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Tom Zenk on 'Billionaire' Vince's unfinished business
.... plus Jim Ross's reply
November 24, 2000 1:43 pm CST
Radio Review: Tom
Zenk
Between The Ropes is a pro-wrestling radio show based out of Orlando, Florida on Sports Radio 540 AM The Team. The show has been on the air for over two years and is hosted by Brian Fritz and Dickerman. It airs every Thursday night (this week on Wednesday night because of the holiday) from 10:00pm - 12:00am on the radio and the website at BetweenTheRopes.com. Tom Zenk was the special guest on the special Wednesday edition (because of Thanksgiving) of Between The Ropes. Guess what? Zenk was great as usual and spoke his mind on anything he was asked and was pretty funny also. Fritz asked Tom for his thoughts on his new found notoriety on the Internet as a result of the interviews he's done lately. Zenk said that he's always telling the truth and people are now listening to it. When he was wrestling and working for guys like Bill Watts and Dusty Rhodes, they didn't listen to him because they were too busy pushing their sons. Tom said guys like Sting and Lex Luger always kept quiet back in the day and never said anything bad about the boss. A previous caller asked if Luger was a bigger "douchebag" than he appears on television. Zenk said Luger was a nice guy outside of the ring and didn't want any trouble. Zenk wondered about the relationship between Luger and Elizabeth. Tom said that Stan Hansen was one of the most difficult guys to work with in the ring. Zenk said Hansen was blind as a bat and nearly took his head off with the lariat a few times. (He laughed off the term 'lariat' as just BS for a clothesline). Tom said that Stan wanted to get himself over before getting the match over. Tom said that Jake Roberts was a good guy. He was second generation and had a good head for the business. He had a good head for recreation as well and that may have cut into his business. Fritz asked if Tom was interested in writing his own autobiography. Tom said he's thought about it, but it probably isn't going to happen. He's too busy since he's got to make a living these days since he's no longer in wrestling. Fritz asked if Tom thought there should be a union in wrestling. Zenk strongly replied that there should be one. Tom wondered (with irony) if Jesse Ventura was going to start up a union for the XFL since he's now a part of the league. Dickerman asked Tom if Chris Benoit deserves his big break right now. Zenk said that Benoit paid his dues and can work with anybody. Tom said that WCW didn't care about making money and guys like Benoit never got to move up the ladder. In the WWF, Vince McMahon cares about making money and he's elevating Benoit to the top. Zenk said that Sting has one of the best 'developmental contracts' in wrestling since he's been on top for 15 years and has never drawn a dime. Zenk said Sting must be a "stooge" since he's been on top for so long without drawing money. When Fritz mentioned that Sting is going to be out 3-6 months, Zenk added that Sting has great timing. Tom told the guys that if they want to get him a Christmas present, he wants a 8x10 glossy picture of Vince McMahon during the steroid trial wearing the neckbrace. Tom called it the "money collar." Back to Sting, Tom said that Sting sold the rights to the name "Sting" to WCW in 1991. Since WCW owns the name, they are going to push it for marketing purposes. Thus, Sting will always be at the top of the money pool. Zenk said that Sting told him in 1991 that he would fulfill his three-year contract at $750,000 with WCW and leave wrestling to go on to his movie career. That didn't happen and it's the year 2000 and he's still wrestling. Fritz asked for Tom's thoughts on Goldberg. Tom said he deserved a big push since that's who the fans are cheering for. The conversation switched to Ric Flair. Zenk said that Ric Flair gave Vince Russo (Zenk jokingly called him Rene Russo) a better match than he ever gave him or Brian Pillman. People say that Flair can work with a broomstick. David Flair is another story. Zenk brought up a point that Jake Roberts made on his website recently, did Ric Flair sell out his son to make a few extra bucks from Turner? Zenk said Flair was willing to give the booker (Russo) a good match, but wouldn't sell that much for guys like him and Brad Armstrong. Zenk said that guys like Flair, Luger, and Sting must be in bed together since they're still on top. Zenk said that Flair made Sting and made Luger. Tom said nobody cares about Ric Flair anymore outside of the Carolinas. Zenk said that Space Mountain has been closed and the lights are off. Fritz tried to bring up that the ratings actually go up (as miniscule as it may be) when Flair is out there. Zenk used a weird analogy regarding the infamous "short bus" and guys like Hogan, Flair, and DDP in WCW to say that those guys should step aside. After a commercial, the guys talked about the plethora of wrestling books on the market. Zenk