wrestling career nears its end,
34:23Sherri Martell marries her new boyfriend, Robert Shrull.
34:27She had gotten married in 1997, which was during her WCW run,
34:32and sometimes when a civilian marries a celebrity,
34:37that civilian thinks that celebrity is always going to be a celebrity.
34:41Unfortunately, after the WCW run,
34:44Sherri was off television, out of the business,
34:47and just a normal person.
34:49Sherri didn't do normal well.
34:52She was still in a lot of pain.
34:54Sadly, I think if she had another outlet,
34:58and it got whatever she needed, from what I understand it was a surgery,
35:02but she couldn't afford it,
35:04I don't think she would have ever gotten hooked on pills.
35:07At some point, when you get addicted to prescription pills or anything else,
35:12you're taking it because you have to, whether you're injured or not,
35:15because you're addicted.
35:17But I don't think that her husband was any benefit to her
35:20in that particular situation.
35:23Robert was always trying to put a wedge
35:28in between my mother and the family,
35:34pinching her away from us.
35:38The last time I saw my mother
35:43was the night she was inducted to the Hall of Fame.
35:54In 2006, after several years away from the wrestling business,
35:59Sherri becomes the second woman to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.
36:04Sherri! Sherri! Sherri!
36:07You know, the amazing thing about this business
36:09is I had the ability to walk beside some of the most wonderful people in the world.
36:15This was her time to shine,
36:17and she spoke from the heart.
36:20And then I met a man named Eric Bischoff.
36:24And we all know where he's at now, right?
36:29Who? Out of here!
36:32What? Oh, no! He's here!
36:36Damn, I thought you were gone!
36:42Ever since my mom had the record,
36:46I was just happy she was alive to beat it.
36:51That was the best thing to do.
36:55My son Jared, my husband Robert,
36:58my best friend Kathy Fitzpatrick,
37:00I love you, baby.
37:05She didn't look at it as a great occasion,
37:08because that meant, you know, it's all over.
37:11That's one of the hardest things in the world for a lot of people,
37:14is to find your place in life
37:17when all you've ever known is wrestling and all that goes with it.
37:22That's where a big part of the struggle can be.
37:27Although it seems her career might be over,
37:29Sherry spends the next year optimistic for her future in the business.
37:35I was on the phone with her.
37:37She was in the best mood ever.
37:40She was sitting on the front porch with her mom,
37:44drinking sweet tea, playing with the puppy they just got,
37:47and said to me,
37:49I have some news to tell you, but I don't want to jinx it.
37:52From what I had heard, they were going to bring Sherry back,
37:55get her her operation, get her backs fixed,
37:58and they were going to have her train the women.
38:01I know she wanted to go back to the WWE.
38:04Whether they were receptive or not to giving it to her, I don't know,
38:09and I guess we won't ever find out at this point.
38:139-30.
38:16June 15th.
38:22I heard that my mother passed away.
38:29I believed her sister or somebody called me,
38:35and that's when I got in my vehicle and drove to Alabama
38:40so I could be there.
38:46Empty.
38:48Empty.
39:04Sherry's sudden death at age 49
39:06causes local Alabama police to open an investigation.
39:10She was left in the washing chair on the porch with my grandmother.
39:19It just seemed so ironic that she was so happy the night before.
39:27At 10 o'clock the next morning, I get this phone call.
39:31Following a brief investigation,
39:33Sherry Martell's death is ruled an accidental overdose.
39:37I knew she could go to extremes,
39:40but I guess I did not know that it was just an ongoing life-threatening problem.
39:46It floored me.
39:48Regrettably, the addiction struggles that plagued Sherry's life
39:52are also on display at the funeral.
39:54I know we had a few people there
39:57that were probably coked out of their mind and drugged out and whatnot.
40:01I think Jake was so out of his freaking mind.
40:05Oh, my God.
40:07And I think he was leaning over the casket.
40:10He was just hot of it.
40:13I remember Stevie right being there, Booker T.
40:17But other than that, I can't remember anything about it.
40:21I mean, I was at my very lowest right then.
40:25They asked me to have a few words, and I did.
40:28And I remember looking at her saying,
40:30how dare you leave me behind?
40:33F***ing right I was angry.
40:35Because I thought we were friends forever.
40:38Not counting dying.
40:41We were just alike.
40:43We both came up hard,
40:45and we both had to fight and scratch and claw for everything.
40:51She was one of my loves, man.
40:53You know, she was somebody that I identified with
40:56and somebody that I cherished.
41:00I honored our friendship.
41:02I honored her.
41:05Always will.
41:08Sherry was my best friend.
41:12I don't think anybody could ever take that friendship away from us.
41:18Even as she's gone, I know she's with me.
41:21I don't think you can think about women in wrestling
41:24and not put Sherry Martell at the very top of your list.
41:30A lot of the fans loved and respected her.
41:32Maybe some of them didn't respect her enough
41:35because they didn't know the work that it took
41:39and the perseverance and the dedication it took for her to get there.
41:43This is a picture that Sherry gave to me at a FanFest
41:46like 20 years ago or whatever.
41:48She signed to me.
41:49It says,
41:50To Jimmy Cornette, remember always, I was your first.
41:53Loving you forever, Sherry Martell.
41:56And boy, she looked good.
42:00But everybody in the business
42:02had a high opinion of Sherry and her talent.
42:06These are letters that my mother wrote to me
42:13over the years.
42:15Over the years.
42:19Never held anything against her except for the fact that she left.
42:23Jared, to me, he's special.
42:27And I do what I can to keep him going.
42:30My dad is a good provider.
42:34My mom and my stepmom
42:40loved each other.
42:43She shouldn't have picked a better person to raise me.
42:48Can I have her?
42:50Can I still love you?
42:56That's my heart.
42:58He's my everything.
43:00This is why I'm here today.
43:05Sherry was my mother.
43:08But this was her tattooed brother.
43:12She used to tell me all the time,
43:14I would never find someone
43:16as good as you to take care of my son.
43:19She was awesome.
43:21She really was.
43:23She chose her career, you know?
43:28My mom, that's her she knew.
43:32And I don't hate her for it at all.
43:38I sacrificed so much in my life.
43:41For my family time.
43:43And I'd like to know that the mistakes that I made,
43:48people won't remember me so much for those.
43:51But for the good that I tried to do,
43:54I hope people will look back
43:56and maybe learn something from my mistakes.
44:02Yeah.
44:04Yeah.
44:11Yeah.