Pro-Wrestling Tom Zenk Page Pro-Wrestling Tom Zenk Page
Last updated 21 April 2015
ㄥnial䠩s an art form in wrestling and I⭠not talking substance abuse ....well not just yet anyway. Booking and angles, ratings and house attendances have been in the toilet for months. The economy has been in recession since mid last year, the casual fans have all moved on, the south is in revolt and going its own way ..... and the big boys are only just beginning to wake up .....???
Random thoughts from under the Jim Ross beanie ... Ross Report, May 24, 2002
㔨ere are many reasons that we are not where we want to be with our on-air presentations, contrary to the 'Net reports we do not realize what our problems are and don't know how to "fix them." Simply put, we are not providing the product our fans want to see. We need to create new rivalries, elevate more young and athletic talents and effectively introduce some well-prepared new faces. The brand extension, an abnormally high number of injuries, and the challenging economy all have contributed to our challenges also. .... The balance between time devoted to in-ring action and talk must also be addressed, from where I sit. All involved in this process are working very diligently on this solvable problem....䠠
Dave Meltzer -wrestlingobserver.com May 24, 2002
サilding a Hogan-Vince feud as the prime objective of TV today is like a man treading water in the ocean, trying his darndest to keep from drowning, and the people in the boat going by, instead of sending him a line to pull him to safety, send him a classic book to read that they all in the boat remember fondly.
The company needs to just accept that the ratings aren't going to improve right now and build angles that will peak six months from now with fresh faces and start getting them over as main characters. The ratings will drop more, most likely, as these new characters are being built. Accept it. The new characters aren't going to get strong quarter hours for months, so don't worry about it now. Tossing the split idea right now because of ratings declines would be the panic approach because it'll only make any turnaround more difficult. The split has been handled poorly and irrevocable damage has been done already in not treating them as separate companies so the big money down the line when inter-promotional matches take place isn't going to be there as it should. But going backwards will only keep the focus of both shows on people who can't turn it around any longer, and will mean less one year from today. Be patient. Because this is probably going to take a while. And there are no guarantees that it will work, only that by not making changes, you guarantee it won't turn around....䠍
A little late fellas.....
Nice ideas, good advice 栢ut itⳠall been said before (even the nautical analogy) 校nd back when it could have made a difference .....
Still, itⳠnice to have you on board fellas........ at last!!
Tom Zenk on The Law May 15 2001, a FULL year ago
㖩nce will be back because that's the sort of cloth he's cut from. He's failed before and he knows he can come back. But I'd suggest that he take it easy. It's a soft economy. So sit back Vince, and take a good look at things first. Before he relaunches WCW - and I sure hope he does - I hope he comes up with a better plan than the XFL. WCW is southern culture and he's got to come up with a show that's totally different to the WWF. I would starve out those WCW guys with the big money contracts. Let them get hungry and in the meantime build up all the young guys through the feeder territories and enhance everything. Draw up a 3 - 5 year plan that lets him ride out the bad weather. Batten down the hatches Vince and don't take another battering. Meanwhile with all the WCW wrestlers, their cycles will be down - they'll be hungry - and all the young guys will be trained and ready. I know Vince can make a comeback- but maybe he doesn't know it. It's easy to kick a guy when he's down but Vince will be back.䠠
Tom Zenk in this column 3 months ago [02/02/02]
ㅸpanding the number of shows and PPVs in the middle of a downturn is crazy. WWFⳠproduct is already overexposed to a declining fan base. How does upping the number of shows and PPVs help with that? Apart from anything else, splitting the roster halves the number of possible matches in an already boring top card. If I was Vince, I⤍ batten down the hatches and use 2002 as a year for consolidation and rebuilding - emphasizing quality over quantity - better writing, fewer shows, a bigger emmphasis on ᷯrkrate⠡nd mid card advancement, building for the future not hot shotting into a recession.䠠
Ross 栮ot waving, drowning!!
