The Wasted WWF Career of Tazz (wrestling documentary)
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- Опубліковано 15 вер 2024
- Tazz was one of ECW's top wrestlers, but in the WWF Tazz's career quickly fell apart. As a WWF superstar, Tazz was treated pretty badly, from being squashed by Triple H to literally becoming Stone Cold Steve Austin's whipping boy. Later Tazz would find a new career as a WWE announcer on Smackdown, but his in ring career as a wrestler would never be the same as his time as ECW Champion. In this wrestling documentary we look at why Vince McMahon seemed to hate Tazz so much, and why was his career in the WWF such a waste?
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#wrestling #wwe #tazz
*He is having the time of his life as the color commentator for AEW*
It's nice to see him end his career, happy, rich and healthy.
Yes him and Excalibur are amazing in commentary
@@kokotheclown2588 He was so much better than Michael Cole and coach.
Royal Rumble 2000. Gets a great pop. Royal Rumble 2001. Gets eliminated in 5 seconds whilst a guy holds up a sign that says “MY CRAP IS BIGGER THAN TAZZ.”
It was the Sign Guy 😭
And for us viewers in the uk, we probably missed that moment as well had the royal rumble free to air but with ads. Well unless someone else confirms because I was far too young
@@SirHRDking As a fellow Brit yeah that’s true
I can understand Bob Holly or Al Snow never being main event level talent, but Tazz and DDP deserved way more in their WWE run.
To be fair, both had to retire due to neck issues, so we'll never know if they could have broken through.
still think he was too small in 2000, he stuck out like a sore thumb.
Taz was injured more than healthy, no matter how much fans try to blame Vince he was never going to last because he was worn down and always hurt.
his commentating has been his bread and butter far longer than his suplexes
@@alanarmstrong6460ECW fanatics put “their guys” on pedestals and believe they’re bigger and deserve more than anyone else…he was overrated then and did nothing to show he deserved to be pushed to a belt
Sorry but Bob Holly actually got over with his super heavy weight promos and he WAS a legit tough guy. Taz was a short wrestler with a tough guy gimmick. They let him “submit” a known Olympic gold medal winner on pay per view which is more than they should have done.
V. McMahon's OBSESSION w/ DESTROYING every popular gimmick that got "OVER" outside WWE will never get any less BIZARRE to me
---Especially when paying top-dollar to bring them in
U lost me at top $
The TRUE and HONEST creator of Sonichu.
@thewonderingbuddhist6123 Well they literally paid Sting 5 mill just to job and get injured by Seth Rollins. So yes congrats your wrong.
Lol what exactly was Taz’s gimmick? Fake tough guy from Brooklyn?
Also wanted to add that I’m glad Eddie Guerrero had a great run while he was alive, considering how Vince didn’t like pushing guys under 6 feet. Eddie might’ve not had the height but he had the heart of a lion.
Vince pushed a ton of guys under 6ft. He wasn't going to take TV time from Taker, Austin, Rock, HHH, Mankind and Kane at the top it would be silly to cut their time for Tazz
It is sorta hard not to give Eddie the screen time he deserved charisma, humor, and in ring capability even being under 6 foot Eddie definitely had the type of build that Vince liked in his talents
@@emperortrevornorton3119 YES this is it guy. Eddie was always big, that's Benoit's boy as you know, but when he reached in the WWE he likely upped his dosage and got huge. That high does gear was possible what lead to his demise. That's the reason why him and Benoit eventually got their push even though under 6... I don't even understand that rule when most the guys cap their height up by at least 2-4 inches
@cleonpierre7969 Daniel Bryan was smaller, but he got pushed because of his personality and skills in the ring. The same with Benoit and Eddie, so stop acting like they only got over because of their muscles! Muscles are not fuckjng everything l
Hard to have a run dead
Tazz was a great wrestler but sadly he just got the short end of the stick with his height. To big for cruiserweight but to small for heavyweight.
too**
@@HaleStorm1998 No one gives a shit.
