THE
CAN-AM SPLIT
Martel and Zenk's
paths first crossed in the AWA in 1984. After his loss of the AWA title
in late 1985, Martel traveled to the PNW where Zenk was reigning heavyweight
champion. Both men then headed north to Montreal to work much of 1986 in
Gino Brito's International Wrestling Association (IWA). After a try out
in a lucrative tag tournament in Japan in late 1986 - where the lines of
the Can-Am Connection were finally forged - Zenk and Martel moved to the
WWF, achieving immediate rating among the world's top ten tag teams (December,
1986). By the spring of 1987 the Can-Am Connection was No 1 contender for
the World Tag Team Titles then held by the Hart Foundation.
Why the Can-Am
Connection suddenly imploded is one of wrestling's mysteries and the subject
of much speculation. Currently we only know the detail of Rick Martel's
side of the story. And that version is tainted by its origins in WWF storylines,
hastily devised to "write" Zenk out of their 1987 season.
Since Tom Zenk
has never sought to give his side, perhaps feeling that there's nothing
to explain, the truth may never be known.
For those of us
still happy to idly speculate on the issue without much objective information
- possible explanations of the break up include the following.
There is some
evidence that Zenk, initially, sought to emulate Martel's career path and
may have sought a mentor in the older and more experienced wrestler. He
certainly considered Martel, at that time, a more skilled wrestler - "
better than I'll ever be" (Martel had 15 years ring experience compared
to Zenk's 3 years). But Zenk has also hinted in interviews that,
working closely with Martel, both in IWA and in WWF, proved difficult and
his former admiration turned to disillusionment at being treated as a
'junior partner'
and generally being pre-empted by Martel; "I told Rick it wasn't working.
He was constantly trying to overshadow me." In another interview Zenk spoke
of the importance of regaining control from Martel - "I was the student
and Rick was the teacher, I'll admit that. When I broke it off with Rick,
I felt for the first time I was really on my own. SInce then I've done
things for my career that I, and only I, thought were right. That's a real
turning point" (Sports Review Wrestling, May 1991).
Zenk has indicated
to one interviewer that another significant reason for the
split was a difference between the two men over the terms of their
contract with WWF. According to Zenk - "To be totally honest, it was nothing
sleazy or scandalous. It was a money dispute. I felt that I was being shafted.
The WWF was making good money off of me but my payoff wasn't that great.
I talked to Rick about it, since he was supposed to be handling the business
end of the deal, but he didn't do anything about it. He just kept telling
me to hang in for a few years, make some money and THEN leave. I finally
got ticked off. I don't like being used. So on July 10th of last year,
in Boston, I dropped off a note to Rick and the keys to our rental car
at our hotel's reception desk and left." (Wrestling Fury, June 1988).
The Jackyl's
comments - that Zenk came to "believe his own hype" - might thus
be re-construed to mean that Zenk had come to value himself equally alongside
Martel. On the other hand, the WWF contract is said to have favored Martel
financially over Zenk. Zenk sought a better return on his work from WWF.
Martel, the team's business manager, wasn't prepared to renegotiate their
contract - Zenk refused to continue the 'partnership' on these unequal
terms and left - "I'm going to wrestle on my own terms now."
Complicating
this is the clear undercurrent in Zenk's career that independence
and integrity counted for a great deal more than money - leading to speculation
that Zenk had been placed in an impossible position by sleazy behavior
from some of the WWF booking and ring staff. According to Steve Keirn,
Tom found himself in WWF with only one choice "Zenk wanted to be seen as
a serious wrestler and these rumors would make him lose his reputation
in the sport. Tom stood up for what he believed in. He walked out on money
for integrity". Zenk himself has discounted the 'sleazy and scandalous'
stories while acknowledging - in evidence before the McMahon trial (1994)
- that episodes of harassment had occurred in the WWF.
