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'Exposing' the Business...

Most Embarassing Moment

Question - it's a bit predictable but we have to ask it - what do you remember as your most embarassing moment in the ring?

Z-Man - Well, there's more than one........

When I was in Portland, I'd learned a fancy way to jump into the ring. I'd never tried it in public so I thought I'd give it a shot at the main Saturday night spot at the Portland Sports Arena (the old bowling alley). So I came running down the aisle kissing the women and babies, got to the ring apron, waved to the people, put one hand on the rope and jumped into the ring - and fell flat on my butt! That was "Tommy Zink" trying to be really COOL with a new move for the big Saturday night crowd.

A bit later (February 1987), in Pittsburgh, not long before Wrestlemania III we ("The Can-Am Connection") were doing a program with Bob Orton and Don Muraco. The WWF would hook up teams that were going to wrestle at the big event to make then comfortable working with each other when the big day came, and also to allow them to work out some high spots for the match. Anyway Orton and I became friends inside and outside the ring because I kept my mouth shut and listened. We also partied on occasions and I think I generally had no heat with the boys because I was humble and partied with the heels.

I was never a stooge or tattle-tale about what the boys were up to the night before, cheating on their wives, drugs, drinking, it didn't matter to me so long as you could handle it. And if I was ever asked by a member of the office or one of the stooges about what had gone on the night before, I'd just say "I was at the party but I got so smashed I can't remember what happened". They got the hint by the way I looked at them and after that stopped asking me dumb questions about the guys I'd been partying with. Anyway, on the good side, that meant I never got hurt in the ring because I think most all the boys liked me. On the other hand, there were always a few guys who hated me for my looks - y'know - calling me a "pretty boy," "primadonna," "fag," "gayboy" - all the kind of stuff that Tony Curtis wwrites about in his bio - about how jealous people have to level things out to make themselves feel better about their own lives.....

(left) Zenk gets worked over by
Orton and Muraco in a program
leading to WMIII
[tapes]

Anyway, back to the story. We were working a program with Muraco and Orton and during a match I took Bob Orton down in a headlock take-over and got the 1..2.. He rolled me back over, sold the headlock waited for 10 seconds while the ref asked Bob if he wanted to quit. He said "No" and proceeded to grab the front of my trunks and exposed my c*** and b**** for all of Pittsburgh to see ... I'd never seen that move before and I'm glad we didn't kill the town. (By the way I'm all natural in the trunks dept. No sock rolled up, gimmick, or foreign object, etc.) Both Bob and Don laughed their asses off and I turned red, knowing these two guys and the fact that the crowd response was to really get into it. And one time just wasn't enough for Bob. He had to do it again, and this time it got a better reaction ... I mean exposed me so everybody could see.

Orton and Muraco had quite a bit of fun at my expense but, anyway, how could I get mad at a guy that I respected and liked as a person. Orton was a great guy who accepted me as someone starting out, a second generation man who took the time to help me perfect my craft, as well as taking care of me in the ring. And someone I liked to shoot pool and party with."

Part 1 | Part 2

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