Wednesday, December 21, 2011

JG's Ten Good Guy Wrestling Characters Who Would Have Been Great Heels
By James Guttman Dec 3, 2011 - 12:38 PM 
There was once a time when wrestlers didn't turn from good to bad every week. In fact, many characters from years gone by never left one side of the fence. They either always fought for good or always pushed the villainous agenda. But in hindsight, there were more than a few heroes who could have been downright nasty if given the chance. There's a ton of them, but here are ten that I think would have been just fine if they ever decided to switch to the evil dressing rooms…

http://www.worldwrestlinginsanity.com/am2/publish/JGcolumns/JG_s_Ten_Good_Guy_Wrestling_Characters_Great_Heels.shtml

Z-Man
Tom_Zenk.jpg


Tom Zenk. They called him the Z-Man. It's because his last name started with the letter Z, not because he made people fall asleep.
But don't quote me on that. I'm only about 75% sure.
The Z-Man came to WCW in the late 1980s fresh from the WWF. As a member of the Can-Am Connection, Tom walked out on his tag team with Rick Martel, forcing the future model to find a new partner. WWF at the time was known for ignoring wrestler departures, but not this time. Portrayed as a deserter, Tom's absence was told to WWF fans and explained as something shameful.
When WCW picked him up, they ignored that and just made him a happy guy in pink trunks. You just accepted it. Who knows? Maybe Tom was just such a nice guy that there was nothing else for him to do. After all, look at that smile. I bet he couldn't say a bad word about anyone. Like if Jim Ross had said something negative about him, he'd be the type of guy to brush it off.
"What's Iceface going to say? It would be like reverse discrimination if I didn't trash Iceface, right? Did you hear about the new doll they have in the WWF? This is just something I saw on the Internet. The story goes that H. Bomb, Jr. fell asleep in the snow and he woke up as Iceface. Yeah, and you can put a buck in his slot and he'll say anything you want. He talks out of both sides of his mouth…" - Tom Zenk
Uh…Holy Crap?
Before shooting online became an art form, Tom Zenk, well, made it an art form. After leaving the business, the former Z-Man spoke out on everyone from Dusty Rhodes to Vince McMahon and did it all with style. Stinging with his words, Tom left fans shocked, stunned, and wondering...
Where was this guy in WCW? I would have paid money to watch this guy.

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Zenk wrestles for Kelloggs

Amanda Hugankiss
wrote Thu May 20, 2004

I've got these tapes in my office I pulled from my company's archives of an event we did for a client of ours in 1989. The client is a cereal giant that was having a sales and marketing meeting at the Minneapolis Hyatt Regency. We hired the AWA to put on show as part of the meeting. .......

I'll describe the event the best I can here. The tapes are different camera angles and isos that were later edited and given to the client. We probably used far more cameras than the AWA was used to. Larry Nelson emceed and anounced from a table in the back. There's a good 20 minutes of an iso camera showing Nelson sitting there bored to death trying to stay awake during part of the program. A guy he announced as Dale Gagne was the ring announcer and Gary Derusha(sp?) was the ref. They changed the names of all the wrestlers for the matches. The faces all represented our client naturally and they won all the matches.

First match was Total the Terrible versus Nutri Rockne (face). Both looked familiar but I can't identify.

Second match was Hondo Honeybee who looked very familiar versus Mr Opportunity (face), the only African American who was announced as being from Omaha and had a jerry curl hairdo.

Third match was The General announced as the leader of that team who I did recognise as Colonel DeBeers versus Doctor K (face) who was none other than Wahoo McDaniels big chop and all.

Final match was a tag team event between a team called the Mills Brothers who looked familiar but I can't identify. Both had black mullets and wore zebra striped tights, one was bare foot and looked Asian and the other looked like Billy Ray Cyrus. They could pass as brothers in the wrestling world and since they had identical tights I assume they wrestled as a team in the AWA. Their opponents were called the S&M team standing of course for sales and marketing. They were the faces and were actually Greg Gagne and Tom Zenk.

The faces won all the matches which were all 10 minutes or less. The S&M team accepted a trophy from the top exec at the end of the show. Cereal was used as a prop in several matches, once to blind a wrestler and Gagne after taking a beating and getting thrown out of the ring eats a handful of our clients cereal and does the Popeye-Spinach routine to rally back in to the match. DeBeers did a good job as head heel and destroyed lots of cereal boxes.

The only reference to the AWA was the logo in the middle of the ring they used. The producer who did this show said it was a lot of fun. During rehearsals they had the wrestlers doing elbow and leg drops on full cereal boxes. I know that Curt Henning was one of the guys who had a great time smashing cereal all over the place because I saw that footage years ago. I'm not sure why he wasn't part of this event. We might have done several days of meetings with different shows each session or the elbow drops on cereal were done just for the fun of it. I only have the footage that I've described. The rest is with the client or lost in the archives.

I don't mention our clients by name but I think you can figure it out.