Nope the top guy's in the back got pissed a guy on his debut match got that much of a pop what took them years to achieve and they decided to put a stop to that right then and there
HHH beating taz was a message no doubt. taz was not liked in that locker room
He was boring
@@mikes7446 Absolutely Wrong Jones ova here!
He was disliked for other reasons. As RVD put it he was a wanna be tough guy and knocked him down a peg. This occured when RVD walked up to him with his hands out and said "pick a hand".
Taz was confused and RVD said : pick a hand. It's the one I am gonna slap the sh*t outta you with.
They humiliated the shit outta Tazz in WWE 😂
@@mikes7446foh wit that
I met tazz in the late 90s n got his autograph n still have it.. they wasted that man's career..I loved Ecw, which was right here in Philly .. love ur channel..👌💙💙
I’ve been recently rewatching the Attitude Era and I’ve reached a 2000 episode of Smackdown where a fan held a sign saying “I TAKE CRAPS BIGGER THAN TAZZ!”
Taz and Dreamer were the first wrestlers I ever met, at an autograph signing to promote Heatwave 98.
@@fergalstackstreams ..i met tazz in 98 also..😅😅.. I wish I had met Tommy dreamer too..
@@catchcan221 ..🤣🤣..i love rewatching stuff on peacock..
Taz was 5'0 feet...He ain't beating up anyone in real life. Jobbing or commentary would be his only options if I were running the show because he ain't winning no matches if it were my league!
When Jerry Lawler said “I have socks taller than him” it was a wrap
That's sad. Considering Rey Mysterio exist
@@wingeddragonra3953Rey wasn’t exactly treated like gold either (see his World Title reign).
Any wrestler who made a name for themselves outside of Vince McMahon's company once he got a hold of them he was going to ruin them if they were not willing to change their gimmick to work for his company and change their name The only person he didn't ruin was Ric flair
oh he definitely tried and those he didnt ruin like Jericho was because he wanted to stick it to WCW...
@@a27dub oh he even tried with Jericho and Big show but they were both just too good for him to bury
@@TheChef420 true
Exactly
Dusty Rhodes and the polka dots anybody
I’ve been recently rewatching the Attitude Era and I’ve reached a 2000 episode of Smackdown where a fan held a sign saying “I TAKE CRAPS BIGGER THAN TAZZ!”
4:17 such a GREAT analogy; if WWF was Disney, ECW was Grindhouse.
I remember clearly, tazz was one of the most feared wrestlers out there, I used to get chills when he walked to the ring, a few years later he was a WWF punchline, tazz is one of the contributing factors to why I quit watching WWE a long time ago
He was like a pitbull!
Dude Tazz was only scary to sissy’s like you that’s all! He couldn’t hang with the likes of Brock Lesnar! Brock is scary Tazz ain’t even close to that level!
@@inxanity6487 And Brock couldnt hang with Goldberg or Cain Velasquez!
@@AndresLopez-jf7zt that’s total bullshit, Brock would demolish Goldberg any day of the week, maybe not Cain but it still doesn’t matter Cain is a world heavyweight champ of real fights not fake shit! Brock would stomp on Taz easy it wouldn’t even be a competition it would be as if Brock was facing a female at that point!
@@inxanity6487right there’s a size difference
Taz was too short for vince to push
I thought the Lawler feud sucked. I hate Jerry Lawler and can't take him seriously as a face. The fact that he came to JR's defence after Tazz insulted him and not when Triple H broke Jim's arm really made it seem phony.
Jerry didn’t have to come to JR’s defense for the arm being broken because Stone Cold was around.
@bradlee3109 Actually, Mankind came to his defence. However, he showed up long after ol big nose had applied the hold. Jerry Lawler did nothing to help in the meantime and continued to act as a cheerleader for the heel
Love the videos.. gives that nostalgic childhood feel every time I watch! Those were the days!
