Tom zenk comment

[Guest goodhelmet]

"‘Vindictive booking’

---------------------------------------------

 

A law suit was filed this week in the U.S. District Court (Northern District of Georgia) against WCW and Turner Sports.  According to one of the plaintiffs, Robbie Walker, “Success as a professional wrestler depends on being included in the sport's story lines, something the WCW never provided for him” …. "WCW's intentional refusal to `promote' [Walker] was tantamount to ending his career as a professional wrestler. Without this exposure and without being booked for television matches, [Walker] was incapable of advancing in WCW."

 

I’m looking forward to Dusty, Watts, Bischoff, Nash, being called as witnesses to justify WCW booking in open court. Dusty’s already admitted (Meltzer’s show 12/1/2000) “We were doing vindictive booking …. Playing guys that we liked and not playing guys that we didn't like.” Hey, I’m always happy to testify for the prosecution. Vince taught me that.

 

The lawsuit further accuses WCW of violating federal employment laws. By classifying wrestlers as ‘independent contractors’ it alleges WCW managed to avoid complying with federal minimum wage, overtime and employee benefits requirements. “Wrestlers are employees not ‘independent contractors’, and under the law should have been provided with retirement and health-care benefit plans.”  If the case succeeds it’s gonna have major ramifications for the business. Watch this space …………."

 

This could be a major pain-in-the-ass for Vince if the courts rule that wrestlers ARE employees. Then Vince might have to retool the way he does business and the wrestlers would probably be better protected.

[Guest Shawn]

LOL! That's crap.

 

(Edit: Just to clear that up, I was talking about suing someone for not giving you a push. WWF would be in bankruptsy if that was allowed.)

[Guest goodhelmet]

"(Edit: Just to clear that up, I was talking about suing someone for not giving you a push. WWF would be in bankruptsy if that was allowed.)"

 

i think the contention of the lawsuit is that wrestlers weren't being pushed because of their race. Never mind Robbie Walker was a piece of shit in the ring.

[Guest Maurizio C... Version 2]

I don't know what's worse: Lawsuits for not getting pushed or Tom Zenk shooting his mouth off about how Flair blows spots (well, Tom Zenk sure ain't Ricky Steamboat).

 

Ahmed Johnson

Walker

Booker T

Koko B. Ware

etc, etc, etc...

 

Almost any black, japanese and European wrestler can claim he's not getting pushed for racial reasons, bu that's a bunch of bs when you loom at the wrestlers themselves.

 

About Zenk: When will he stop talking BS?! I was seriously disturbed with his comment on Flair. Here's *Little Lex* going full asshole on the guy that MADE wrestling from the a pure athletic point. Flair's in his 50s yet he was able to carry 'Taker in a great match considered the partecipants and their respective ages.

 

I'm growing tired of that asshole, yet I cannot help but read his words since he's not totally an idiot, he just lacks measure and sometimes blames the wrong guys.

[Guest Risk]

I love Zenk's columns.  He has a right to his opinion, as do you and I.  IMO, until you are a wrestler, you can't really understand why someone feels a certain way.

[Guest]

Yeah, and he was the Z-Man.

[Guest Maurizio C... Version 2]

I agree on what you say guys. What I'm debating is the fact that Zenk is the guy who tell other wrestlers/promoters/bookers how to do things while I really don't recall him being a draw, a good talker, a good wrestler at all. Hell, Zenk is perhaps the only '80s wrestler unable to cash in on the wrestling boom since his only strong point as a grappler was a beautiful dropkick and that's all.

 

See, as I've written in my rant on Zenk, Tommy goes strong with marks who cream their pants when someone shoots, but not with people who knows wrestling history and know that unlike Jake roberts, Honky tonk man, harley race, sammartino and other guys who bitch and moan, Zenk really has no basis for him to *crash the party*

 

years ago he was invited to that very party, only he didn't contribute much.

[Guest Risk]

I loved Sting, The Steiners, and Zenk against the Dangeous Alliance.

