Sherri Martel Sherri Schrull ( born Sherri Russell ) ( February 8 , 1958 – June 15 , 2007 ) was an American professional wrestler and manager , better known by her ring name s , Sherri Martel and Sensational Sherri . Throughout her career , Martel competed in the American Wrestling Association ( AWA ) and Extreme Championship Wrestling ( ECW ) as Sherri Martel , the World Wrestling Federation ( WWF ) as Sensational Sherri , Sensational Queen Sherri , Peggy Sue , and Scary Sherri , and in World Championship Wrestling ( WCW ) as Sensuous Sherri and Sister Sherri . Early career . In 1974 , Martel approached Grizzly Smith for advice on becoming a wrestler . Smith questioned her conviction and told her to come back to him in five years when she was an adult . She eventually married and gave birth to a son named Jared , but she soon divorced her husband and began working as a stripper . During this time , she again became interested in becoming a professional wrestler and sought training from Butch Moore in Memphis , Tennessee , as well as from Debbie Johnson , a former pro wrestler . In the latter part of 1979 , she went to The Fabulous Moolah ' s school on Johnson ' s recommendation . In January and February 1980 , she wrestled on a tour in Japan . Upon returning to the United States , she began wrestling in Memphis working as both a wrestler and manager to Pat Rose and Tom Pritchard . During this time , she was managed by Jim Cornette . During a mixed battle royal , Martel suffered an injury that removed her from wrestling for a few years . American Wrestling Association ( 1985 – 1987 ) . After recovering , Larry Zbyszko helped her join the American Wrestling Association ( AWA ) . He felt she had a little bit of potential and thought she just needed to learn how to do wrestling interviews . She eventually debuted the AWA , and on September 28 , 1985 at " SuperClash " she defeated Candi Devine for the AWA World Women ' s Championship . Later that year , the title was taken from Martel and awarded to Devine , but Martel regained the title on October 17 , 1985 . On April 20 , 1986 Martel won a battle royal at " WrestleRock ' 86 " that included Devine , Debbie Combs , Rose Devine , Joyce Grable , Kat LeRoux , Despina Montegas , Misty Blue Simmes , and Luna Vachon . On May 10 , 1986 , she helped Buddy Rose and Doug Somers win the AWA World Tag Team Championship . Having previously vacated the AWA Women ' s Championship , Martel defeated Devine on June 28 , 1986 to begin her third reign as champion . In the spring of 1987 , Martel began managing Kevin Kelly . She interfered in an arm wrestling match between Kelly and Tommy Rich on ESPN ' s " AWA Championship Wrestling " . Rich got immediate revenge by cornering the escaping Martel and ripping her dress off to reveal a strapless pink teddy and black stockings . In the following weeks , Rich came to ringside during Kelly ' s matches and taunted Martel with her stolen dress . On May 2 , 1987 Martel defeated Madusa Miceli at " SuperClash 2 " . Former AWA wrestler Jesse Ventura then referred her to the WWF . Martel credited Vince McMahon for being the one who molded her in the WWF . World Wrestling Federation ( 1987 – 1993 ) . On July 24 , 1987 , Sherri Martel debuted in the WWF and defeated The Fabulous Moolah for the WWF Women ' s Championship . At this time she was still the AWA ' s Women ' s champion , but she lost the AWA title three days later . Renaming herself Sensational Sherri , she reigned as WWF Women ' s Champion for fifteen months , taking on opponents like Debbie Combs , Velvet McIntyre , and Desiree Petersen . At the Survivor Series in 1987 , Martel ' s team consisting of Martel , The Glamour Girls ( Leilani Kai and Judy Martin ) , Dawn Marie , and Donna Christanello lost to The Fabulous Moolah ' s team consisting of Moolah , Velvet McIntyre , Rockin ' Robin , and the Jumping Bomb Angels ( Noriyo Tateno and Itsuki Yamazaki ) . It was on October 8 , 1988 that she was finally defeated for the title by Rockin ' Robin . In the early months of 1988 , she portrayed Peggy Sue , the valet of The Honky Tonk Man , while appearing as Sherri in the same period ( Peggy wore sunglasses and a blonde wig , so she was not recognizable ) . Peggy Sue was often jealous of Miss Elizabeth and even attacked her during one match . When the WWF phased out its women ' s division in 1990 , Martel remained with the company and turned her attention to managing male wrestlers . At WrestleMania V , Martel appeared backstage and mocked both Rockin ' Robin and Miss Elizabeth . After the main event , Martel confronted Miss Elizabeth , which led to a brawl between Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage . Throughout the remainder of 1989 , Martel and Savage feuded with Hogan and Elizabeth . At SummerSlam , Hogan and Brutus Beefcake defeated Savage and Zeus . After the match , Elizabeth knocked