June 25, 2007 Observer Newsletter: Sherri Martel passes away, Royce Gracie fails drug test

Sherri Martel, the greatest female performer in North America during the 80s and 90s, passed away on 6/15 under mysterious circumstances at her mother’s trailer home in McCalla, AL, near Tuscaloosa, at the age of 49.

Martel, also known as Sensational Sherri, Scary Sherri (when managing Randy Savage) and Sister Sherri (when managing Harlem Heat), was not just the best female manager in history, but one of the best managers period. In 1991, she won the Manager of the Year award during a period when the greatest mangers ever, like Jim Cornette, Bobby Heenan and Jimmy Hart were still active.

She had faded from the scene in recent years, doing limited independent dates because a painful lower back injury from all the crazy bumps she took as a female version of Heenan at ringside. The injury made traveling hard and bumping impossible. She had been told that she could be paralyzed if she was on a flight and it had a particularly bad landing. But she had a great time seeing wrestlers at several recent fan conventions. She was the life of the party, and in many ways, stole the show at the 2006 WWE Hall of Fame inductions in Chicago.

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