Money considerations
alone could not have been Zenk's sole motivation for the split since the
financial costs of his walk out proved considerable. Not only did he lose
a lucrative salary but WWF attempted to put a levy on his subsequent earnings.
"I was served papers for breach of contract. The action was settled out
of court but I'm really not free to discuss it." Moreover as subsequent
events proved, the break with WWF had the long term effect of reducing
Zenk's financial leverage with other federations (after AWA's demise).
Zenk could no longer follow the well worn path between WWF and WCW in an
effort to improve his contract conditions. After 1989, his ring future
lay entirely in the hands of WCW management, and as time was to show, WCW
turned out to be poor managers of his talent.
Overall, concern
for personal gain seems to have been secondary to ideas of what constituted
a "fair deal" between wrestlers and promoters. Zenk, at the time, was a
strong advocate of group insurance and unionization for wrestlers. "Well,
you know how I feel about all that. Like I've said before, in this business,
the promoter is the pimp and the wrestler the whore. The boys have no rights.
Not only that but, depending on the original contract you sign, you may
not take anything off photo sessions, dolls, T-shirts, etc. All the revenues
from Can-Am merchandise would have gone to McMahon. There should always
be a percentage for the boys. After all, the promotion is capitalizing
on their face/image." At the same time Zenk acknowledged the near impossibility
of ever organizing "the boys" against the intimidatory tactics of promoters.
A
'SPOILED BRAT' WHO 'BELIEVED HIS OWN HYPE' ?
On July 10, 1987,
the WWF having scripted Can-Am to win the tag titles, were suddenly forced
to explain away Zenk's defection. They attempted to do so by portraying
him variously as "a cowering idiot" who'd fled WWF rather than face
Bobby Heenan and "The Islanders"; or as having retired completely from
wrestling because it had become all "too hard". Different angles
on where he had gone and why he had left, were churned out by the WWF writers,
ranging from his supposed general lack of wrestling skill to various aspersions
on his personal and moral character. Martel ran with all these angles and
as recently as April, 1998 was still attributing Zenk's departure from
Can-Am in terms of supposed "character flaws" - including an unwillingness
to respond to the work-rate, the large crowds, and the stresses of performance
experienced at top levels of the sport.
Others wrestlers
like Steve Keirn reject this. "There was never anything wrong with
Zenk's work - no character flaws except a natural cockiness." According
to Keirn, Zenk's problems in the sport arose from both harassment by bookers
and from " telling it as it was- he wouldn't do what the bookers
wanted and if he was forced - then it showed in his face and in his attitude
and in his performance."
Tito Santana,
who replaced Zenk as Martel's partner, agrees - "Zenk had it all (looks,
talent, charisma) and could have been the longest-lasting wrestler, and
have it all on a silver platter .... if he'd towed the booker's line."
Instead Zenk held
out for a fair return from his work. It is this advocacy of a basic
principle that the Jackyl chooses to describe as the tantrums of a 'spoiled
brat'.
If Zenk felt his
value to Can-Am was undervalued by Martel, the truth of this became clear
with his departure. Martel and WWF were suddenly left with more than their
fair share of nothing. The consequence, according to a friend of Martel's
was - ""The break-up seriously damaged Rick's earning potential. Rick saw
Tom as his key to the money jar. And [after Zenk's departure]
Rick's earning potential never met what it would have had Tom stayed".
Whatever, finally,
were the reasons for the Can-Am split - and they must have been complex
to excite such long standing passions on Martel's side - they are incapable
of encapsulation in The Jackyl's glib characterization of Zenk as a "spoiled
brat" who "believed his own hype".
The evidence appears
to be that Zenk quickly put the episode behind him after settling with
WWF's lawyers. This is consistent with his general attitude that people
individually make their own fate. Perhaps Martel, now exiting
the ring, can also, finally, put the episode behind him.
That would be
preferable to his continued use of Zenk as scapegoat for his own career
disappointments. There is, after all, a great deal in Martel's career to
look back favorably on.