out Martel with her purse , and she , Hogan , and Beefcake cut Martel ' s hair ( a long ponytail hair extension ) . Shortly after , she became known as Sensational Queen Sherri , as Savage defeated " Hacksaw " Jim Duggan to become King of the WWF . At the Royal Rumble in 1990 , Martel appeared on the " Brother Love Show " with Sapphire . After insulting the " common woman " , Martel was slapped by Sapphire . At WrestleMania VI , Martel and Savage lost a mixed tag - team match against Sapphire and Dusty Rhodes after Elizabeth , who was in the corner of Sapphire and Rhodes , interfered and shoved Martel . At SummerSlam in 1990 , Martel defeated Sapphire by forfeit when Sapphire failed to appear for the match . At WrestleMania VII , Savage lost a career match against The Ultimate Warrior . Martel attacked Savage but was thrown from the ring by Elizabeth , who was watching from the audience . When she and Savage parted ways following the career match , Martel became the right hand woman of the " Million Dollar Man " Ted DiBiase . She managed Ted DiBiase until early 1992 and then parted ways with him after she announced that she was in love with Shawn Michaels ; she also sang Michaels theme song called " Sexy Boy " . She managed Michaels during his feuds with Bret Hart and Rick Martel ( who had a flirtatious relationship with Sherri ) . During this time , Michaels had a brief feud with Savage , and Sherri attacked both Elizabeth and Mike McGuirk at ringside during the matches . One night in late 1992 , Marty Jannetty , Michaels ' former tag team partner , entered the ring before one of Michaels ' matches . He grabbed Shawn ' s mirror ( a mirror that Sherri carried in before matches for Shawn to admire himself in before the fight ) , and when he swung the mirror at Michaels , Michaels pulled Sherri in front of him , and she was smashed with the mirror . Sherri disappeared but returned to the WWF at the Royal Rumble in 1993 . She was in a neutral corner for the match between Michaels and Jannetty . Near the end of the match , Martel confronted Michaels outside the ring and slapped him . At the end of the match , she entered the ring to smash him with her shoe , but he ducked , and she hit Jannetty instead . Michaels finished the match and won , while Martel fled the ring in tears . Backstage , Michaels confronted her , and Jannetty came to her rescue . The following week , Martel thanked Jannetty , and she later appeared in his corner for a match against a jobber . After Jannetty left the WWF , Martel was soon left without anyone to manage and found herself accompanying Crush and Randy Savage to the ring for their matches against Michaels at house show s . At WrestleMania IX , Martel accompanied Tatanka for his match against Michaels , who brought Luna Vachon with him . After the match , Luna attacked Martel , and they began feuding . On the April 12 , 1993 edition of " Raw " , Martel attacked Luna in the first women ' s segment on " Raw " . This erupted into a catfight that spilled into the audience , and both women ripped each other ' s clothes off . Throughout April and May 1993 , Martel also appeared in United States Wrestling Association ( USWA ) . She wrestled Miss Texas ( Jacqueline Moore ) and helped Randy Savage in his feud against Jerry Lawler ( who ripped off Martel ' s dress after she interfered in a steel cage match ) . On May 31 , 1993 Martel appeared in the returning Jannetty ' s corner for his match against Bam Bam Bigelow on " Raw " . After the match , Martel called Luna into the ring for a fight . Bigelow interfered , and Tatanka ran to her rescue . During this time , Martel and Luna began having matches at WWF house shows . A couple of weeks later , Martel interrupted an interview with Bigelow , and Tatanka again came to her rescue . When Martel was scheduled to face Luna on television one week , Luna came to the ring with her arm in a cast ( she had broken it in an earlier match against Martel ) . Bigelow and Luna attacked Martel , and Tatanka yet again saved her . This was going to lead to a mixed tag team match pitting Martel / Tatanka against Luna / Bigelow at SummerSlam , but Martel was fired for not passing a drug test . National Wrestling Alliance . Martel re - emerged in Smoky Mountain Wrestling later that year and feuded with Tammy Sytch . She also appeared in the independent National Wrestling Alliance ( NWA ) . On October 22 , 1993 at the " NWA Weekend of Champions " , Martel accompanied Terry Funk against Kevin Sullivan ( with Woman ) . After the match , Martel attacked Woman and put her in a head - scissors . She then appeared at the " NWA Bensalem Bash " on October 30 , 1993 . Martel , with Kathy Fitzpatrick in her corner , defeated Jim Cornette ( with Tammy Sytch in his corner ) in a " loser gets spanked " match . Extreme Championship Wrestling ( 1993 ) . She began working in ECW in autumn of 1993 and