Height: 6'8"
Weight: 265 lbs.
Hometown: Rocky Ford, Colorado
Age: 30
Alignment: Heel
Entrance music: "The Garden of Allah" by Don Henley
Current leagues: AEWA
Past leagues: CSWA, EFW (Prodigy league), NWCI, WWL
Titles previously held: CSWA Greensboro champion, EFW World champion, NWCI UFC champion, NWCI UFC tag team champion, NWCI I-C tag team champion (two times), WWL Brass Knuckles champion.
Appearance: Martin is a tall, fairly muscular guy, athletically-built, short dark brown hair, brown eyes and a goatee. To the ring, he wears a standard wrestling singlet, black in color, with a yellow "DEAD END" sign with the letters in black lettering on the front of the singlet, plus black kneepads and white wrestling boots.
Personailty: Derek Martin is essentially the ring veteran who, because of his various dealings in the business, has changed from a man who was once a nice guy to a man who is cold and calculating. His motivations now are to simply cause havoc and take out whoever gets in his path, be it the young up-and-coming wrestler or the ring veteran who commands respect from his peers. He's become quite dangerous as a result of his change in attitude.
Finishing move: The Dead End (top-rope double underhook DDT)
Personal info: Meloneer is an avid writer, and has previously considered pursuing a career as an author or magazine writer after his wrestling career.
Biography: Derek Martin, at one time, was generally a nice guy from a small town. He grew up working on a large farm owned by his parents, and also competed in high school wrestling, becoming a three-time state high school champion. He turned down college scholarships to continue working on the farm, but eventually was encouraged to become a pro wrestler.
Interesting, though, how time can change a man.
When he first started his career, billed as Rocky Ford Meloneer, he was your typical babyface who simply wanted to go out and give it his best every night. But during his time spent on the wrestling circuit, he became more hardened as he found himself struggling to deal with the uglier side of wrestling, such as seeing politics firsthand, watching friendships grow sour, and at times, feeling as if he couldn't earn the respect of his peers. While on the outside, it seemed as though these things weren't bothering him, it was changing him on the inside.
A neck injury in early 1998 forced him to retire, and he indicated he had no plans to return to the wrestling scene. That didn't last long, however, when he returned two years later to the WWL, one of his old stomping grounds, and indicated he was going to be just "having fun" in the wrestling business...and that "fun" of his generally seemed to be trying his best to make life miserable for his enemies and for promoters.
He would decide to call it quits again when the WWL changed ownership, but he couldn't get away from the various offers from other promoters who saw him in action, and wanted him to compete in the wrestling rings again.
And eventually, they prodded him back into action again...but with a difference: Rocky Ford Meloneer would be no more...and "Dead End" Derek Martin, a man who no longer is out to just "give his best every night" and instead is bent on causing damage, particularly to the younger wrestlers in the business, be it those just wanting to earn their way to the top, or those who believe people are out to hold them back.
In other words, Derek is no longer a nice guy...the darker side of his personality has come forward...and that spells trouble.
My thoughts on Derek Martin: When he was known as Rocky Ford Meloneer, I thought I did a good job developing various sides of his character, but never really stayed focus on one side in particular, and that's why I retired him at several points. Now, with the focus being on how the business has changed him and his attitudes, I think he's going to be a better-defined character. Time will tell how that develops in the future, however.