Friday, August 12, 2011


Monday, August 8, 2011


Saturday, July 30, 2011

Tom Zenk 6 attires with alt blonde hair.2 mpks for 6 attires included 2 portraits entrance hack (by Yandaolution)moveset (by dabaddguy) no blood  (source)





Credit-
Orson's Rick Martel base for arms,legs,trunks and hair on chest back.
Snypernfsu2 body face template knee pads.
Ramfan22890 laces on boots.
Raw 2 hair
DoR2 boots
Lower brightness yandaolution
finding attire 6 dabaddguy
Cam-am connection jacket credit Orson's baseball jacket
entrance hack yandaolution
Moveset-dabaddguy

Big thanks to Orson mostly his bases dabaddguy for the smooth moves
and Yandaolution for the awesome entrance hack.


http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=2bf5c66...4bbec0582a7e90e
 Remembering Dino Bravo( Discussion the anniversary of Dino Bravo's death in 1992)
".....Im glad you pointed that steroid thing out. In Fact Bravo Started using them only when he joined the WWF back in 1986-87 because McMahon wanted him to have bigger arms. And that's something that Bravo said on many occasions. When he was wrestling in Montreal in the early 80's, Bravo constantly gained some weight but always kept his awesome agility. He lost that agility the day he started using Steroids in the WWF. But if you go on youtube, you will see many of Bravo's old matches from montreal and you will see that Dino was not just a powerhouse and an agile wrestler. He also was a good scientific wrestler. And he was a teacher for the International Wrestling promotion School in  Montreal. And amongst his students was a wrestler by the name of Tom Zenk."

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Tom Zenk - AWA referee for a night

"By the way, I noticed during an old match between Hulk Hogan and Jesse Ventura that the referee was an even younger looking Tom Zenk." MICHAEL BRANCH,Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta


Snapshot  taken at local AWA house shows in the Rockford, Illinois area by Dixie Moulton around 1985. (source)

true or false?

Click on image to read full post

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Wrestling Fancam - 10/29/92 - TOM ZENK/Marcus Alexander Bagwell vs "Stunning" Steve Austin/Vader

 House Show action - October 29th, 1992 - Danville, IL - Tag team action -TOM ZENK/Marcus Alexander Bagwell vs "Stunning" Steve Austin/Vader




Friday, July 22, 2011

Fan photos



Scissors, scissors, paper      Big Van Vader, Johnny and Tom Zenk  -


Wrestling Observer Newsletter
May 27, 1991


- Owen Hart, who had previously wrestled for the company in January, and Colorado independent worker Too Cold Scorpio wrestled dark matches at TV tapings this week. We can confirm that Owen Hart has signed, and Scorpio might not be far behind. In January, Hart turned down WCW's offer, but now there is apparently more money on the table. There's some feeling that signing Hart will be a nice doorway to his brother-in-law, the recently released from the WWF Davey Boy Smith.

- The company's big angle at the moment is the ninja that appeared this week to stare down Flair. WCW brass has been very tight lipped with who the character will be, but we have learned that it is not a long term angle, and that Tom Zenk filled the role at the tapings. They feel that by dragging it out it would bring comparisons to the Black Scorpio angle last year, which was a critical and box office bust.

- The One Man Gang might be gone. He missed one of the TV tapings which caused an angle to be scrapped. Although his match was shown on TV this week, he's not on any immediate booking sheets. If Gang is gone, casualties by association may be Black Blood (Billy Jack Haynes) and Kevin Sullivan, neither of whom have really impressed on their current run.

- It appears that Butch Reed is on his way out of the company. He is no longer being managed by Teddy Long and we've been told he's just finishing his dates and will not be resigned.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

WWE Vintage Collection - May 8 2011

Cactus Jack & Abdullah the Butcher vs. Tom Zenk & Brian Pillman - January 11 1992 


Foley & Abbey take on the Z-Man and Pillman when he was known as Flyin' Brian.  Much has been said about the substandard business that WCW were doing then but this was truly from an era where I personally loved the company.  Zenk and Pillman were a tremendous tag team and Foley and Abdullah were a strange tag team in that they were actually in a feud with one another at the same time; the demented crazies that they were. 

Extremely lively match where all the wrestlers got their chance in the ring with no side having the upper hand.  In an exchange between Cactus and Pillman, the Flyin' one botched a move off the tope rope (either that or it was deliberate and  I'm just stoopit) and injures his hamstring.


This led to Pillman suffering a disadvantage as Cactus worked on his injured leg and Abdullah hit him with his patented shrunken-head-on-a-stick outside the ring.  The gruesome twosome would continue to their wicked ways until the Z-Man was eventually tagged in, but while the ref was distracted, Cactus would whack him over the head with the shrunken-head-on-a-stick (copyright, Jim Ross) and the Butcher picked up the pinfall victory.  In the post-match beatdown of Pillman and Zenk, Cactus would inadvertently hit his partner with the shrunken-head-on-a-stick which led to both partners brawling to the back as they did almost every time they tagged back then.

click here - http://bit.ly/nnBE80


Tom Zenk Interview Transcript (2001)
June 2, 2011
By
 Listen to the entire Tom Zenk Pro Wrestling Radio Interview.

The following extensive interview features former AWA, WCW, & WWE wrestler Tom Zenk. Zenk was one of the most outspoken guests in Pro Wrestling Radio history and talks about the current state of WCW, Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes, Eric Bischoff, Brian Pillman, Hulk Hogan, Diamond Dallas Page, and more. The interview was taped January 06, 2001 and was broadcast on Pro Wrestling Radio.

Tom Zenk: Happy New Year Eric and thanks for having me back. At least you’ve got guts, you’re controversial, and you’re a loose cannon just like my partner Pillman was – that’s why I like you.

Eric - Are you surprised at the response you have gotten in the last few months over your interviews?

Tom - It’s not about the publicity, it’s all a work right? What do I know?

Eric - What are your thoughts on a recent statement [by Bob Ryder] that accused you of not being qualified to make the recent opinions you’ve made about WCW and their potential sale?

