RIP Test

Much as I hate to be the bearer of bad news – I felt it necessary to comment on the latest wrestling related death. Andrew Test Martin was found dead in his Florida apartment. The cause of death is as yet unknown, according to that articles I’ve read. An autopsy will be performed in the holes of answering that question.
As I sit here I can’t quite pinpoint what will be the legacy of Test/The Punisher. I think I remember him most from his storyline where he was to marry Stephanie McMahon. Triple H then interfered and he married a drugged out Steph and this led to the McMahon-Helmsley Era storyline. That however was some ten years ago now. Where does that leave him? Admittedly, I rarely find TNA on the dial so anything being done there falls on my indifference curve (thank God Christian Cage is back in the WWE – I missed the leader of the peeps). Therefore, Martin’s Punisher gimmick is lost on me. But he was there for less than a year so I don’t think that’s his legacy.
At the other end of the spectrum is how I really remember him. He was a presence. He had a great look. But I don’t ever perceive him as having been over, despite his working with the Rock, HHH and the McMahons. If you really want to trample the man’s grave you can say his was a career of unfulfilled talent. I don’t see it that way however. He never got the big push because he wasn’t that good on the mic.
I can hear you now running off the names of champs who weren’t good on the mic. Taker, Kane, Jeff Hardy, Mysterio, Benoit (which may or may not have ever happened if the VKM had his way [cocksucker…]), Lashley, Lesnar. The last two on that list is no longer with the company, no big loss. The first two on that list are so far over that they don’t need the strap, but were rewarded for their services. The two in the middle were just too good of workers to never hold a strap. Test was never that proficient in the ring. I think I found a place for Test in the books. He’s Kevin Nash without the mic skills. Kev has definitely deteriorated in terms of ring work, but he’ll always have a job because he’s great, nay classic, on the mic and a good to great storyteller in the ring.
I’m sure this won’t make the tombstone of Andrew Test/Punisher Martin. And it’s not intended to be chapter and verse on the man who was a son, cousin, nephew, friend outside the ring. It’s merely a reflective look at his career. And I meant what I sad in the most positive way. Sadly, this is how the film ends for Randy the Ram, nine times out of ten. RIP Andrew Martin.