|
Post by cabbageboy on Dec 17, 2017 18:10:22 GMT -5
I think he was in some ways ahead of his time. If the Z-Man came along today in WWE they would take a look at him with his looks and physique and push the guy to the moon. I know he got angry about Martel making more than him so he quit the WWF but he missed out on a tag title run most likely since the Can Ams were basically what Strike Force ended up being. I can certainly imagine him being in the IC mix in the early 90s as well. WCW was never a place where they enjoyed pushing the pretty boy guys so in that respect Zenk was a bit out of place in the early 90s.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2017 19:21:20 GMT -5
Zenk did awesome wrestling radio show interviews around 2001ish then I guess he got in trouble with his day job or something
|
|
Blindkarevik
Grimlock
Rock... Paper... Straight-edge!
I Like To <blank>
Posts: 14,343
|
Post by Blindkarevik on Dec 17, 2017 20:37:54 GMT -5
Zenk was always kindof a guilty pleasure for me kinda like Jim Powers where you knew they were jobbers, but they were jobbers you could find yourself cheering for nonetheless.
Also, the number of times Tony Schiavonne had to say "The Z-Man" with a straight face is proof he is one of the greatest announcers (in the history of this sport)
|
|
Crappler El 0 M
Dalek
Never Forgets an Octagon
I'm a good R-Truth.
Posts: 58,479
|
Post by Crappler El 0 M on Dec 17, 2017 21:21:05 GMT -5
I don't really think Zenk was a jobber. He was just a midcarder. He was the TV Champ. He had a Galoob action figure, which they only did for the main acts. He appeared on a lot of Clashes and PPVs. Now, I think it is fair to say they he ended up being someone who lost to the bigger stars, but I think jobber just doesn't fit in describing his role in WCW.
|
|
|
Post by jason1980s on Dec 17, 2017 21:25:20 GMT -5
I remember as a kid seeing a show where either the US or TV champion was going to draw his next opponent from a fish bowl, bragging about the caliber of talent at his fingers for him to beat. Tom Zenk came down and demanded to know if he was in there. No. So Zenk provided a notebook page of paper that read Z-MAN and shoved it in the bowl. It felt like the coolest move available. He lost the match but I always paid attention to The Z-Man from there on. RIP. That was Diamond Dallas Page in early 1994. What was surprising is that I don't think either guy had been on TV for a while. I think DDP had just returned and Z-Man had been gone since early or mid-1993. That was the last match I remember Zenk having, too. I hope he found some sort of closure from wrestling in his later life. His website definitely had some bitter tones to it but unlike a lot of guys who portray the bitterness as a gimmick for their next shoot interview paycheck, I don't think Zenk made a dime from his website and was simply using it like a blog so the bitterness was real. IIRC it was early in the Triple H-Stephanie marriage and his writings dealt heavily with that subject. I think WWE legal shut him down, or at least that was the inference. I wonder how someone with even a slight amount of fame can go unnoticed in society for such a long period of time. If fans and even his own friends couldn't get in touch with him he really must not have wanted to be found. I know some guys see these legends autograph conventions as just a paycheck but I'm hoping some of the long lost friends see it as an opportunity to spend some quality time together. With so many wrestlers passing in 2017, who knows if there will be a next time you see your buddies.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2017 23:16:49 GMT -5
Thoughts and prayers with his family
|
|
|
Post by Slingshot Suplay on Dec 18, 2017 2:24:51 GMT -5
I remember when he was one of the last 2 competitors in a battle royal to crown the next AWA champion. Everyone knows doing a flying cross body in a battle royal never goes well, but he was determined to prove the naysayers wrong... of course, larry zbyszko used his momentum against zenk and threw him out, but damnit he tried!
Also, revisionist history would tell you that hogan/Andre drew a record 93,000 at WM 3, but we all know the fans really came to see Tom zenk and his partner beat muraco and Orton.
For real, zenk was one of my favorites as a kid. I'll never forget when he beat arn Anderson for the tv title or when he and pillman won the us the title tournament.
|
|
|
Post by Hickster on Dec 18, 2017 5:11:25 GMT -5
RIP. I also fondly remember him and Pillman vs the Midnights on early Saturday morning WCW tv in the early 90s.
|
|
Allie Kitsune
Crow T. Robot
Always Feelin' Foxy.
HaHa U FaLL 4 LaVa TriK
Posts: 46,162
|
Post by Allie Kitsune on Dec 18, 2017 6:27:58 GMT -5
I mostly just remember him having a column on some old wrestling website where he ranted about how much he hated HHH and Ric Flair all the time.
Of course, there's always a chance it wasn't actually him, and just some rando posing as him for effect, but I guess we'll never know.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Dec 18, 2017 21:50:03 GMT -5
It was him. He did several appearances on Dave Meltzer's radio show during that same time frame, which are really worth tracking down. He was hilarious. Had this whole charismatic personality which they never fully utilized in front of the camera when he was wrestling.
|
|
Steveweiser
Dalek
Mickie Mickie You're So Fine... Hey Mickie!
THE GRAPS
Posts: 50,249
|
Post by Steveweiser on Dec 19, 2017 3:12:35 GMT -5
So sad to think that the last that the wrestling community had heard from him was in 2005 when he was arrested. He lived the last 12 years of his life away from the spotlight, which fair to him could have been what he wanted.
|
|