Tom - Who? Bob? Bob who? Bob Ryder? He’s a nobody right? Well, I guess we could go down the Bob Barnett path – I think Barnett called Ryder, “‘A disgusting human being, a piece of garbage.” But, that really doesn’t seem fair does it Eric? I’ve never met the guy. I’d prefer to take the high road and take Goldberg’s line and NOT say Ryder is just ‘a fat, bald, goofy looking shill for Eric and DDP’. In fact, I’d like to take my direction from Sting and Buff Bagwell – all ‘born agains’ right? I want to FORGIVE Bob Ryder because, Bob Ryder doesn’t know me, and he certainly doesn’t know anything about my time in WCW. Where was Bob in those days? I heard he came in with Bischoff in 1997. They met on the Net and I know Bob is doing a great job as a stooge for DDP and Eric, and he’s got a right to collect a paycheck just like anyone.
Look at all the good work Ryder does – like last week, he was putting out fires for DDP, acting as a peacemaker for Page and Steiner. Page was fighting with Steiner and Steiner was getting over the top with all the publicity and making DDP look like the girl that he is. Page, oh gosh, he got ten security guys to back him up before he picked a fight with Steiner. And it took a full minute to get Scotty Steiner off him – even with ten security guards. My advice to Page is to jump off a building, go kill yourself, rather than fight with Scotty Steiner. He beat you up in a minute. You had ten guys and they couldn’t pull him off. Maybe have Kimberly fight your fights, DDP because you’re a woman. One good thing is that WCW got a good angle. They got a shoot match with Steiner and Page. Winner takes Kimberly, right? I’d buy the pay per view.
My guess is that Bob tried to trash me because I have been raising issues about the WCW sale to Bischoff. What do you think that the Securities Exchange Commission would find if they looked into that? A fire sale to the arsonist. Bob, I never met you and you have a right to your opinion just as I do ….. But Bob, answer the questions!! I asked 5 questions in my LAW interview. People … want you to answer those 5 simple questions.
I saw you gave Curt Hennig an interview?

Eric - I  did.

Tom - He was pretty cool. I was a geek in high school, a big time geek. He gave me the answers to tests in class and if guys would pick on me, he’d say “Shut up, Zenk’s all right.” He just took a liking to me because I was always a nice guy. That’s what the wrestlers would tell you, if you got them one-on-one, was that I was a nice guy. I always treated them nice. You could always be a jerk, but I treated them nice. Curt said I’ve got big ones right? Yeah, well write this down Eric. Five questions and you could really blow this WCW deal apart. Let’s start the new year off with a bang! I cannot believe that the mainstream wrestling journalists are watching the WCW sale go through without raising any questions. They’re already accepting Bischoff’s deal as a done deal. These are the questions that Ryder didn’t answer. And the questions that wrestling journalists should be asking Time Warner and TBS

- Is it OK to sell WCW at a depressed price to the guy that made WCW unprofitable in the first place?
- Is there a conflict of interests in Bischoff being paid as an employee to negotiate the sale of a company to himself?
Just imagine if you had stock in the Time Warner, right?
You learn in your life to do the right thing? I’m no hypocrite – I did the wrong thing plenty of times -but I TRY to do the right thing. Especially for Ted Turner. (Johnny Ace and myself were invited to Turner’s Christmas party in 1990 to put a good spin on wrestling). I’m truly loyal to Ted Turner.
- What about due diligence? Is TBS applying due diligence to the sale?
I mean, come on! Has anyone done a cost-benefit analysis of the implications of the AOL-Time Warner merger for its wrestling product? I mean, real money could be made selling wrestling product across all AOL-Time Warner media outlets. You could download wrestling, you could watch wrestling on demand via the net, etc. Vince would kill for all of their outlets world wide. Is Siegel that naive? …. I can’t believe Time Warner could be so stupid to give all this away to Bischoff for pennies.


Eric - Are you surprised that the sale of WCW has really only come down to two companies?

Tom - Well I’m not surprised that Vince didn’t want to buy it. I’ll bet you money Vince just wanted to get a look at their books. He wanted to get a look at their books and see how to manipulate the guys…….
I think that the Turner people are frustrated because they know they’ve been conned. I mean carnies, cons, and it took them 10 years to see through that?….. In the South it’s called the “watermelon con.” Dusty, you know he is just clever. The “Tennessee handshake,” the right hand out and the left hand with a shiv in the back stabbing you. That’s what they’ve got going on. (In Dusty’s voice) “Hey, Z baby, what you got going on?”

Eric - I tell a story about a recent Interview with the Hokytonk Man, where Honky said Dusty had promised that he would take a ton of guys to Turner with him and never returned anyone’s calls.

Tom - Yeah, he’s just a con, and he’s just a silly con now. It’s poetic justice isn’t it – a great irony that Dusty is still taking bumps?  Dusty used his hair, then his hat, to hide his scars from blading. In the ring he used white tape to exaggerate them. In real life, was Dusty ashamed of his ‘fat superman’ persona?
I heard a rumor once that he went bankrupt in Carolina. In Texas and Carolina. Dusty’s the guy who drove Crockett into the ground. And then he’s going to be in control of my life as WCW booker? Steamboat, told me, when wrestling’s hot, it’s hot and ‘two crickets in the ring could draw’. That’s how the second generation sons get into the business – and now Flair justifies it because Gagne did it, Watts did it, Rhodes did it and that’s ‘just the way it’s done’. Well, that’s not the smart way, that’s not the right way…… Greg Gagne? the guys used to like to slam him because he was light like a kite. He’d come up like nothing. He was fun to slam.

