Marty Garner (real name Martin Garner, also known as Cham Pain) started his wrestling career in the independent scene. Like most wrestlers looking to make it big in the business in the ‘90s, he would eventually find himself in the WWE.
Garner has made numerous appearances for the WWF as an enhancement talent, beginning in May 1994 against Jeff Jarrett. He then made several appearances in 1996 and 1997 against wrestlers such as Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Jerry Lawler, Jim Neidhart, Yoshihiro Tajiri, and Marc Mero.
Marty Garner on Taking Botched Finish From Triple H
“Those first couple times at WWE,” Garner admitted, “I’m sure I scared the crap out of [former WWE CEO] Vince McMahon, where he thought I was a danger. I was trying to do too much. I was a spot monkey.
The Infamous Botched Pedigree
On May 28, 1996, Garner faced Hunter Hearst Helmsley (Triple H) during the taping of WWF Superstars. When Triple H (Paul Levesque, then wrestling as Hunter Hearst Helmsley) and Marty Garner squared off in the squared circle for a May 26, 1996, episode of WWF Superstars, both performers were relatively fresh in their WWE careers.
At one point during the match, Levesque attempted to hit Garner with his Pedigree finisher, a kneeling variation of a double underhook facebuster that Levesque had first begun using during his time with World Championship Wrestling in 1994.
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In May 1996, a simple miscommunication during a WWF Superstars taping turned Triple H’s Pedigree into a near-weapon of destruction, as enhancement talent Marty Garner, expecting a Double Underhook Suplex, suffered terrifying neck damage that was aired on WWE TV. The exact moment Triple H (then wrestling as Hunter Hearst Helmsley) botched his Pedigree on enhancement talent Marty Garner during the May 28, 1996 taping of WWF Superstars.
During the match, Helmsley went for his finisher, the Pedigree. It is reported that Garner, who had not taken the move before and assumed it was either a double underhook powerbomb or suplex, gave much more jump into the move and attempted to flip out of it while Helmsley went through the move as usual.
This resulted in a very violent version of the move in which Garner landed directly on top of his head and suffered neck damage. Marty Garner would suffer severe neck damage as a result of this move gone wrong.
Watch the chilling moment when Marty Garner misread Hunter Hearst Helmsley’s (Triple H) setup and took a devastating, head-first Pedigree during the May 28, 1996, WWF Superstars taping.
Despite the move being botched it was still broadcast on Superstars show, and even featured as the WWF's Slam of the Week.
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Moments after Triple H’s (then wrestling as Hunter Hearst Helmsley) Pedigree went wrong. Marty Garner lands directly on his head during their May 28, 1996, WWF Superstars match, suffering severe neck damage.
Unsurprisingly, the botched Pedigree incident spawned numerous speculations regarding Marty Garner’s standing with the WWE (then the World Wrestling Federation).
“[Triple H] was new up there, I’m new up there doing some jobs. He said, ‘Can you take the Pedigree?’ I said, ‘Absolutely!’ I had no idea what the Pedigree was. I was just gonna kick.
Thankfully, there was no bad blood between Triple H and Garner following their controversial match.
Garner went on, “A few years later, it showed up again in a magazine.
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“I never get any autographs from anybody, I never get anybody to sign anything, but I did get him to sign a picture of me in the air with him doing what looked like a double-underhook piledriver.
Life After WWE
Following this, Garner appeared on several daytime talk shows including Sally Jessy Raphael, Jenny Jones and, most notably, on Montel Williams in an episode about former "geeks" reuniting with past tormentors. Discussing the incident on the show, a clip of Garner's match against Helmsley, including the botched Pedigree, was also shown.
After jobbing in the WWF, Garner worked in independent promotions in North Carolina. His most successful was OMEGA Championship Wrestling as Cham-Pain founded in 1997 by his good friends The Hardy Boyz.
He became the OMEGA New Frontiers Champion defeating Kid Dynamo on January 29, 1999. Also in July 1999, Cham-Pain won the OMEGA Heavyweight Championship defeating Venom.
OMEGA folded in October 1999 making him the very last OMEGA New Frontiers Champion. Cham-Pain carried the OMEGA Heavyweight Championship retaining the title in other promotions.
Garner began appearing in ECW in 1999 as the Ragin' Cajun, managing Rod Price. On September 14, 2000, Garner made an appearance for World Championship Wrestling teaming with Toad losing to SGT. AWOL and Cpl.
After managing the Dupps and losing the OMEGA Heavyweight Title, Garner continued working in North Carolina promotions most notably Carolina Wrestling Federation Mid-Atlantic.
Garner returned in the now renamed WWE again for two appearances in 2006, wrestling in a tag team match against Kid Kash and Jamie Noble on SmackDown!
Marty Garner’s post-WWE journey led him to work as Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson’s production assistant on Walking Tall (2004), a testament to his life after the infamous botch and a pivot that underscores how far he bounced back.
“I was doing some stunts on a video game for Epic Games,” Garner described.
“I go out there, and the guy I was working for at the video game studio, he goes, ‘Do you know The Rock?’ ‘Of course, I used to do some jobs at WWE, I was an enhancement guy.‘ ‘I’m gonna call him and tell him you’re with me.
“He called Dwayne and left him a message, ‘Marty Garner is with me.’ We’re waiting to call back and he never calls back.
“We go out there, they were wrapping up and The Rock was gone. We found his stunt double and asked him where Rock was.
“We went to this bar with Tanoai Reed [Rock’s stunt double and cousin] and he called Rock up, ‘Do you know Marty Garner?
“I hear Rock on the other end popping, ‘Put him on the phone. What are you doing here?
“We come out there, it’s 12:30, one o’clock at night, and they’re wrapping up a scene.
“‘That ain’t me. That’s him.
“I stayed there that weekend. We had a blast. Got to meet Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake one night at the club.
Garner would come out of retirement in 2019 after 11 years.
Nearly three decades have passed since that fateful May night in 1996, when two inexperienced wrestlers created one of wrestling’s most infamous moments.