" Simply put, we are not providing the product our fans want to see. We need to create new rivalries, elevate more young and athletic talents and effectively introduce some well-prepared new faces." Ross Report May 24, 2002
Elevate more young talent? ..... Young talent such as RVD, Lance Storm and Brock Lesnar, perhaps?
So how are the young talent faring under Ross⠳tewardship?
I tune to ᓭackdown!⠣hannel 9 UPN in the Twin Cities. First we hear the tease of Hogan to retire? What? Are they really going to junk the old crap so we can plan for the future after all, with RVD, Storm, Lesnar, etc. Nah! How many times did Verne, Fritz, Flair 㲥tire䠴hen 㣯me out of retirement䠯r swerve for a cheap ratings number.... sad!!
Next up, HHH against Lance Storm. Lance has great athletic potential, from where I sit. Now surely this young talent is going to get a quick win and some elevation from the old guard. HHH is taped up like 㴨e mummy returns䠭 his left elbow and left knee bandaged (ii.e. 'injured'⩮ He even has the "war club" taped right fist (which looks just like good old DDP and Barry Windham) for better working punches? JR has provided him with cover ... 㔲iple H saw Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham, Ala., on Monday and had his knee checked. The small fracture has opened up slightly and Dr. Andrews still feels he can continue to work around it as long as he can tolerate the pain.䠓o, HHH has the perfect excuse for a loss. Is he going to enhance the young talent, slip on a banana peel and give Lance a sorely needed win?
No way!!! Someone else has spotted LanceⳠtalent and who else but HHH!! 㔨e Game" knows how to manipulate the McMillions and pick his spot 栴he very first match. With such a strong tease from the beginning of Smackdown that the "immortal one" HH will give his retirement speech later, itⳠ㳴ay tuned fans䠡nd what a great position on the card for HHH. Why? Well, (a) a fresh, hot, live crowd ensures the best possible reaction for HHH; and (b) the best chance for a good first quarter hour rating number; plus (c) the first match can always go longer. Hog all the TV time you can get, judging by HHH's 5-10 minute ring entrance; and finally (d) because Big Steph said so!!
Lance carries X-Game who sells like Dusty, even early on in the match. One perfectly timed superkick from Lance could have, should have dazed HHH? stunned HHH? put HHH out cold?........Nah! Rewind the tape and watch it over. Ask yourself...Who did all the flying in the ring? The top rope stuff or the over-the-top stuff? Who worked around whom? Who was more exciting? Who really needs a little "rub" from the top tier? Who had the perfect excuse to get beat? And what about HHH "taking one for the team.....䠓leading by example...䠩f you weel. And so what, anyway, if HHH with the papier mache elbow and knee, loses tonight. ItⳠonly 4 days ago that he went through "Hell in a Cell." After all HHH is human (maybe?) The announcers sell their asses off, putting him over from the PPV, planting the seeds, telling the fans how to think 栓HHH 2-wins.... Jericho 2-losses䮮.(read, "Jericho is a friend of the Rock").
But there's still hope .... surely the young, rested, healthy, high-flying Storm can maybe, possibly, hopefully, beat the gimped up, taped up, wrapped up mummy? The mummy even has juice, another excuse to lose, surely? Ponder this one if you weel.... What if Shane McMoney had the talent, the body, the look and the athletic ability of Lance Storm?....Remember all the boy's selling Shane's "shotgun like" punches? I do, and then wonder why they bump for Shane, but refuse to sell for young talent like Lance?
So the injured, juiced HHH beats the young rested healthy Storm. On national TV?
And why exactly beat Storm? Because he's got potential of coursel!!! Politics as usual and damn you Jim Ross.
Judging by the depth or lack of it in WWE, I⤠protect Storm, mentor him, coach him - not BEAT him!! So much for Ross 㠥levating more young and athletic talents and effectively introducing some well-prepared new faces."
