WWE News: Taz calls his WWE debut against Kurt Angle the 'greatest' and 'worst' moment of his career
What's the story?
Former WWE colour commentator and ECW legend Taz appeared on the Talk is Jericho podcast recently and spoke on a variety of topics, including his WWE debut against Kurt Angle at the Royal Rumble PPV in 2000.
In case you didn’t know…
Taz (spelled as Tazz after coming over to WWE) is best remembered for his time in ECW where he is a former two-time World Heavyweight Champion, three-time Tag Team Champion and two-time World Television Champion among other things.
After his blockbuster debut against Angle at the Royal Rumble PPV in 2000, where he defeated the previously unbeaten Olympic Gold Medallist, the rest of his run with the company was lacklustre at best. He is well remembered for his time as SmackDown colour commentator alongside Michael Cole.
The heart of the matter
Taz had a dream debut when he beat Angle by choking him out with the Tazmission. Though he was hitherto only known on small promotions like ECW, 'The Human Suplex Machine' got a huge pop from the crowd at the Madison Square Garden. This was definitely one of the highlights of his wrestling career.
When he appeared on Chris Jericho's podcast, Taz called his WWE debut the 'greatest and worst moment' of his career (H/T Wrestling Inc.):
"It was the greatest moment in my career and my worst. I will explain why it was the worst. When I came out, when I was in Gorilla position, Bruce Prichard was in Gorilla. When Kurt Angle was out there cutting his promo I said to Bruce that I hope they know who I am. I was afraid, because I was from ECW, the 'small, little bush leagues.' When they heard the heartbeat of my entrance, the crowd exploded and Bruce Prichard said to me that he thinks they know who I am.
During his match, the Tazzmision chokehold that he used on Angle was called 'an illegal chokehold' on commentary. Taz explained to Jericho how he was swerved about this, as he was not previously told that his choke would be called illegal.
"When I hooked him in the choke, he got choked out, and I didn't notice till after I heard the commentary, JR and King were saying 'Its an illegal choke, its an illegal choke!'. That was not part of the shtick. I got worked on that".
Later Taz explained how his botched German Suplex on Angle in the match 'freaked out' Vince McMahon. He added that this was due to the fact that Angle was not very polished as a wrestler back then, and that they weren't familiar with each other.
What's next?
After sustaining many in-ring injuries, Taz found a second career as a colour commentator on the SmackDown brand. After leaving WWE, he had a stint in TNA as well. Taz now hosts his own podcast called 'The Taz Show'.
Author's take
Taz is yet another wrestler who came over to WWE from different promotions like WCW and ECW, whose amazing in-ring talent was not fully utilised.
But, he did make a name for himself as one of the best heel commentators on WWE and was the voice of SmackDown for many years.