Eric - How did the locker room feel about Greg in the AWA days? Was there any animosity?

Tom - No, but Brad Rheingans told me a story one time and it’s kind of sad. He said to Verne, “We protect the business, we put guys through torture in training camp. I was your shooter in camp and trained them but I’ve had to defend your son Greg more than anyone. Anything you’ve ever stood for, a good amateur athletic background. Explain it to me.” (Imitating Verne Gagne) “What do you want me to do? He’s my son, he’s my son. My God!” OK, that’s the sad irony of it, but Greg could work. He put him in a tag team. He didn’t push him like Dusty pushed his son,” The Natural baby,” or Bill Watts put his son over.
Remember Arn Anderson and Doug Dillenger did that con in a gas station to put Erik over? Arn suggested it to Bill Watts, because his contract was up. He was trying to buy longevity or kiss ass to get another contract with easy money from the Turner people, putting the booker’s son over. That’s pretty gracious of Arn. He didn’t step forward and say that he could work a program for me. Neither did Flair but he was good enough to put on a great match with Russo. This is just my opinion. I’m not bitter – I have a better way. I know how to make the playing field level. A meritocracy. We’d have skill based incentives for the wrestlers and make it a team – but not like a Dusty team or clique….. All the bookers have had their chance in WCW. Kevin Sullivan, Terry Taylor, Kevin Nash, you name them. (Imitating Dusty’s voice) ‘Who was the genius baby?’ The only one that had success was Bischoff, because he stole talent from the WWF. Shane McMahon said it best, “My dad made them.”and he did. They made them on WWF TV and how much did the Time Warner shareholders lose when they had to pay off the court costs?
Bischoff and the new WCW will be bankrupt in a year!
Eric doesn’t know how to run anything. He’ll bankrupt those other guys. Give him a year, 18 months at the most. Remember when he wrote on the Internet about ‘Bischoff and the brand names’? Where are the brand names? Where are they now? They are sitting at home and collecting money. They can’t draw on pay per views. WCW PPV’s draw one-tenth of what WWF does!! Just another con, just trying to hang on. Eric’s just a guy that likes hanging around big guys. Hulk is his guy. Where has Hulk been? Is he still getting paid to sit home?

Eric - What is Hogan’s legacy?

Tom - Hulk Hogan had the best houses I’ve ever been on, when he was working with Paul Orndorff. Orndorff was a freak of nature and a great wrestler and aggressive. He had that big square mandible. He looked tough, he was IT. Great body, OK. Hulk Hogan drew but everyone fed Hulk Hogan. Hulk was king, but it was like Bockwinkel and Verne. They had a deal going on, and there was just one top guy. (I suppose now it’s Triple H or the Rock or Steve Austin). But back then, Hogan was the guy in WWF, and they had the biggest houses I’ve ever been on. I would get goosebumps sitting backstage. I couldn’t believe it. They were packed! OK, Today and Hogan’s legacy. What is it? What did Hogan give back? Why did he trash a guy like Kidman? A good looking kid like that- why didn’t he help him instead? ‘Feed the little fish’, whatever you want to call it. Feed him, bring him up, build the self esteem of the whole team. What’s Hogan’s legacy? He didn’t want to put anyone over. Look, I put Page over.and he’s a joke! I didn’t resist any finish, but now I’m going to speak my mind. I owe them that. I feel like I should tell them. The truth will set you free, right? I am not trying to rail on them. I know how wrestling works. So, people should just learn and try to enhance it. Let’s work this out together. We could have a good deal going on.

Eric - Your thoughts on the whole Mark Madden-DDP situation?

Tom - Yeah, Leatherface. Madden is Pillman’s boy, Pillman trained him. I like Madden, I’ve never met him but I like him. It’s like this – Page and Steiner that fight. Page left the building. OK, in the company that I work for, if one of my guys just leaves their post, they’re fired. End of story! No one, not Terry Taylor, nor Johnny Ace, nor anyone with any stroke has enough guts to say to Page, “OK you’re done, good bye.” Problem solved. Same for any of them! Bagwell, you want a release? Go! I think Bischoff should take all of the his brand names, the Millionaires Club and go! If I took over I’d run it a completely different way. I’d train all the young guys and go after the Y generation. I’d treat people like great employees and people from the WWF would be glad to come back down and get the benefits of being employees of AOL-Time Warner. We’d have stock options. We’d bring in Lawyers, Accountants, CPA’s, class people that were already wise to the con and I would smarten them up further. I’d call a meeting with the lockerroom and Ted Turner and go “Here, are you guys proud of what you did to Ted Turner?” The best chance that wrestling ever had and you squandered it? You have places to go? Well bye DDP, I mean who wants DDP? Bagwell? This is a guy that has calf implants. I mean, come on! Where do you think you are going to go? Do you think Vince wants to use Sting? Sting covers up because he’s soft and mushy, he doesn’t diet, and he’s not a hard worker.

Eric - Has anyone that you’ve talked negative about, over the last few months, contacted you?

Tom - No, they don’t care. They don’t care, I’ve always talked this way. They know.

Eric - Jim Ross cared about what you had to say.