Well, I guess weⶥ still got Lesnar and RVD.... ItⳠa simple formula for Lesnar - hot heels draw money. ThatⳠwhere I was going with Brock growing his hair long, and using Hennig to help protect and politic his way to the top. A freak like Brock could really mean something. Surely they canⴠscrew up this one ..... Oh yes they can!!! After killing BrockⳠsteam last week, rumors are being circulated - ㌥snar is starting to show small signs that his push is going to his head." More politics, egos, backstabbing !!!
Youth, crowd reaction, looks, athletic ability, RVD still has the best chance to get over. Putting aside the fact that Ross waged open warfare on RVD during most of late 2001, itⳠtime to shoot RVD to the top and let the boys fight for spots... or is it?
Time is running out. Vince has to take a chance on talents the people like. But for RVD and Lesnar to happen, VKM has to get rid of the "workers", the "yes men" and the family members he surrounds himself with 校nd that includes good ol⠰latitudinous JR!
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The incredible shrinking billionaire .....
Even his best friends now admit, VinceⳠcore business is failing in ratings, house attendances, PPV buyrates and merchandising. His spin-off businesses, which were supposed to take up cyclical slack in WWEⳠcore business, are not exactly prospering. The question is .... can Vince survive this double whammy?
㔨e WWF IPO raised $250 million to diversify WWFE from a wrestling business to a multi media enterprise with interests in books, music (Smackdown Records), the web (WWF.com), cross over TV, football (XFL), and a Hardrock Caf頳tyle franchise (ᗗF New York⩮ The idea was to spread the companyⳠbase so it could better manage cyclical downturns in the wrestling business with income streams from non-wrestling sources 栴hereby growing its net worth and share value. The XFailure and the economic recession killed all that. . WWFEⳠfailure to diversify will prove to be the most significant 捊and most ominous - development of 2001.䠛from this column 23 December 2001]
Two weeks ago NBC listed VinceⳠmajor spin off 栴he disastrous XFL - among its 12 worst programming mistakes. Last week NBC got rid of their remaining interests in WWE, selling off their 3 percent stake in the company for $27.7 million, or $12 a share.
A NBC spokesperson commented, "We are trying to realign our capital and make strategic investments where we would have operating control." In other words, NBC no longer trusts Vince to get the best return on their money. NBC reportedly sold off their interests at 21% below current market value.
Consider this, if you weel:
(1) NBC are WINNERS (the highest-rated broadcast network). Winners don't hang out with losers. Nothing personal Vince - it's just that Winners and Losers don't have anything in common and drift apart.
(2) Birds of a feather flock together. If NBC is a Winner and doesn't want anything to do with Vince, what does that make Vince? Fact is, the *real* talent in TV production (the New York TV producers at NBC) know Vince is *not* one of them. He doesn't have the class to make it in the big time. HeⳠnot "part of their club." And he never will be. By hook or crook, he managed to pull off one of the biggest cons of all time. But heⳠhad his shot, and nobody wants anything more to do with him.
Lately, Vince has been like the proverbial stupid kid with thick glasses in the bumper cars at WWE Whackeyworld. You know, the one who can't figure out the pedals on the car, and keeps getting rammed by the other kids, while his glasses slide down his nose. Last week he got his ass handed to him by Panda and Spotted Owl and an estimated $51 million went down the toilet with the WWF title.
I walked out on VKM after six months because the guy is cheap and a carney. It took NBC two years and $40 million to discover the same thing and last week they walked away. The question is, whoⳍ preparing to follow NBC out the door. And, can Vince survive falling market values alongside his falling house shows and falling ratings? This is not 1996 all over again. With WWE now a public company, this is something entirely new.
Davey Boy Smith
Andrea Hart in The Calgary Sun says 㰲escription painkillers which Davey Boy was using to mask the pain of training for his planned wrestling comeback ultimately ended [Smith's] life.㠁ccording to a preliminary diagnosis Davey BoyⳠheart had been weakened by steroids but itⳠgoing to take three weeks to get the full autopsy report.
Painkillers and valium and three weeks to get the facts? Who are they kidding? Is the real story being suppressed or quelled for damage control?
