Background: After spending significant time on the gridiron and in the wrestling rings of Japan, the monstrous Big Van Vader made his WCW debut taking on fan favorite “Z-Man” Tom Zenk.
Great American Bash ‘90
Baltimore, MD
July 7, 1990
Big Van Vader vs. Tom Zenk
The crowd was actually digging Vader during his entrance featuring the big man wearing his, as Bill Watts stated, “…an ancient, samurai warrior headpiece … of some kind,” that shot smoke. Zenk tried to get the jump on Vader, bur ran into a shot uppercut to the body. Stuck against the turnbuckles, Zenk was feeling sickening forearms to the face. “Z-Man” refused to go down until the short-arm clothesline had him rolling to the floor for haven. Ducking a second clothesline when Vader pulled him into the ring, Zenk threw a dropkick that barely knocked his opponent back three steps. Zenk hit the ropes for something, only to be gorilla press slammed into an elbow drop that was topped by BVV’s suplex. Whipping Zenk into the ropes, Vader caught “Z-Man” coming off the rebound with a clothesline that almost turned him inside out. Zenk couldn’t get up or avoid the big splash that kept him down for the three count.
Winner: Big Van Vader (2:25)
Is It A Classic: About as good of a “squash” match as you can get. Big Van Vader had an aura of invincibility about him from the moment he stepped onto the stage and the match only helped solidify that feeling.
