Tom Zenk in the Pacific North West/part2

''PORTLAND DAYS' - TOM ZENK IN THE PACIFIC NORTH WEST October 1985 - April 1986

PORTLAND DAYS

Tom Zenk in Pacific North West

An interview with Barry Owen

PART TWO

The Pacific Northwest Federation, headed up by the Owen family of Portland, was a wrestling powerhouse for most of this century. In part one, Barry Owen gave a history of the family business and Tom Zenk's brief involvement with the promotion. This segment carries the story of PNW to its close in 1992.

"Tommy Zenk was undefeated in PNW at the time of his departure," Owen remembers. "He had become a star in the fed and the people loved him. Tommy got along with most of the guys and was a dedicated ring technician. The wrestlers became a family somewhat because they were all trying to make a living. To cut expenses, they might ride together and room together too. If they could get along long enough to ride together, that was fine. Actually, they didn't always know who they were wrestling until they got to a town. So a heel and face riding together wasn't all that uncommon. I didn't keep up with where the guys stayed or went when they weren't wrestling, but many, like Scott Doring and Zenk would go to Lake Oswego to train."

from "Northwest Wrestling News and Views"
February 20, 1986

"Professional athletes will be athletes at times and I remember one time walking in on a fight in the dressing room where one guy was trying to tear another guy's eye out. Sorry to say I don't remember who it was. But I do remember that Billy Jack Haynes and Tommy had some heat between them at one time. I don't remember exactly what it was, but probably had something to do with the popularity factor. There were rumors that Haynes prevented Zenk from selling his picture at the towns. Haynes was an employee like the other wrestlers, and had no say so on the business end of things. He might have tried to throw his weight around, but that wouldn't fly in the front office."

"Tommy's leaving PNW seemed pretty abrupt, even with five weeks notice. He had a great undefeated record with us and it just seems a really abrupt end to his short PNW career. We wished he'd stayed."

What made PNW so popular with the wrestlers was the small town feel and personal touch. The wrestlers were out there every night and the local folks thought of them as friends, not just TV personalities. The wrestlers were told to never turn down a request for an autograph.

"The people were paying good money and we wanted to entertain them. We'd also have special nights ("Kids Free with Paying Adult," etc.) to help out the house. Prices were usually $8.00 for ringside, $7.00 for the floor and $5.00 general admission. This was small town America and there wasn't much to do in many of these towns so the shows were family events," Owen recalls.

The early '90s saw an end to PNW. There was a new executive director of the Boxing and Wrestling Commission of Oregon, Bruce Anderson. And Billy Jack Haynes had come back to town trying to start up a new federation in 1988. Haynes got the necessary licensing and then attempted to woo away PNW's main talent (Brian Adams, Moondog Moretti, Rip Oliver and Mike Miller were among those who defected).

"A few guys came back to help us out on the opening night of Haynes' fed and Tommy was one of them" stated Owen. "Haynes' promotion only lasted about 3 or 4 months [officially closing 7/17/88] but Haynes' actions left a bad taste in many people's mouths. All of this added to PNW losing the TV show we had for over 40 years. Some of the sponsors (particularly long time sponsor Tom Peterson) went bankrupt and the station wouldn't keep producing the show (despite 'Portland Wrestling' drawing consistently good ratings in its time slot from the time when TV was invented). We sold the Sports Arena to a neighboring church."


ONE GOOD TURN .... Tom Zenk returns to Portland in 1988 in support of Don and Barry Owen on the opening night of Billy Jack Haynes' rival Oregon federation.	Don Owen - " I take pleasure in introducing one of the top wrestlers in the nation and one of the most popular. He was here for 6 months and was never defeated ... and I'm glad to see him back here again, Tommy Zenk."

Local boy Matt Borne, in Zenk's ring jacket pretends to be Roddy Piper....	while Zenk looks on incredulously .... (see animated gif).

"I'm glad to be back here to see all the great smiling faces - all the great fans in the Northwest (big pop from crowd).....	It's been a while since I've been here but I came back for one reason. The Northwest and the Portland Sports Arena are synonymous with wrestling here in the Northwest....

All the people, everyone here, they got 'Extravaganza' on their mind. Don Owen has put together a great card tonight and we've seen some great wrestling right here....	....Believe me, Grappler (PNW Heavyweight Champion), I'm after your belt and I'm hopefully going to be back here to stay. It's great to be back. Thankyou very much, Don."

On May 30, 1992, Don Owen said goodbye to the fans.

"It was hard to end that tradition. But it was time to close up and get on with something else. And the talent pool was getting smaller with the big boys [WWF and WCW] taking the all."

Barry Owen's thoughts on present day grappling. "Today's wrestling really pains me. There's no wrestling, only screaming and flying around. WWF is a sad thing now, I bet Mr. McMahon Sr. is rolling in his grave. Although WCW has more wrestling than WWF, that's not saying much."

"There's been such a change in the business now that Tommy is better off in doing what he's doing. He's just not that kind of guy."

Barry Owen currently owns an emergency wrecker service in the Portland area and his father Don is enjoying retirement. But both still enjoy watching a good match .... when they can find one.

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