[Guest Maurizio C... Version 2]

ok, I too loved Skorpio despite the fact he draw nothing n his own. What I'm saying is that objectively, Zenk was not a draw, was not one of the best, was not even a champion to be remembered, but seems to me like he wanna teach others how to live and conduct themselves.

 

HHH is an asshole for putting down other wrestlers? I agree. Is he a big money wrestler and does he draw like crazy? of course.

[Guest cobainwasmurdered]

i don't think HHH draws like crazy. prove he did. people came to see thr Rock or Austin not HHH

[Guest Risk]

Cobain has a point.

[Guest RicFlairGlory]

HHH *could* draw a little as a heel, but as a face, he's not nearly as well liked as anybody else. I mean, at WM, the supposed 'heel' (at least going into the match)in the second main event got more of a face pop than HHH.  Jericho OR Angle(as faces) could easily outdraw HHH.

 

And to let you know, I was a HUGE HHH mark in '97, '99/'00, but god, stop him from talking, and I CANT BELIEVE they're making him a face against hogan, or at least seem it going into the match

[Guest El Satanico]

I will not listen to HHH promos no matter what he is doing. My god they are sooo damn long and duuuull and the fucker never says anything worth the time he spent getting it out.

 

"blah blah blah blah I AAAM THEEE GAAAME blah blah blah blah YOOOU WILL NOOOT BEEEEAT MEEE blah blah blah blah I AAAM THAAAT DAAAMN GOOOOOD blah blah blah"

 

I swear he makes me want to stick hot coals in my eyes.

[Guest goodhelmet]

I don't think Zenk is saying he is any of those things (main eventer, draw, etc.). hell, Zenk admitted WCW gave him stupid gimmicks and jobbed him out to make him quit but the money was so good he stuck around. They did the same with Pillman. Everytime Pillman became successful, they cut his legs from under him. But I do think he realizes the inner-workings of a wrestling company better than we do. He knows vince is cheap and sees the trouble the lawsuit from WCW could bring to the WWF. And it's not like Zenks comments aren't echoed by other former employees. Plus, it's not like Zenk plays favorites either. Read some of his columns about foley, Austin, Angle, whoever. He exposes hypocrisy and doesn't always take the smark position.

 

As for HHH, he's had the luxury of feuding with proven draws: Rock, Foley, Austin and now Hogan. When it comes time to draw with an unproven then we'll see how effective a draw he is.

[Guest El Satanico]

And he's right if the court finds in favor of the wrestlers it is going to majorly fuck Vince McMahon up.

[Guest cobainwasmurdered]

I will not listen to HHH promos no matter what he is doing. My god they are sooo damn long and duuuull and the fucker never says anything worth the time he spent getting it out.

 

"blah blah blah blah I AAAM THEEE GAAAME blah blah blah blah YOOOU WILL NOOOT BEEEEAT MEEE blah blah blah blah I AAAM THAAAT DAAAMN GOOOOOD blah blah blah"

 

I swear he makes me want to stick hot coals in my eyes.

yeah all his promos are his him doing his i'm so cool look at me,like me,worship me shit.

[Guest Cataclysm911]

I'd listen to Tom Zenk before I listened to Scott Keith.

[Guest Risk]

I like Zenk and Keith.  But that's just me.

[Guest Hogan Made Wrestling]

Zenk is one of these bitter useless ex-wrestlers who likes to slam Vince McMahon because he knows he couldn't get a job with WWFE even if he kissed McMahon's ass hardcore.

[Guest]

"yeah all his promos are his him doing his i'm so cool look at me,like me,worship me shit."

 

Unlike the Rock, who has finally come back to the smarkboard and is going to lay the smackdown on some candy asses. It just doesn't matter what your response will be.

 

What? Or Stone Cold Steve Austin. What? I said Stone Cold Steve Austin. What? Who is going to stomp a mudhole in you and walk it dry. What? Open up a can of whoop ass. What? Drop you on that stack of dimes you call a neck. What? Leave your little carcass laying in the middle of the ring. What?

