In a roundabout way Sherri Martel got to know my opinion of her. I grew up in chicago and on the awa. so i was able to see her as AWA women's champion, managing buddy rose and doug somers before she went to WWF(e) and became a top star there).
I went to a card held by the LIWA in Randolph, Mass. in 1997 LIWA was owned by fabulous Moolah and mae young. i went courtesy of an invitation i recieved in the mail(i found out later it was because of my working with WWA New Englanfd and Promoter Mike Sparta). Thbis was also the night i got to meet jim cornette in person for the very first time (and found out he suscribes to a newsletter i had written for called wrestling then and now, and he remembered my articles about the AWA and wrestling in chicago). I got asked to work the dor by mae young(which i happily accepted as I felt it was "earning my free admission" before fans showed up..being in the company of walter "killer" kowalski, moolah, mae young and jim cornette all in the same room to me was a fan's dream come true).
I buy two autographed photos of Moolah, explaining that my father always thought she was his favorite pro wrestler(her and the shiek), she then asked me who my favorite women wrestler was. Without any hesitation I said "Sherrie Martel..from awa women's champ, to managing tro being on top in WWF and ECW...to me she was the one". I had explained how I watched be champ, then do many tjhings in different promotions and I said "you might be my father's favorite, but sherrie was mine, she...like you...have stood the test of time..I also liked candi devine but sherrie was it for me...some like sunshine and precious in texas..some liked miss elizabeth...sherrie was the one for me".
Moolah asked me if i had either an email address or a phone number. I said i have both and she asked if i could give it to her. I was like :"what"!? so i gave it to her and she said that night she was going to pass my opinion of sherrie martel to sherrie martel. now if you're around the business alot of times you get lied to. promises are made that are never delivered upon, etc. so i was like thinking in my head "yeah ok, sure you will". never believe it until it actually happens.
two days later I get an email...who from? Sherrie Martel. Now only three people knew I had this conversation with moolah about Sherrie...moolah and ,my best friend dave. I never mentioned it to anyone and when i saw the name..I was astounded and SHOCKED! Sherrie wrote me a thank you email for what i had said to Moolah about her. she said "not many people mention my AWA days and Moolah told me you were full of AWA memories about me. Your high opinion of me is appreciated because most fans don't do the research you lived by watching ,me...thank you for your very sincere thoughts of me".
Moolah may not remember she did this but she proved one thing..some people actual;ly keep their word in this business. Moolah kept hers to a tee. and because of that, my respect for Moolah went way up and the fact that my favorite woman wrestler got to know what this old school fan felt when it came to her. was just another wish come true for a guy who who once had the chance to live his dream and be in the wrestling business. part of what made me a fan of wrestling died when i read she passed away. it's a void that no other woman wrestler anywhere in the world will ever be able to fill. part of my childhood died when sherrie martel died. she is in the greatest wrestling hall of fame that could ever be. the hal of fame in heaven.
sincerely,
Bill Walkowitz
wisconsin dells, wisconsin