Kurt Angle didn't tap out, he fell unconscious.
Tax had great wrestling ability. He also had one of the best catch phrases. BEAT ME IF YOU CAN, SURVIVE IF I LET YOU.
What a wasted opportunity they had with prime tazz and they blew it
He wasn’t prime he already had a fucked up neck. Not to mention he was shit.
I thought it was the neck injury that forced him into the commentator role. Also, sounds like the locker room was all against him. Besides the Dudley’s did anyone from ECW ever get a true push? I quit following wrestling not long after ECW came apart so I missed a lot. Been catching up on UA-cam.
RVD is the only other one worth mentioning. The rest of the ECW guys were midcarders at best.
Yea man you didn't miss nothing from wwe bought ecw and water down it the only good think was the ecw one night stand everything else went to shit.
@@JWS1985Dudley Boyz too.
@@lightningljThe original post mentioned the Dudleys
Rey mysterio
I love Steve Austin, but I'm sure Tazz would have given him a whoopin in a real life fight.
Most definitely.
Taz is literally a fake tough guy.😂😂😂😂
Been waiting for this!
Yes! A million times yes. Tazz's debut was incredible but his WWF career was awful, thanks to them constantly jobbing him out. I said it at the time too. What a wasted opportunity.
Taz was so over. Same with ddp. Only wwe could screw both of those up.
I think Tazz was about what I expect him to be in the WWE
He was too small to be a real force, in the ring, but he had a nice run as an announcer
Tazz has a legit legacy in the pro wrestling business.
Tazz over-achieved.
I was very disappointed when i saw what Taz did in ECW as opposed to what he did in the E. Instead of having Austin and Angle join them. Taz should have been repping the ECW side of the Alliance.
I definitely agree
And he did. Nobody was gonna believe Taz as a leader 😭
They would've if he wasn't watered down or if he didn't have to be a leader but I bet u I could've created a team that would've been scary to go against that was available
@maxmeza4859 Tazz,kronik,ddp and rvd
@maxmeza4859 Tazz,booker T,ddp,Rvd and Rhyno
His Commentary with Cole in the early years of Smackdown was excellent and way ahead of its time and honestly Taz shouldve been in the IC title scene rather be treated like a complete joke by Vince but his injuries were also catchng up to him
can’t be champion if you are ALWAYS INJURED
why th3 hell can you “fans” not understand that?
@@bostonrailfan2427 Cool you're the kind of fan who gatkeeps so your opinion means nothing.
@@POPToppins that isn’t gatekeeping, that’s stating the facts straight from the mouths of multiple wrestlers who suffered the same issue.
so sorry that reality doesn’t match your personal fandom, but the ones being gatekeepers are you and people like you
My man really peaked in his first 15 mins onscreen for WWE. Thats wild to me
It's funny because Taz' style he'd be huge today. The mma influence throwing people effortlessly suplexing them. He so deserved better in the wwf. At the very least an intercontinental and US championship runs.
He was too small. That's what killed him
Your brain is too small and that's what prevents you from figuring it out
the phone books he sits on during commentary should be in the hall of fame
Bro he's not that short. Y'all be forgetting about Rey Mysterio
I think Has suffered a lot from the Radicalz coming in. A few guys they had plans for got pushed aside, and with the Radicalz you had four guys who were, quite frankly, better workers, two of which who were almost guaranteed to be future main eventers.
I can't remember. Who were in the radicalz. It's been awhile
@@juststony4996Eddie, Benoit, Malenko, and Saturn.
Yeah, I remember like a week after the Rumble 2000 they briefly had Tazz interact with the Rock and drop him with a clothesline, which people tend to forget. I think they definitely wanted to use him, but once Benoit and those guys came in it was kind of a wrap.
