Following Andrew “Test” Martin’s departure from World Wrestling Entertainment in 2007, the former Intercontinental Champion had a brief run in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.
Identified as “The New Enforcer in TNA”, “The Punisher” Andrew Martin made his debut in the company on the August 2, 2007 episode of TNA Impact. Debuting as a babyface, he aligned himself with Abyss and Sting by helping the two defeat AJ Styles and Christian Cage in a tag team ladder match.
A little over one week later at the Hard Justice pay-per-view, Martin, Abyss, and Sting defeated Styles, Christian Cage, and Tomko (Christian’s Coalition) in a Doomsday Chamber of Blood match after Styles was Black Hole Slammed into a pile of broken glass and pinned by Abyss.
This would prove to be Martin’s one and only match in TNA as company officials decided against offering him a contract due to concerns over his physical size in light of the impending United States Congress investigation into the wrestling business following the Chris Benoit family tragedy. Additionally, his unimpressive wrestling debut, the feeling that he wouldn’t mesh well in the locker room, and an untimely post he wrote on his MySpace account defending the usage of steroids in professional wrestling, also factored into the company’s decision to not bring him back.
Regarding the MySpace post, Martin defended steroids by saying they’re mostly used for cosmetic reasons, and compared them to a facelift or botox. However, he said it’s wrong for athletes in other sports to use them because steroids give them a competitive edge.
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