Tom - What’s Iceface going to say? It would be like reverse discrimination if I didn’t trash Iceface, right? Did you hear about the new doll they have in the WWF? This is just something I saw on the Internet. The story goes that H. Bomb, Jr. fell asleep in the snow and he woke up as Iceface. Yeah, and you can put a buck in his slot and he’ll say anything you want. He talks out of both sides of his mouth……

Eric - Were you surprised when he came out against your comments about WWF salaries?

Tom - Why would he be mad about the truth? Vince is spreading himself too thin with the XFL. So the XFL provides WCW with a great opportunity. If TBS hangs on to WCW it has a great chance of winning back it’s audience. Forget about the Monday night wars…. We’d start again with the young talent and use all of AOL-Time Warner outlets to push the product and win back audiences. At the moment, I’m sure Brad Siegel is like, “Oh my God, I’m faced with a $80 million deficit.” Bischoff could break the US Government! 80 million dollars in losses, right? But if Eric Bischoff buys WCW it’s going to be Kevin Sullivan, Dusty Rhodes, back as bookers plus Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, DDP, plus Jason Hervey on color commentary……

Eric - ….And the strap on Gary Coleman!!

Tom - How about David Arquette? That’s my point too. You mean to tell me that they all love the business and all the boys were backstage and David Arquette walked out as WCW Champ and nobody said a word? I would have gone in there and leg dove him and pinned him 1-2-3 and put myself over. I mean, it’s just so totally wrong. What’s going on? Doesn’t anybody realize this is going on? Don’t they get it? I mean, if Seigel wants wrestling product in 12 months time he would be insane to sign a noncompete clause with Bischoff’s group. TBS should reserve the right to produce it’s own wrestling product after the sale. We will rebuild it from scratch with a new product. A CEO with kahonies who doesn’t take crap from the talent. Downsize the contracts. No Millionaires Club. You don’t hear about that now. They must be pretty proud that they’re millionaires but they can’t draw! Game over, sorry. Retrain everyone in work rate skills, teach respect for the business. You pay your dues, you job on the way up and you job on the way down, OK? You know, it’s a southeast regional promotion there. You have to start over from scratch, build a young feeder territory where the guys can learn how to manipulate crowds, learn how to work. Do the thing, build confidence and you have guys like Eaton, maybe Harley Race to mentor young talent. Take care of their own kind. Bring back knowledgeable people that will do the right thing in teaching the new generation of talent. I mean, veterans like Flair and Arn even. Ricky Steamboat. What’s he doing running a gym? He loves the business. They all love the business. I love the business which is why I am talking about it. At the top you need a Bishop. The Bishop of the cult. Flair is the Bishop. Melzter is the high Priest and you (Eric) are like a Deacon of something like that, I don’t know how it all shakes out. And above all you build confidence in the young guys, because that’s what it is all about. Young guys are the life blood of the wrestling business.
I’m sure Scotty [Steiner] is just sick of the bull and all the politics.

Eric - If you could take one guy and put them in the WCW locker room as your authoritative figure, who would it be?

Tom - Well, I don’t know. Scotty Steiner and I, we were buddies. We’d go four wheeling. I like the Steiner boys. Scotty blew up on Flair because he just wants his own time. Scotty is a freak. He’s good you know? He’s not a goof ball or loose cannon. He called Page out but I’m sure that he’s just sick of the bull and all the politics….
I would have Scotty Steiner, Kevin Walchoz, and Scott Norton on the payroll. I would sit everyone down and tell them the way it was going to be and if they didn’t like it, go plead your case to them. I would give them a case of beer, whatever they wanted, fix them up with a lounge room, a big TV, eight hours a day they’re on the payroll. And if you want to talk crap, go and face them.

Eric - What do you think of the choice of Scott Steiner as world champion?

Tom - Real good, he’s jacking the ratings. They should do the best to enhance him. They should feed him people. They should run the guys through him like they did with Hogan. DDP should raise his hand to do a job for Scotty. What, egos? Everyone put DDP over. Like Chris Kanyon. I guess he was a friend. DDP is like Dusty. Dusty gave them all those [ring] names and ‘gave them their start in the business’. That’s the way they try to create loyalty – “Who gave you the start in the business baby?” That’s a simple con. Well, okay DDP, let’s strip those pants off you and get into shorts and let’s see those knee braces -The Forrest Gump of professional wrestling. He’s not going to draw money. Don’t they have rules at the WCW Power Plant? Page was 39, I think when they started training him years ago. Were there no young guys left to train? Do you think it’s a good investment of Ted Turner’s money to pay him that kind of money [$1.25 million a year]. It’s over for DDP and if anyone that doesn’t like me saying it – well trash me!

Eric - So, who in WCW would you build the company around currently?

Tom - Steiner, Goldberg, Mike Sanders… Flair would always have a job and so would Arn Anderson. WCW should be a southeast regional promotion. We need the Bishop (Flair) and we need Arn because they’re buddies. Everyone needs a buddy in wrestling. Arn’s a great talker. And we’re going to build self esteem, because I’m sure, at the moment, the guys have none. …. Bischoff, he’s nothing. He was a bad coffee boy. He was a camera man for the AWA. He was an announcer – and he wasn’t even a good announcer. I remember Dusty told DDP he was clever with all his cliches and stuff? But no. Mike Graham told me at the Ramada bar that they were just working Page. Why isn’t DDP an announcer or commentator? Because he can’t talk, and he can’t interview. Nobody has ever bragged about DDP’s interview skills, but Page bought it anyway! He put it in his book – how much Dusty regarded him.But they were laughing at him. That’s what a geek he is! He went up to see Vince, but Vince couldn’t see him. He didn’t have time. Page is the biggest expose of wrestling ever. Page is the biggest joke of all.  

