Also in the WWF, Martel continued to act as a manager to wrestlers such as Randy Savage, Ted DiBiase, and Shawn Michaels.

Sherry Lynn Russell was born on February 8, 1958, in Birmingham, Alabama, and grew up playing basketball and participating in track and field.

In 1974, Martel approached Grizzly Smith for advice on becoming a wrestler, but he questioned her conviction and told her to come back to him in 1980 when she was an adult.

[9][10] Renaming herself Sensational Sherri, she reigned as WWF Women's Champion for fifteen months before losing it to Rockin' Robin on October 8, 1988, in Paris.

[13] When the WWF phased out its women's division in 1990, Martel remained with the company and turned her attention to managing male wrestlers.

Her primary role was to irritate Honky's opponents—namely, Randy "Macho Man" Savage and Brutus "the Barber" Beefcake—and interfere in his matches.

[19] In February 1992, during Paul Bearer's interview segment The Funeral Parlor, Sherri declared she was now "in love" with Shawn Michaels, who had just turned on his longtime tag team partner Marty Jannetty.

Martel would suffer a similar embarrassment to that which she had suffered at the hands of Warrior when she ran in the ring to aid Savage in a steel cage match in Memphis against his old enemy in the area, Jerry "The King" Lawler, but after accidentally knocking Savage from the ring, she had her dress yanked off by Lawler as she climbed the cage to escape.

After her WWF release, Martel had a brief spell in Smoky Mountain Wrestling, siding with Tracy Smothers in a feud with Tammy Sytch, Brian Lee, as well as several intergender matches with Jim Cornette.

In an interview with Gene Okerlund, she said her goal was to find a man that can bring her the WCW World Heavyweight Championship.

Although she revealed in the beginning of the match she sided with Sting (including wearing his signature face paint), it turned out to be a double cross, as she sided with Flair, who won the match and unified the titles, double-teaming Sting, until the newly signed Hulk Hogan made the save.

At Bash at the Beach, Martel tried to help Flair to defeat Hogan in a match by giving him brass knuckles, but failed.

Next, Martel began managing Harlem Heat (Booker T and Stevie Ray) using the name Sister Sherri.

The first was at the Souled Out 2000 pay-per-view event, watching at ringside during the Chris Benoit vs. Sid Vicious matchup for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship.

After leaving WCW, Martel won the IWA Mid-South Women's Title defeating Debbie Combs on August 28, 1997.

[27] Early in 1999, Martel competed in a mixed-tag team match for the Apocalypse Wrestling Federation's Heavyweight Championship, a title held predominately by men.

[28] In October 1999, she appeared on the Heroes of Wrestling pay-per-view managing Greg Valentine in a match against George Steele.

[3] She wrestled her very last match at WrestleReunion on January 29, 2005, teaming with Peggy Lee Leather, Amber O'Neal and Krissy Vaine losing to Wendi Richter, Malia Hosaka, Bambi and Jenny Taylor.

In 2005, she returned to WWE to take part in a storyline with her former client, Shawn Michaels, and Kurt Angle shortly before their match at WrestleMania 21.

[1] On September 11, 2007, homicide investigators in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, released the toxicology report stating that she died of an accidental overdose with multiple drugs in her system, including high amounts of oxycodone.