Dateline: 12, December 1986
Tom Zenk's first tour of
Japan was with Rick Martel for the AJPW "most famous series"
tag tournament, November - December 1986. Effectively, the tour was a trial
run for the Can-Am Connection.
The team was an instant hit with Japanese fans.
Zenk greatly impressed AJPW promoter Shohei 'Giant' Baba and chief booker
Lord James Bleares.
Baba and Bleares offered Zenk a 5 year contract
to return to AJPW. Zenk turned down the offer because of prior commitments
to WWF and to Martel.
In the final round of the tournament in the Budokan
Hall, Tokyo, Zenk and Martel wrestled Giant Baba and Hiroshi Wajima. In
a hard fought match, with several shoot or near shoot exchanges, Wajima
and Zenk enthralled the sell-out crowd and grabbed the next morning's headlines
.....
for color images of this match - jump
here
back
to Japan gateway
back
to main page
