Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 5, 2019 9:29:33 GMT -5
Taz had a great start to his WWF career. Debuted at the 2000 Royal Rumble as Kurt Angle's mystery opponent and choked him out for the win. I thought it was going to be the start of a great run, but after that he was pretty much a mid card guy. I couldn't imagine him losing to guys like Jerry Lawler and Crash Holly as 2000 progressed. As the badass in ecw I sure as hell couldn't imagine him being a goofball color commentator ever. What happened with Taz(I heard it was attitude issues)? Did you think Taz would be the badass he was in ecw?
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Post by LA Times on Sept 5, 2019 9:58:41 GMT -5
It was Vince Russo who wanted the WWF to sign him, because he liked Taz's Brooklyn accent, but Russo left before Taz debuted. They also thought Taz was too small and didnt want him suplexing bigger guys all over the place like he did in ECW.
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Post by hbkbigdaddycool on Sept 5, 2019 12:12:12 GMT -5
Tazz had the height issue against him. I mean they made him and Spike Dudley and underdog tag team in 2002 as Champions, when 3 years earlier in ECW, Tazz was destroying the Dudley Boyz on his own!
Tazz should be damn lucky at what he got out of his WWE run. Though, he would have made a pretty good European Champion, too bad he never got a run at that title.
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Post by The Brain on Sept 5, 2019 13:28:00 GMT -5
I knew he had no chance of becoming a World Champ in WWF but if they played their cards right he could've been a good IC or European Champ like hbkbigdaddycool said. I was skeptical at first at him becoming a commentator but he won me over fairly quickly in the color role. Him ripping on Cole both on Heat and SD was great. |
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Post by LA Times on Sept 5, 2019 13:57:21 GMT -5
That match on Smackdown where he jobbed to HHH while he was ECW World Champion killed his career.
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Post by The Brain on Sept 5, 2019 14:02:07 GMT -5
That match on Smackdown where he jobbed to HHH while he was ECW World Champion killed his career. Yeah he never recovered from that.To top it off they do it in Philly of all places... |
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Post by MKSavage on Sept 5, 2019 15:30:54 GMT -5
Yeah, I always wondered why he started of great then things went down hill really quick. I know he wasn't the tallest guy but this wasn't the 80s, not a lot of very tall guys in the company at that time. I thought he would have done well in WWF/E, he had the attitude and a unique look. He was also good in the ring. I'm not saying he should have been world champion over Austin or HHH or Rock but he could have had some great feuds with those guys. I would have liked to have seen him go after Angle when he was champion, reignite the feud from his debut. With that being said, I believe he also suffered a severe neck injury which probably didn't help. The thing I remember most about his WWF/E run was suplexing Test on Raw, Test went for a big boot, Taz ducked it, hooked Test by the back of the neck with Test's leg still draped over Taz's shoulder and did a belly-to-belly duplex, I had never seen that done before or since, it looked awesome. Also, I hated that the WWF/E added and extra Z to his name, it just didn't look right.
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Deleted
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Taz in WWF
Sept 5, 2019 17:38:48 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by Deleted on Sept 5, 2019 17:38:48 GMT -5
Before one night stand 2006 his last match was with Mr Perfect on Raw in 2002 right? Taz won if I recall.
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Post by The Brain on Sept 5, 2019 17:44:26 GMT -5
Before one night stand 2006 his last match was with Mr Perfect on Raw in 2002 right? Taz won if I recall. I believe his last TV match was in April of 02. IIRC it was on one of them low level shows like Jakked/Metal. Forget his opponent though. |
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Post by JokerFC on Sept 5, 2019 18:41:10 GMT -5
Tazz was 100% a case of wrong place & wrong time. Wrong time in particular.
Vince clearly was high on Tazz…..Any suggestions that he was a "Russo want" that Vince was "meh" on should be rubbished immediately when you look at the manner of his debut. He debuted him at a PRIME PPV in front of a roasting crowd and had him squash his pet project Kurt Angle like a jobber.