Eric - How much more time do you think Dallas will have in the business?

Tom - He doesn’t have long. But I guess that’s up to Eric. Eric and DDP, they’re buddies, they were neighbors. I don’t know if they belong to a Swingers Club? What do you think? Pillman used to stay over at his house. Do you think he was trying to get a shot at Kimberley? I know Brian, geez. Page was a mark for Pillman. Pillman didn’t like him. He harassed him on the Bruise Cruise. He was a joke. Give it up Page! He’s a geek. Look at Scotty Steiner. Steiner made a monkey out of him. Then Page had to do damage control, courtesy of Ryder. He’s a joke, he’s a laughing stock. Kevin Nash works him. Nash plays both sides of the fence and stirs the pot and picks up his check for nothing. It’s a great con!
Listen to the entire Tom Zenk Pro Wrestling Radio Interview.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

THE Z-MAN ON EBAY


OLE ANDERSON .... and the Z-Man

[info]

 writes (Thursday, May 27th, 2010 | 01:36 pm (UTC))

"I remember that [Meltzer] show with Z-Man saying that Ole Anderson declared he would suck cock all day for what Sting was being paid. Memories, man . . . I get misty-eyed thinking about it."


The transcript ......

Tom to Ole "[Why are you breaking my balls]. What about a guy like Sting? He's making $750,000 a year. Why don't you go after him? All the people are dressed like chairs! Ole says to me, '$750,000 a year?!? For $750,000 a year, I'd suck cock all day, line 'em up!'  And, Ole, Rock Rogowski, if you're listening, you sue me for slander if that's a lie, because that's the damn truth. (Wow. 4 appositives. Is that some kind of record?) What do you say to that? What do you say to a guy that says something like that? He went after me and Pillman, but not a guy like Sting who wasn't drawing, but was making $750,000. But Ole said, 'Line 'em up. [He'd] suck cock all day.' for $750,000."

Dave: "We've gotta go to a break right now."

Tom: "Yeah, you like that one, huh?"

Dave: "Oh yeah."

-Tom Zenk on the WOL, 10/00

 ...Meanwhile here's Ole denying he killed off the younger talent to push his old buddies instead....

Saturday, June 25, 2011

SEPARATED AT BIRTH .....


Is it Matt Bomer  ('White Collar') without his shirt or the Z-Man, Tom Zenk.?



Saturday, June 18, 2011

HALLOWEEN HAVOC 1989

 

The Z-Man vs. Captain Mike Rotunda: source

"Rotunda sure is letting his hair grow out. I know, that was a weird observation on my part. While I'm on the subject, why is Rotunda introduced as "Captain", especially since the Varsity Club was no more at this point? Z-Man is, of course, Tom Zenk, a.k.a the most angry midcarder to hit the internet in the early part of the 21st century. Lockup, and Rotunda with a waist-lock takedown. Lockup, and Z-Man with a standing side headlock. Irish whip, and Z-Man with a shoulder block. Lockup, and Z-Man with another headlock and shoulder block. CLIP JOB! Rotunda takes Z-Man over with a suplex and covers for a two count. Rotunda slaps on a front facelock, then turns it into an abdominal stretch. Yes, he uses the ropes for leverage. Rotunda is dripping sweat, and even by his standards of heavy sweating, that must've been a hell of a clip job. Rotunda releases after being caught cheating, then quickly applies a rear chinlock. Z-Man escapes with elbows to the midsection, but Rotunda kills him with a flying clothesline to a pretty good face pop. Irish whip, and Rotunda misses a dropkick. Whip to the corner, and Z-Man puts Rotunda down with a back elbow. Rotunda rakes the eyes. Whip to the corner is reversed, and Z-Man rolls through a cross body for the three count at 4:17, clipped down from about 13-minutes. Quite off topic, but I'm amazed Vince Russo never formed a tag team called "The Sea Men", considering his level of immature humor and penis jokes. *1/2 Not much was here, but it looked okay, and I'm sure the full match was a bit better. Stupid THE clip jobs." source

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Halloween Havoc 1992 in Philadelphia



THREE SIDES TO EVERY STORY.....
ONE THE ONE HAND
- Opening match: Bobby Eaton, Arn Anderson & Michael Hayes v. Johnny Gunn , Tom Zenk & Shane Douglas. Gee, which side do you think the Philly crowd will cheer? The faces nearly get booed out of the building here, in case there was any doubt. The Pretty Boys clean house early. Zenk gets beat on for a while, then makes a hottish tag to Shane, and the heels cheat like nuts to regain the advantage. Jesse is in awe of the fans' reaction. Shane escapes a figure-four (oh, the irony) and makes the hot tag, and a pier-six erupts. Gunn (later to become Salvatore Sincere or Tom Brandi , depending on your view) hits the Thesz Press for the pin. Crowd does not approve. Good opener. **3/4 


ON THE OTHER - chri...@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu writes Dec 31, 1992 on rspw
1) Arn Anderson/Bobby Eaton/Michael Hayes vs. Johnny Gunn/Tom Zenk/Shane
   Douglas

In all likelihood, this match will NOT make the tape, but I think it should, as it was one of the best matches of the night.  The fans popped BIG TIME  for the heel team and booed the faces.  This made Arn and Bobby work harder,  which is great as they are hard workers anyway.  They really played up the crowd and wrestled well.  However, the faces were scripted to win.  Gunn with the (ack!) Lou Thesz press.  **3/4

AND
HUGE crowd pops for all three heels (AA, BB, Mike Hayes) as well as Tom Zenk.
Jesse even mentioned it after I was grinning at the cheers for the heels.