said that he read them all except for Gary Michael Cappetta. Zenk brought up that he heard about Cappetta on the show last week. Zenk said that Gary was always a good guy and a professional. Tom liked the story that Cappetta told last week about a young Shane McMahon. When Dickerman mentioned that Cappetta didn't like Vince McMahon, Zenk said that he didn't like Vince either but Vince knew how to make money. Fritz asked for Tom's thoughts on Bret Hart. Tom said that Bret was a great guy and one of the best guys in the ring. Zenk brought up Jim Ross' recent comments in an interview that Owen Hart would have wanted to show to go on after his death on the WWF PPV. Zenk said that Owen was a family man and would never have wanted the show to continue. He said that Jim Ross may have some trouble sleeping in the future. Back to Bret, Zenk said that Bret should have gotten a better sendoff. WCW killed him so bad and was stupid for ruining Bret. Tom said that Bret deserved better from WCW. Zenk said that when he and Rick Martel wrestled the Hart Foundation, Bret was great but Jim Neidhart would usual cause the problems since he got blown up so quickly. (The signs of a good wrestler are that he takes care of his opponents body in the ring. When he and Martel worked with Bret, Bret would slam him in the center of the ring, where the spring is, because that was easiest on the body). Zenk said that he couldn't even lace up Bret's boots. Dickerman asked for Tom's thoughts on the Survivor Series screwjob between Bret and Vince in Montreal and if that was the real side of Vince McMahon. Zenk said Vince doesn't care about the wrestlers and again brought up the Cappetta story with Shane McMahon from last week's show. Zenk talked about a recent study Dave Meltzer did showing how baseball players make so much more than wrestlers even though the WWF brings in tons more money than the New York Yankees or any baseball club. A caller asked if Zenk thought there would ever be a Shawn Michaels vs. Bret Hart rematch down the line. Zenk said Vince would take Bret back since it would make him money. However, hell would have to freeze over before that match happened. Tom said that the XFL would likely be a flop. It may survive in the beginning with the money from NBC, but it wouldn't last. Fans are into the NFL and the XFL won't make it. Fritz asked Tom about the possibility of the WWF purchasing WCW. Tom said he gets asked that all the time at work and wants to clear the air. Zenk said that Vince has always wanted to control all of the wrestling. He ran promoters out of the business in the 80's like Don Owens and Verne Gagne. He had a chance to have a monopoly and write the book on wrestling any way he wanted to. No one would have cared about anti-trust laws since the government wouldn't care about something like wrestling. Tom said that Vince won't take over wrestling because he can't keep it running. He needs competition like all other businesses. Zenk said Vince was probably jerking Eric Bischoff's chain to run the price up on him. Zenk said Vince had his chance to be the sole guy in wrestling and now he has to shut up since he didn't take it over. Tom said that Vince always complained about Billionaire Ted and now he can't do it anymore. Zenk said that guys like Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Sean Waltman, Hulk Hogan, and Randy Savage left Vince because he would not pay them and Turner would. Fritz asked about Tom's golf game now that winter has arrived. Tom said that it's depressing since there's snow on the ground and he can't play golf up in Minnesota now. The guys wrapped it up with some final thoughts on everything and wished everyone a happy Thanksgiving. Overall, the Z-Man was pretty good once again. He's not afraid to speak out on anything he doesn't like and it shows in his interviews. I would definitely recommend the archive on BetweenTheRopes.com since Zenk had a lot to say and it's worth it to listen to him actually say it than to read my report. Be thankful for the memories.... The Ross Report from WWF.com for Friday, November 24th, 2000, included the following Thanskgiving message from WWF VP Jim Ross. This appears to be a direct reply to Zenk's earlier comments on baseball players' pay vs WWF wrestlers' pay; Vince's attitude to his workers; and Ross' personal decision to keep on working the show after Owen Hart's death - "I read some very dubious and incorrect salary projections for WWF Superstars, as it relates to Major League Baseball players, recently on the Internet. Federation talents’ earnings are ever growing for the most part, and we are doing all we can to improve our schedule, the arenas we utilize and the overall way we communicate and interact with the men and women who comprise our roster. In other words, not unlike any other business, we are always taking very positive steps to improve the working conditions and overall atmosphere our talents are asked to function in.
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