Tazz was doing just fine and then the Radicalz debuted. That faction also contained 2 smaller guys who were fond of the suplex. Jericho was finding hso stride by then too after a f*ckin disasterous start "in ring" with WWF.
Meanwhile? Taz was forgotten about because Kurt Angle was still occupying top dog of the midcard and Benoit was positioned to feud with him & Jericho instead of Tazz. I firmly believe it was case of too many toys for Vince.
The entire scenario where Tazz went back to win the ECW title again didn't help either....because it put him even further out of the writers gaze.
Personally I would have positioned Tazz as an ally to Cactus & Rock against the combined forces of DX & The Radicalz…..he was believable & had history working with the Radicalz.
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Deleted
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Taz in WWF
Sept 5, 2019 22:11:04 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by Deleted on Sept 5, 2019 22:11:04 GMT -5
Tazz was 100% a case of wrong place & wrong time. Wrong time in particular. Vince clearly was high on Tazz…..Any suggestions that he was a "Russo want" that Vince was "meh" on should be rubbished immediately when you look at the manner of his debut. He debuted him at a PRIME PPV in front of a roasting crowd and had him squash his pet project Kurt Angle like a jobber. Tazz was doing just fine and then the Radicalz debuted. That faction also contained 2 smaller guys who were fond of the suplex. Jericho was finding hso stride by then too after a f*ckin disasterous start "in ring" with WWF. Meanwhile? Taz was forgotten about because Kurt Angle was still occupying top dog of the midcard and Benoit was positioned to feud with him & Jericho instead of Tazz. I firmly believe it was case of too many toys for Vince. The entire scenario where Tazz went back to win the ECW title again didn't help either....because it put him even further out of the writers gaze. Personally I would have positioned Tazz as an ally to Cactus & Rock against the combined forces of DX & The Radicalz…..he was believable & had history working with the Radicalz. I guess Taz was also a case of "just because you were great in ecw, doesn't mean you will be good in the big time". |
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Post by TheSystem 1.5 on Sept 6, 2019 8:43:18 GMT -5
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Post by RuthlessFigs on Sept 6, 2019 8:58:09 GMT -5
Story short (no pun intended)
If Taz was in his prime today, he'd be huge and a top guy, easy.
Plus, he could legitimately go up against Lesnar and have a believable, intense match where they both throw each other around.
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Taz in WWF
Sept 7, 2019 16:04:51 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by PJ on Sept 7, 2019 16:04:51 GMT -5
Like JokerFC said he had a great debut at the ‘00 Royal Rumble which was very promising. But then he just continued to get lost in the mix as his time in the WWE went on. Also changing his ring attire from the singlet to the sweat pants didn’t help. |
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JP
Main Eventer
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Post by JP on Sept 7, 2019 16:14:33 GMT -5
Sadly, all I remember of Tazz growing up is this:  It really says something when Michael Cole of all people is a more tolerable announcer. |
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Post by The Brain on Sept 7, 2019 18:55:29 GMT -5
I'll never forget that POP at the Rumble. That match plus the next night on Raw in Philly which saw him choke out Kurt again to another big pop are my favorite moments of his WWF run.
Man if they only kept that momentum going...
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jason1980s
Main Eventer
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Post by jason1980s on Sept 7, 2019 19:13:16 GMT -5
Tazz wound up getting a pretty long career with WWF and wound up becoming one of the better wrestlers turned commentators. He probably looks back fondly on this time with them. Things should have gone better for him but as some have mentioned there were so many new talents coming in that WWF couldn't do something with everyone.
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Post by The Brain on Sept 7, 2019 19:24:45 GMT -5
Cole's best partner in the booth IMO. They blended well together.I was never a Cole fan but I could tolerate him the most when he was with Taz.
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Post by JokerFC on Sept 8, 2019 7:23:13 GMT -5
Taz was the only thing that made that cretin Cole tolerable. Jesus I despise him LOL
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