Andrew "Test" Martin (born March 17, 1975 in the Toronto suburb of Whitby, Ontario, Canada) was a former
Canadian professional wrestler who served twice in
WWE (first from 1998 to 2004 and second from 2006 to 2007) and once in
TNA from 2007 to 2008 where he wrestled under the name
The Punisher (not to be confused with the
Marvel Comics superhero) from 2007 to 2008. His wrestling career began in 1998.
Martin died on March 13, 2009, at the age of 33, at his home in Tampa, Florida. Martin was pronounced dead after a neighbor called the police when he appeared motionless through a window for several hours. It was later revealed that Martin died from an accidential overdose of oxycodone, and forensic psychologist Dr. Bennet Omalu had found that Martin had severe chronic traumatic encephalopathy, an Alzheimer's-like form of brain damage that fellow wrestler
Chris Benoit was found to have suffered from shortly before his death in 2007, caused by repeated concussions and subconcussive head injuries. Incidentially, Martin died only four days before what would have been his 34th birthday.
You can learn more about Test's
career
at
That Other Wiki.
Not to be confused with the actual tests you do.
Tropes associated with Test:
- The Big Guy: Test was literally big in size, coming in at 6'6" tall. This was played straight in his run as a face.
- Blond Guys Are Evil: Test had blonde hair as a heel.
- The Brute: Played straight in his stint as a heel. This was his role when he was in The Corporation.
- Canada, Eh?
- Co-Dragons: With Finlay from his stint in Team Big Show.
- Demoted to Extra: When Triple H ran a video that admitted he gave future real life wife Stephanie Mc Mahon drugs and taken her to get married in Las Vegas. Stephanie was previously Test's on-screen love interest, and had taken down his push was basically hijacked by Triple H. It then allowed Test to undergo a Face Heel Turn, forming a tag team with Matt "Albert" Bloom known as T & A under the management of Trish Stratus.
- Domestic Abuser: As part of an angle involving Stacy Keibler and Scott Steiner, who didn't turn out to be much better for Stacy.
- Finishing Move: The Diving Elbow Drop; the Pumphandle Slam; the Running Big Boot; the Test Drive (a rolling cutter), and the Test Grade (a spinning fireman's carry cutter).
- Fighting Irish: Andrew Martin is part of a family that has Irish heritage.
- Foreign Wrestling Heel: He was originally Canadian and was a member of the tag team The Un-Americans along with fellow Canadian wrestlers Lance Storm and Christian and British wrestler William Regal.
- Fun with Acronyms: T & A = Test & Albert. Doubles as an allusion to later serving in TNA.
- Getting Crap Past the Radar: When Stacy Keibler was his (kayfabe) girlfriend in 2002, Kiebler proposed naming Test's fans "Testicles".
- I Have Many Names: He's been known as "The Punisher" during his stint in TNA, as well as "Martin Kane", "T.J. Thunder", and "Big Foot" during his short-lived 2005 stint in the independent Italian wrestling promotion Nu-Wrestling Evolution (NWE), where he wrestled alongside Samoa Joe. Interestingly, this was before Test and Samoa Joe wrestled alongside each other in TNA.
- Early on, when joining the WWF, Andrew Martin briefly wrestled under his real name. He made his WWE debut around the time of the 1998 Halloween Episode of Raw is War, which featured a guest appearance by Mötley Crüe. There was a short sketch involving Test and the band during the show.
- Important Haircut
- Mondegreen: No question about it.
- Mundane Made Awesome: His way of delivering the Big Boot turned it from a move generally reserved for large and relatively immobile wrestlers into a very believable finisher.
- Punched Across the Room: He kicked hard.
- Put on a Bus: Test was assumed to have disappeared from WWE events in 2007. In reality, Jim Ross announced on WWE Raw that Test was given a 30 day suspension for violating the WWE Wellness Policy, and had voluntarily requested to leave WWE. In August 2007, Andrew Martin had made his TNA debut, identifying himself as The Punisher.
- Romance on the Set: Around the time of his death, Test was dating Kelly Kelly in Real Life. And before that, he dated Stacy Keibler.
- Sinister Shades: Early in his WWE career.
- Solar and Lunar: His cross logo tattoo on his chest had a sun and moon motif, highlighting his family's Irish heritage.
- Tagalong Kid: From his 1999 run in The Union alongside Mankind, Ken Shamrock, The Big Show, and Vince Mc Mahon.
- Underwear of Power
- What Could Have Been: The WWE Raw "Across the Nation" theme was originally commissioned to be Test's new theme, replacing his original WWF entrance theme "This is a Test". What was to be Test's theme was so good (and for Test himself, Too Good to Last) that the WWE made it the new intro for Raw.
- According to Vince Russo, the original plan in the Test/Stephanie angle was for Test to leave Stephanie at the altar, turn heel and join D Generation X. However, when Russo left, the ending to the angle went with him, and it was spun into putting heat on Triple H. While it did work out quite well in the end, Test was pretty much on the verge of stardom when this decision was made, and as they didn't have anything else for him, he found himself mired in the midcard once again and never regained his former buzz.
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