--Otto "Cactus Hack"
From rspw 1 July, 1991 - " I've recently been watching (and thoroughly enjoying) older matches that the AWA are showing from their archives and it seems that an awful lot of current WWF stars  were involved with the AWA. Is there some sort of story there or is it typical? In other words is the AWA merely showing the brief moments when currently popular wrestlers were simply 'passing through' or was there some sort of mass exodus of wrestlers to the WWF from the AWA.
   
By the way, I noticed during an old match between Hulk Hogan and Jesse Ventura that the referee was an even younger looking Tom  Zenk.

BRANCH, MICHAEL
1991 - WCW Clash of the Champions XVII was held at the Civic Center in Savannah, Georgia. Here are the results of the show, which was aired live on TBS:
- Big Josh defeated Thomas Rich in a Lumberjack match.
- Bobby Eaton defeated Firebreaker Chip.
- Tom Zenk defeated The Diamond Stud (Scott Hall) in less than two minutes.
- WCW Television Champion Steve Austin defeated PN News.
- Cactus Jack defeated Van Hammer.
- Dustin Rhodes & Ricky Steamboat defeated Arn Anderson & Larry Zbyszko to win the WCW World Tag Team Title when Steamboat pinned Anderson.
- WCW Light Heavyweight Champion Brian Pillman defeated Johnny B. Badd.
- Rick Rude defeated Sting to win the WCW United States Title.
- WCW World Champion Lex Luger defeated Rick Steiner.
WWE Classics OnDemand Updates

- Here are the latest updates for the WWE Classics OnDemand service…

Bad to the Bell:
* Bad Breed vs. Pitbulls ECW 1/17/95
* Bad Bad Leroy Brown vs. Mike Rotundo NWA World Wide Wrestling 10/13/82
* AWA World Tag Team Champions Badd Company vs. Ken Patera & Tom Zenk AWA All Star Wrestling 4/2/89
* WCW World Telvision Champion Steve Regal vs. Johnny B Badd Fall Brawl 1994
* For The Vacant WWF Intercontinental Championship: The Bad Guy Razor Ramon vs. Rick Martel Raw 9/27/93

Abdullah The Butcher:
* Abdullah The Butcher, Mike Rotunda & Norman vs. Cactus Jack, Kevin Sullivan & The Punisher NWA Main Event 4/8/90
* Abdullah The Butcher, Terry Funk & JT Smith vs. Jimmy Snuka, Don Muraco & Kevin Sullivan ECW 10/12/93
* Abdullah The Butcher vs. Ron Bass NWA World Wide Wrestling 7/23/85
* Abdullah The Butcher vs. Manny Fernandez Starrcade 1985

Classics Rewind:
* WCW Starrcade 1998

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

トム・ジンクTom Zenk)ことトーマス・アーウィン・ジンクThomas Erwin Zenk1960年11月30日 - )は、アメリカ合衆国の元プロレスラーミネソタ州ゴールデンバレー出身。
より原音に近いファミリーネームの表記は「ズィンク」だが、本項では日本のプロレス史における慣例的な表記(日本語圏で一般によく知られている名前)に則る。

目次

[編集] 来歴

カート・ヘニングリック・ルードスコット・シンプソンバリー・ダーソウジョン・ノードらを輩出したロビンズデール・ハイスクールの出身。学生時代からボディビルに熱中し、後に "Mr. Minnesota" など数々のタイトルを獲得した。
ルードやシンプソンをコーチしたエディ・シャーキーにスカウトされ、1983年ビル・ワット主宰のMSWAにてデビュー。1984年からはバーン・ガニアの牛耳る地元ミネソタAWAに登場、甘いマスクと肉体美を持つベビーフェイスの新鋭として、次代のスター候補と目された。
1985年より、太平洋岸北西部オレゴンワシントンをサーキット・エリアとするNWA圏のPNW(Pacific Northwest Wrestling)に参戦。1986年1月21日にボビー・ジャガーズからパシフィック・ノースウエスト・ヘビー級王座を奪取した。同年下期からはカナダモントリオールに進出、11月には同地区のスターだったリック・マーテルのパートナーとして、全日本プロレス世界最強タッグ決定リーグ戦に初来日した。
以降も本格的にマーテルとタッグチームを結成し、翌1987年カンナム・コネクションCan-Am Connection)のチーム名でWWFに参戦。ハート・ファウンデーションブレット・ハート&ジム・ナイドハート)やドリーム・チーム(グレッグ・バレンタイン&ブルータス・ビーフケーキ)などヒールのトップチームと対戦し、3月29日のレッスルマニアIIIではカウボーイ・ボブ・オートン&マグニフィセント・ムラコから勝利を収めるも、契約のトラブルでジンクのみ短期間でWWFを離脱した。
その後は古巣のAWAに戻り、1989年2月7日にセントポールで行われたAWA世界ヘビー級王者決定バトルロイヤルにも出場。サージェント・スローターワフー・マクダニエルケン・パテラマイク・ジョージアキオ・サトーパット・タナカポール・ダイヤモンドマニー・フェルナンデスグレッグ・ガニアらを抑え、ラリー・ズビスコと優勝を争ったが、オーバー・ザ・トップロープで失格し戴冠は果たせなかった。
また、この間には全日本プロレスの常連外国人選手となり、1986年11月の初来日から1989年7月まで5回に渡って来日した(最強タッグには1987年大会にもザ・ターミネーターをパートナーに参加するなど、2年連続で出場している)。
1989年末、当時まだNWAに加盟していた初期WCWと契約。ZマンZ-Man)と名乗ってブライアン・ピルマンとコンビを組み、1990年2月12日にトーナメント決勝でファビュラス・フリーバーズマイケル・ヘイズ&ジミー・ガービン)を破りUSタッグ王座を獲得。同年12月4日にはアーン・アンダーソンから世界TV王座を奪取している。1991年3月21日には、WCWとの提携ルートで新日本プロレス東京ドーム大会に参戦。新日本には翌1992年10月にも来日し、ジム・ナイドハートと組んでSGタッグ・リーグ戦IIに出場した。
1993年リッキー・スティムボートドス・ホンブレスDos Hombres)なる覆面タッグチームを一時的に結成し、5月23日にWCWの本拠地アトランタで行われたPPV "Slamboree" に出場、ヒールターンしたピルマンとスタニング・スティーブ・オースチンのハリウッド・ブロンズが保持するWCW世界タッグ王座にスチール・ケージ・マッチで挑戦した。
1994年の初頭にWCWを離れ、同年6月と9月には全日本プロレスに久々に登場(日本には通算9回来日)。以降はインディー団体を転戦し、1996年に引退した。