 

If we are going to rip on stale promos here let us take it seriously. What?

[Guest Mik at Cornell]

You can't possibly say the Rock's promos are stale. Sure, he hits 2 or 3 of his 20 catchphrases each promo but a Rock promo is NEVER the same as one he did before. The Rock is the best promo man ever.

[Guest]

Pound For Pound, you think Rock is better then Flair on the mic?

 

Anyway, Tom Zenk tries to bitch to make himself look important. He's almost like SOME "Smarks." Lets face it, He's No Bret Hart so he has no real reason to bitch and cry. Or at least be funny like the Honk Tonk Man. I'll give Tom some credit, though. He gives Credit where Credit is due.  HTM says some pretty Fucked up things. He bashes anyone who had more success then him. Hell, in his RF Shoot he said Ric Flair has worked the same match for 30 years. What the Hell?

[Guest Maurizio C... Version 2]

HoganMadeWrestling and Fearhavoc got what I was trying to say. I like Zenk's in your face approach to the biz. But seriously, as I've written in my rant, Tom Zenk is the guy that blames others for HIS failures.

 

Did Pillman got his leg cut before reaching main event status? Yes, but you can't argue he made an impact with his ***** matches with Liger and, later, his smart approach.

 

Zenk is not famous for his matches or his promos. he's just *the guy that shoots*

[Guest]

every thread somehow or another becomes a thread about HHH if I werent lazy or had time I bet I could calculate the percent of threads in the WWF column that turn into HHH discussions it would probobaly be about 75%.

[Guest El Satanico]

stale and flat out boring are two differents beasts.

 

HHH = flat out boring AND stale...the worst possible thing for a guy that sometimes talks for 15 minutes and is usaully not much under 10 minutes for his talking.

 

Rock = Stale but even though i don't like his promos he isn't usually boring and can keep you interested in what he is saying usaully. Also the fact that he doesn't have ALOT of looong interviews helps him alot.

 

Austin = screwed because his What? thing took off and now he has probably been told to get as much mileage out of it as possible. Sure his character has been getting stale and his promos have sounded the same for a long time now but he isn't sleep inducing boring and can keep you interested.

[Guest Maurizio C... Version 2]

well, this version of Austin is funnier, even if it hurts his character a bit. His bit "brothers and sisters are you with me!?" before NWO (I think) was the funniest thing I've ever heard from him.

[Guest pinnacleofallthingsmanly]

People might not like Austin doing his what bit, but I thought his Royal Rumble promo was one of the best promos I have seen in a while.

[Guest Loss4Words]

Brian Pillman and Tom Zenk were two entire different stories. Zenk was Pillman's albatross to be totally honest. Pillman had so much momentum when Flair was booking in '89 and he was feuding with Luger and when they had to turn Luger face when Sting got hurt, instead of maybe getting the US title off Luger on to Pillman, who was pretty over at the time, they kept it on Luger and Pillman got thrown in the tag ranks when Ole took over. There are several points Brian could have made some serious money as a top guy for WCW: one was the babyface run in 1989, the second was teaming with Austin as the Hollywood Blonds in 1993 and the third was the "loose cannon" gimmick in 1996. Part of the problem was his own self-destruction quite honestly, but WCW always seemed hesitant to take the muzzle off of him for reasons I'll never understand.

[Guest muzanisa]

The loose cannon while a spectacular gimmick did not draw any money as it went over peoples heads. I hated Babyface Brian especially the way he celebrated every move. The Hollywood Blondes could have started WCW making money long before the NWO though.

[Guest Loss4Words]

Well I had meant pre-SuperBrawl VI when it wasn't over anyone's head. He had a strong character at that point and was golden on the mic. As a face, yeah, he was bubble gum-ish, but he was damn over. He could have main evented with a little more buildup.