xx x x Not long after working with Austin at the Clash of Champions XVI - "Fall Brawl" (09/05/91), Zenk was sidelined for two months doing a special trouble shooting referee gimmick in the Lex Luger and Mr Hughes vs Barry Windham and Ron Simmons and Windham and Sting matches.  x x Have you ever seen a wrestler work as a referee other than as a special guest or old timer?  It’s the ultimate humiliation for a wrestler. The locker room consensus was Dusty wanted Zenk to quit. x x To piss Dusty off, Zenk didn’t sell  the humiliation. He sold the referee angle instead -  like a mental! Before every match, spending minutes going over the rules in close detail; before counting a fall, checking the space between shoulders and the mat;  the one thousand, two thousand, three thousand .... No-one in the back complained, so Zenk doubled the intensity....

 
THE SPECIAL REFEREE ANGLE
It's the late fall of 1991 and The Z-Man, weighing in at 'a substantial 261 lbs' is scheduled to wrestle Mr Hughes, 'bodyguard' to World Heavyweight Champion, Lex Luger. Hughes is accompanied to the ring by Harley Race.  Luger had recently been turned heel (to clear the way for Dusty's son to become lead babyface). Luger signals his new heel status by attacking  the Z-Man, Sting and other former 'friends'.

Zenk accuses Luger of turning his back on the fans who'd supported him as a face.  Luger comes looking for an apology but the Z-Man refuses to give one. As the Z-Man looks away (fatal mistake!) Luger 'clotheslines' him (cheap shot!). Race and Hughes hold the Z-Man while Luger positions him for a pile driver. The Z-Man is driven to the mat, 'damaging his neck'.
 

 
In a subsequent match The Z-Man makes a high dive over the top rope onto Cactus Jack on the floor below (rare in 1991 when people, including Foley, considered an elbow drop off the ring apron something special). In addition to hitting Foley, Z-Man hits the concrete and a steel barrier, compounding the 'neck injury' inflicted by Luger.

The Z-Man is 'warned by doctors' against wrestling - but he has unfinished business with Luger. He 'obtains a licence' to officiate as a referee and begins to establish a reputation as an officious and authoritative ring official. He intends to make sure that when Luger and Hughes meet Barry Windham and Ron Simmons at Halloween Havoc, it will be a straight forward test of ability.

 
But immediately prior to officiating a match, Z-Man is 'attacked' in his dressing room by two unknown assailants. He is beaten with a chair and his ribs damaged, before help arrives....

Click here for images of the angle
1 |  2  |  3

The referee angle was supposed to segue into a November program against Luger for the World Heavyweight title - an angle that got a little extra edge when Luger appeared with a fat lip and a black eye courtesy of a high spot they got crossed up in Charleston, SC.

They began the program in Birmingham, Alabama on 25 October. But it was soon clear, there was nothing intended for it. All the heat that had been building through September and October was dissipated two days later, when Rhodes booked Zenk to a 87 second job against Rick Rude at Halloween Havoc.

Marc Schultz wrote in the Observer -  " why use Z-Man as cannon-fodder? In Chicago and other cities in November, he's going against Luger for the title in the main event. This match [the Rude job] wipes out any drawing power those matches might have had."

The Halloween Havoc match did very little to establish Rude either.  The major crowd reaction came for Zenk's ring entrance and a series of  blows and drop-kicks to Rude's face. It was awful booking that gave Rude a nothing start and killed the Zenk vs Luger program. It lasted 1:27 minutes compared to the 25 minutes for Dustin vs Austin.

Zenk was never booked to beat Luger -  so what was the point of busting his balls as a referee - the ultimate humiliation for a wrestller. The knock on Zenk was that they couldn’t get him to play their game. 'Vindictive booking' (the phrase is Dusty's) was their only comeback, so long as Zenk remained under contract.

 

Previously - the Stud vs Stud angle
 

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