soon managed Shane Douglas to the ECW World Championship . ECW began promoting a feud between Martel and Madusa and scheduled a match between them at November to Remember on November 13 , 1993 . Madusa had just signed a WWF contract , so Martel faced Malia Hosaka instead . At " ECW Ultraclash ' 93 " , Martel wrestled in a battle royal against Tigra , Angel , Don E . Allen , Jay " Six Pack " Sulli , Freddie Gilbert , and Hunter Q . Robbins , III . In February 1994 , Martel was going to join WCW to feud with Missy Hyatt , but Hyatt left the company . She later made appearances in WCW aiding Kevin Sullivan and Dave Sullivan in spring 1994 . On February 5 , 1994 Martel accompanied Shane Douglas for a triple threat match against Sabu and Terry Funk . Paul E . Dangerously ( Paul Heyman ) attacked Martel before the match , but she recovered and was active throughout the match ( which ended in a time limit draw ) . Martel made a brief appearance in the Mexican Asistencia Asesoría y Administración ( AAA ) promotion and accompanied Jake Roberts against Konnan , wrestling some dark match es with Mexican ladies Vicky Carranza , Sexi Boom , and Martha Villalobos . She returned to ECW to accompany Shane Douglas in matches against Pat Tanaka and Paul Diamond and then officially joined WCW in May 1994 . Martel stated in later interviews that she loved her time with the promotion and working with Shane Douglas . She feels ECW was more lenient with what they would let the women do , which she liked . World Championship Wrestling ( 1994 – 1997 ) . Martel appeared in World Championship Wrestling in 1994 under the name Sensuous Sherri . She appeared at Slamboree scouting potential new clients in May 1994 . She announced that she would manage who she felt was WCW ' s top star . At " Clash of the Champions XXVII " , just as the match between Ric Flair and Sting got underway , Martel approached the ring wearing face paint identical to Sting ' s . Indeed , she was cheering for him to defeat Flair . Late in the match , Sting attempted to dive over the ropes onto Flair , but The Nature Boy yanked Martel into his path . Sting spent the rest of the match totally distracted and concerned for her , giving Flair the chance he needed to grab Sting ' s tights for an illegal pinfall and become the WCW Champion . Martel then entered the ring to embrace Flair . The new couple attacked Sting until Hulk Hogan ran them off . She helped Flair in feuds against both Sting and Hulk Hogan . After Flair lost a retirement match to Hogan , there were rumors that Martel was going to be paired with Steve Austin , but Austin was soon injured and on his way out of WCW at the time ( Martel had previously managed Flair and Austin in tag team matches . She was also scheduled to manage Austin and Shane Douglas in a tag team match in ECW , but Austin was replaced by Brian Pillman due to his knee injury ) . Behind the scenes , Kevin Sullivan wanted her to be the manager of Ron Simmons , but this was during the time of the Nicole Brown and O . J . Simpson investigation , so they thought that might be pushing it . Instead , Martel began managing Harlem Heat ( Booker T and Stevie Ray ) using the name Sister Sherri . In late 1994 ( while still managing Harlem Heat in WCW ) , Martel made a return appearance in ECW managing Shane Douglas and Brian Pillman ( substituting for an injured Steve Austin ) against Ron Simmons and 2 Cold Scorpio . It was soon evident that Martel only returned to ECW to humiliate her former protege on behalf of Ric Flair . Late in the match , Douglas tried to pin Scorpio but Martel grabbed Scorpio ’ s foot and placed it on the rope to break up the count ( which Douglas didn ' t notice ) . Then Martel went to the top rope and came off with a double axe handle on Douglas . Simmons and Scorpio won after Simmons pinned Pillman . Martel was on the outside showing no remorse for accidentally hitting Douglas . Pillman then went outside and tossed her back in the ring by her hair . Douglas pointed to her chest after Pillman ripped off her jacket and she had a picture of Ric Flair taped to her dress . Douglas ripped the picture off and tore it up , then gave Martel a piledriver for revenge . Back in WCW , at one point in 1995 , it was planned for Martel to manage the tag team of Jean - Paul Levesque and Lord Steven Regal . The duo was slated to capture the tag team title with Martel as their manager and feud with Rick Steiner and Scott Steiner . The plotline was for Martel to turn on Harlem Heat during a title match but Levesque decided to go to the WWF despite offers from then - booker Eric Bischoff of working fewer days for more money . At " Clash of the Champions XXXI " , Harlem Heat and Martel defeated Bunkhouse Buck , Dick Slater , and Col . Robert Parker when Martel pinned Parker . Martel hit her head on the mat and suddenly fell in love with Parker . At " Clash of