The truth is that Dr. Zahorian brought along all the tools needed to create WWF Superstars - steroids, painkillers, HCG, Valium, Halcion, Tylenol #3 and #4, Anadrol 50, Annavar, Dianabol, Fastin, Testosterone aqueous (water based), cypionate, enanthate and on and on.
So who in WWE (apart from Foley) isnⴠaware of widespread drugs taking. And who is responsible for ensuring the boys are educated to the risk-to-benefit ratio of using? And what about duty of care? Guess?
I hope everyone involved, especially all those studiously looking the other way, sleep easy at night.
Just like Pillman, Davey Boy's death will probably make very little difference. Life goes on. The wrestling world will be over it in a week (like the 20 plus other deaths this year) and no fuss so long as WWE remembers to ring the bell.....䌩fe goes on䮮. ㉴ was Davey BoyⳠdestiny䬠㉴Ⳡnothing new for all of us in the know䬍 㕬timately he killed himself䮮. whatever. Davey Boy now rests like Brian Pillman, and the list goes on
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㎅WS: Nash and Waltman threaten to quit, upset with booking direction.䠠
Earlier this week there were stories that ᴨings got heated backstage at Raw as Kevin Nash and Sean Waltman let the writing crew know how upset they were with the storylines they were given in recent weeks. At one point, both wrestlers threatened to quit. Vince McMahon wasn't backstage since he was producing the Steve Austin, Eddie Guerrero segment. Stephanie McMahon wasn't at TV either as she had a personal obligation to tend to. That left Shane McMahon and the writing staff to try to quell the situation.䠠
So Nash went to the writers when Vin McBully and Big Steph werenⴍ around? A perfect case of the bully picking his spot!! They pick on the son who's taken all those high-risk maneuvers to get respect with the boys. [I heard Luger say Shane pulled his pants down in the can stall at a venue to show him the quads he'd been working on - so many hours in the gym, squats, blah blah blah... another mark for bodybuilding. Luger put the fool over, gave him a tip or two.] In other words, Nash and X-Pac picked on a mark!!!
It sounds like WCW all over again. The animal are out of their cages and taking over the Zoo. Next thing they⬬ have HHH, Hogan, Austin and Undertaker demanding rewrites and creative control (Ooops, they already are?) With Shawn coming back, things could get really interesting!!!!
By weekⳠend, WWE had a new spin out. It seems Nash never REALLY threatened to quit. So, Nash is a pussy after all [like Vince last week on Costas]. Too scared to play with Vince the way he used to play with Turner, I guess.
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The new Jarrett NWA promotion - a vehicle for Jeff, another third generation non-talent. And I bet Slapnuts is gonna be the new NWA champ! Double-J got 㢥at by a bitch䠨HHH's ex) remember? Then Joey Buttafucco beat Chyna on Fox and the match got a great rating. With NWA planning to bolster their ratings with ᣥlebrities⬠will Joey B. be the next NWA champ?
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Nickerless Steph passed in at auction ....
Finally, this week, Ebay auctioned a WWF Stephanie McMahon figure from the Sunday Night Heat Series. Apparently, the figure was recalled from stores because JAKKS forgot to put panties on the Big Bird. The item was passed in with no bids - so no surprise there!! http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1729762733
Your feedback....
Your column is a breath of much needed fresh air. Keep up the good work and thanks for bringing balance to an otherwise lopsided world.
Yo Tom-just to say keep it up man-SOMEBODY HAS TO SPEAK THE TRUTH!!! You're the voice of everyone that Vince McMuppet doesnⴠlike to acknowledge exists. You're not bitter, just realistic......
Your "shoots", especially on Vinnie Mac are a scream!
You are by far the best, funniest and most honest writer on the Internet. Your weekly column is the first thing I look for Monday morning. I swear to God I would pay you to write a column everyday. Your stories are great and the one about Brody and Butch had me pissing my pants. Anyways Mr.Zenk you are a class act. Keep the laughs rolling.