[編集] 得意技

[編集] 獲得タイトル

PNW
  • NWAパシフィック・ノースウエスト・ヘビー級王座:1回
  • NWAパシフィック・ノースウエスト・タッグ王座:1回(w / Scott Doring)
Lutte Internationale
NWA / WCW

Sunday, May 22, 2011

CUSTOM MADE Z-MAN

source - Titantrap: Gold Club Veteran

BRIAN PILLMAN WEEK – 5/18 Match of the Day: Pillman & Tom Zenk vs The Young Pistols (Smothers & Armstrong)

sourceQuantcast
We continue our week-long tribute to Brian Pillman on the week of his birth with a WCW United States Tag Team Title bout from an early-1992 edition of WCW Power Hour, as Pillman teamed with “The Z-Man” Tom Zenk against Tracy Smothers (who might get his own week on Match of the Day soon) and Steve Armstrong, collectively known as the Young Pistols.
The match is absolutely a showcase for Pillman & Zenk’s offense, as they bump the Pistols around like pinballs almost the entire bout. But, the most entertaining part of the match is absolutely the Pistols’ stooging. Smothers became known later in his career as a master stooger, but man alive both guys were awesome being goofy little henchmen in this match. The match isn’t incredibly long, but it’s a perfectly energetic little TV match.

!

MACHO MAN

The Fuj says:
I loved the fact that when he shot you into the ropes, he clapped his hands before hitting you with the back elbow…
If you are friends with me on Facebook, I pretty much dedicated my afternoon to Macho Man.
I don’t talk about wrestlers much anymore. Of course Flair 85-93 rules. WWF 86 got me into wrestling. Became a smark in 03 through the Tom Zenk rants, but honestly in terms pure entertainment… Move over Lex cuz Savage was the real total package.
From his look… The frizzy hair… awesome, aweosme sunglasses. The lavish robes…. The pink Macho Man t-shirt which I will be getting off of ebay now.
to the his work… Even the shitty Memphis stalling work, to the crisp WWF work to the horrible WCW work…
To his promos… Nonsensical and coked out as they were. I swear for about a year on youtube, I watched “The cream” promo, its fucking classic. He just keeps pulling out creamers. Puts one on Mean Gene’s head. Gene no-sells it and Macho keeps talking.
The “Freak out” promo, in his ICW days is another one. Watch that promo and tell me he doesnt look like Dr. Teeth from the muppets.
He wasn’t my favorite in the ring, He wasnt my favorie on the mic, he wasnt a box office draw, but when you put all of it together, he is definitely top 5 GOATs in my humble opinion. Truly in a class of his own.
There will never be another.
RIP
Sunday, 8 May 2011
Everyday Is Like Tom Zenk: Z-Man & Brian Pillman vs Cactus Jack & Abdullah The Butcher (source)
So, I was watching WWE Vintage Collection, when all of a sudden up comes a Z-Man match. Seeing as how I've got 10 minutes to kill, and we've not had a Zenk update for a while, I thought it'd make sense to give it some attention. It's a simple enough story for a tag match: the faces are quick and full of energy, whilst the heels are brawlers who just want to hurt people. Z-Man fights out of the opposition corner early and takes over on Cactus with some nice high flying offence. He does get caught in an Abby nerve hold, which he then breaks out of before hitting a nice enzuigiri. Pillman is in and full of gusto, which is why I always like face teams who are smaller and more explosive, where the fans' excitement at the hot tag is matched by the fire of the incoming face. It's certainly the case here, with Pillman ripping into Abby, including hitting the Butcher with an impressive slam. Pillman slips on a springboard attempt and immediately starts selling knee, which was either planned or some very quick improvisation from him. Pillman bumps like a pinball for Abby, which makes some average offence look deadly. Z-Man comes back in and hits a nice pair of superkicks on the Butcher, which Abby sells with an ace glazed expression. Zenk locks on a sleeper, but the referee is distracted by Pillman brawling with Jack, which allows Cactus to hit Z-Man with the Butcher's staff for the win. Great formula tag match, it allowed both teams to look good and highlight their strengths.