the Champions XXXII " Martel and Paker were going to get married , but Madusa interrupted the wedding . She and Martel engaged in a catfight , and then wrestled in the first women ' s singles match on " WCW Monday Nitro " on January 29 , 1996 ( Martel pinned Madusa ) . Martel was then fired in February 1996 for not being in proper condition to work at a television taping resulting from developing an addiction to prescription pain killers but cleaned up and returned to WCW by summer of that year , reuniting with Harlem Heat , and she even became involved in a catfight with Debra on an episode of " Nitro " . At the 1996 World War III pay - per - view , Martel defeated Col . Robert Parker by count - out . Martel left WCW in the summer of 1997 . Martel said in later interviews that working with Ric Flair was an honor ( she considered him a friend and says she learned a lot from him ) , and she called Harlem Heat her " two big brothers " and she maintained a friendship with Stevie Ray and Booker T after leaving the company for the final time . The reason she left WCW in 1997 is because she was fired ( " I pissed Eric Bischoff off and he pissed me off and that was just it . " ) Independent circuit . In the late 1990s , Martel worked on the independent circuit . Early in 1999 , Martel competed in a mixed - tag team match for the AWF World Heavyweight Title ( a men ' s title ) . Martel teamed with Squeegee Kid against Missy Hyatt and Ms . B Haven . Hyatt scored an upset and pinned Martel to win the title . In the summer of 1999 , she appeared on the " Heroes of Wrestling " pay - per - view managing George Steele against Greg Valentine . Also in 1999 , she was awarded the AWA Superstars Women ' s Championship . In 2000 , Martel made a brief return to WCW to wrestle Madusa and Mona , but turned down a long - term commitment . This was during the promotion ' s short - lived attempt at recreating a women ' s division . She was originally contacted to manage the newest incarnation of Harlem Heat , but due to a management transition the plans changed . Since she was already backstage , the promoters had her wrestle Madusa on the January 19 , 2000 edition of " WCW Thunder " . She returned and wrestled Mona on the March 11 , 2000 edition of " WCW WorldWide " . After the match , she and Madusa had a confrontation . In 2002 , she made appearances in Ohio Valley Wrestling ( OVW ) feuding with Victoria and managing Rob Conway . In 2005 , Martel appeared at " Wrestle Reunion " in an 8 - woman tag team match ( teaming with Peggy Lee Leather , Krissy Vaine , and Amber O ' Neal wrestling against Wendi Richter , Bambi , Malia Hosaka , and Jenny Taylor ) . Martel ' s team was accompanied by Joyce Grable . World Wrestling Entertainment . In 2005 , she was married and on her honeymoon in Japan when World Wrestling Entertainment ( WWE ) contacted her and asked her to take part in a storyline with Kurt Angle shortly before WrestleMania 21 . She made a return to " SmackDown ! " as part of the Shawn Michaels / Kurt Angle feud leading up to WrestleMania 21 . There she sang a parody of Michaels ' theme song with Angle , but a video showing Shawn ' s history moved Sherri emotionally . Kurt then saw this and applied the Ankle Lock on her . She was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by Ted DiBiase on April 1 , 2006 . She and the rest of the inductees ( excluding Bret Hart ) made an appearance at WrestleMania 22 when they were each introduced to the crowd . She was accompanied by DiBiase during her appearance . Total Nonstop Action Wrestling . Prior to appearing in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ( TNA ) , Martel turned down an offer from Jeff Jarrett to work a program with Trinity . The reason Martel turned down the offer ( as well as the long - term commitment offer to return to WCW in 2000 to feud with Madusa ) is because she did not want to put herself in the position to potentially travel back down the dark road that accompanies the physical and emotional stresses of professional wrestling . On September 4 , 2006 , she worked for TNA , taping a backstage vignette trying to offer her managerial services to " free agent " Bobby Roode that aired on the September 21 , 2006 " TNA Impact ! " ; it was her last television appearance . Personal life . By 2003 , she and her husband Robert lived in Tennessee , where she helped him renovate homes . She was married and divorced at least twice during her life , and Booker Huffman gave her away at one of her weddings . She had one son . Death . On the morning of June 15 , 2007 , Martel died at her mother ' s residence in McCalla , Alabama , near Birmingham . She was 49 years old . On September 11 , 2007 , homicide investigators in Tuscaloosa , Alabama released the toxicology report stating that she died of an overdose with multiple drugs in her system , including high amounts of oxycodone .