Test (wrestler)

Andrew James Robert Patrick Martin (March 17, 1975 – March 13, 2009) was a Canadian professional wrestler and actor. He was best known for his time with the World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (WWF/WWE) under the ring name Test.

After training under Bret Hart and Leo Burke, Martin began wrestling on the Canadian independent circuit in 1997. The following year, he signed with the WWF (now WWE) and initially debuted as an unnamed bodyguard, before adopting the Test name. During his nine-year tenure, he won the WWE European Championship and WWE Intercontinental Championship once each, the WWE Hardcore Championship twice, and the WCW World Tag Team Championship and WWE World Tag Team Championship with Booker T once each. He left WWE in 2004, but returned in 2006 to wrestle on the ECW brand. He also appeared for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) in 2007.

Martin was born on March 17, 1975, in Whitby, Ontario, the son of Robert and Margaret Martin. He was the youngest of three children. He attended Henry Street High School, where he played football, hockey and lacrosse. In the mid-1990s, Martin worked as a bouncer and bartender in Oshawa.

In 1997, while at a Planet Hollywood restaurant at the SkyDome in Toronto, Martin met WWF Canada president Carl De Marco, who introduced him to Bret Hart. After Hart offered to train him to wrestle, Martin quit both of his jobs and spent eight months training under both Hart and Leo Burke. He made his professional wrestling debut for the International Wrestling Alliance (IWA) on October 26, 1997, under the ring name Martin Kane, defeating Jamal Hughes and winning a battle royal on the same night.

Martin spent his early career on the Canadian independent circuit and wrestled under the gimmick of T.J. Thunder, a former bodyguard for Wayne Newton. He continued his training with Dory Funk Jr. at Funk's Funkin' Dojo, a training center in Ocala, Florida. In 1998, Martin wrestled for the World Wrestling Alliance (WWA) in Massachusetts. He also took part in the final event of Wild West Wrestling in Saskatchewan, where he won a triangle match for the WWW Heavyweight Championship against Burke and John Cozman.

In May 1998, Martin signed with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). He made his debut on the October 25, 1998 episode of Sunday Night Heat as an unnamed bodyguard for the band Mötley Crüe, who were performing on the show. In a scripted event, Martin threw an overzealous fan off the stage during the band's rehearsal. On the December 14 episode of Raw is War, he aligned himself with WWF Champion The Rock by attacking his rival, Triple H, establishing himself as a heel. Martin made his in-ring debut in a tag team match with The Rock on the following episode of Raw is War, defeating D-Generation X (Triple H and X-Pac) by disqualification after interference from Kane. He soon joined The Corporation stable and received the ring name "Test", since he usually checked the mic saying "test...test..."

On January 24, 1999, Test made his pay-per-view debut at the Royal Rumble, where he entered his first Royal Rumble match at number 21, but was eliminated by Steve Austin. At WrestleMania XV on March 28, Test and D'Lo Brown faced Jeff Jarrett and Owen Hart for the WWF Tag Team Championship in a losing effort. After being removed from the Corporation, Test turned face and joined The Union, who were known to carry 2x4 boards of wood with them. The Union feuded with the Corporate Ministry and defeated them in an eight-man elimination tag team match at Over the Edge on May 23, before quietly disbanding.

Test then began an on-screen relationship with Stephanie McMahon, leading to a "Love Her Or Leave Her" Greenwich Street Fight against her older brother Shane McMahon at SummerSlam on August 22, which Test won for Shane's blessing. The couple were eventually engaged, but during the in-ring ceremony in November, Triple H showed a video revealing that he had drugged Stephanie and taken her to Las Vegas, Nevada, where they were married in a drive-through ceremony. Stephanie subsequently turned on Test by aligning herself with Triple H at Armageddon. For the remainder of the year, Test briefly feuded with D-Generation X, and in early 2000, held the WWF Hardcore Championship for a month.