Matt Hardy Remembers Late WWE Star Andrew 'Test' Martin
Andrew "Test" Martin was an impressive young man when he debuted in WWE in late 1998 at 23-years-old. Test won multiple tag team and singles championships in WWE and was involved in a few significant storylines, such as his 1999 on-screen engagement to Stephanie McMahon. TNA Wrestling star Matt Hardy, who feuded with Test in WWE, spoke about his departed friend on "The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy."
"(Test) had a great look, man. He was talented, he was very athletic, had a great look, good body. He was a pretty charismatic guy too in the big scheme of things, he was funny," Hardy remembered.
Hardy and Test knew each other before appearing on WWE TV as the two were trained by Dory Funk Jr. at the Funking Conservatory Professional Wrestling School, also known as the "Funkin' Dojo." Hardy's co-host Jon Alba brought up how Test's real-life charismatic personality did not translate on-screen to which Hardy agreed.
"I think the best thing you could've done is ask him to be himself because he was a guy who you could tell he'd spent his life getting the hot girls and kind of doing what he's doing," Hardy said. "Like, people think he's cool, (he's) the guy in the room they want to around; that radiated from him whenever you were around him. So, if they could've brought more of that out, if they brought Andrew Martin out of 'Test' maybe it would've been a better fit to try and just have him be more of himself."
In 2009, Martin tragically passed away days before his 34th birthday from a painkiller overdose. Martin reached out to WWE in August 2008 for their rehabilitation program which was accepted by the company; WWE offers this fully paid lifelong service for any current or past talent.
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy" with a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
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