WWE also signed Chris Benoit a week later Tazz's arrival. That hurt him too. Also you will notice that WWE was building up Angle vs. Jericho vs. Tazz for the IC/Euro championships weeks leading upto WrestleMania 2000 until they suddenly replaced Tazz with Benoit and Tazz was put in the Hardcore division.
They never wanted the guy to succeed. It’s really unfortunate and just wrong.
WWF, er, E is racist against short people.
Probably didn't help having Lawler bury him on commentary either
It’s crazy the first guy to beat Kurt A.
I miss the days in tbe late 90s when pro wrestling was super popular. I heard it will never get huge again.
I forgot how many big WWF WCW initial pushes ended up fizziling out. This was a big one. It was so hard for the ECW guys to really make it outside the promotion.
Something I always find interesting, the only real ECW guy to make it to the main event scene in WWE was RVD, who was an upper mid-carder in ECW. Granted RVD would have been pushed in ECW later down the line but he was never meadlining their shows like he did on occasions in WWE.
Obviously you DO have guys like Mysterio, Eddie, Benoit, Jericho etc. but most of them were more WCW guys upon coming in while Austin was mostly just enjoying a quick run in ECW after having left WCW.
@@WaterInmyHands Some of those guys were in ECW before they went to WCW it's still hard to believe that HHH, Undertaker and Mick Foley were in WCW even though I have seen it
@@WaterInmyHands RVD during his reign as ECW TV Champion had classic 5-star matches and even main evented a couple of PPVs as TV champion. One of my favorite ECW PPVs Anarchy Rulz 1999, his match with Balls Mahoney (was initially supposed to be Jerry Lynn but got kayfabe ambushed and injured by Justin Credible and Lance Storm) superseded as the main event over the Triple threat ECW Heavyweight Title match with Taz, Masato Tanaka and Mike Awesome who won the match even though he wasn't initially supposed to be in it but Taz accepted his challenge.
Back on topic, RVD as the longest reigning TV Champion in ECW history was an even bigger deal than whoever had the ECW Heavyweight Title, just because of his sheer popularity so yeah, RVD was that guy around 1998 up til Early 2000 when he went down with an injury that took him out for the remainder of 2000. I don't think he even came back in the final months of ECW, only reappearing as one of the first guys from the ECW faction to align with WCW during the Invasion angle.
A great example of a wasted opportunity. All because Vince McMahon hates putting over those who weren't established in WWE
im not saying taz should have been up there for the title but damn! at least a intercontinel or european belt wtf. he could have better fueds
@@Black-Circle Yeah the mid-card title picture would've been perfect for him
I liked taz as a wrestler even though I’m a casual. Every time I think of him as a commentator, I think of him saying “look at the size of that casket. it’s a casket made for two”. I loved that segment
DISGUSTING what WWE did to Tazz..
his Bridging suplex is my fav. Wrestling Move
His suplexes were excellent in the ring
Man peaked in his debut match… the feud with Jerry lawyer ruined him really then he became a jobber after that… he went into the royal rumble match the next year and was thrown out in seconds by Kane while Kurt angle was the wwe champion the same show..
Kurt angle didnt tap out. He passed out. And kurt then said, since he didnt make him submit that he was still undefeated.
Let's not forget Tazz made a name for himself not in the ring but as a cornerstone doing commentary for Smack down for many many years him and Todd Grisham made a hell of a team including him JBL and Booker T. Tazz ring career never compares to his years doing commentary on SmackDown
What I remember and since read, Tazz retired due to his continuing issues with previous neck injury....I loved his style of wrestling though
I think if he came over summer of 99, He would got big push but with arrival of radicals, Angle, Jericho there was no room in the mid card for him
Tazz came across as a bad ass in ECW because you didn't have a bunch of guys that dwarfed him and made him look like an average Joe.
Not just that but the fans thinking he was a badass got to his head to the point where he was believing his own press and acting like a dick and a tough guy. I can’t remember who it was but razz was acting tough and they fucked him up and after that nobody in the locker room took him seriously anymore. I think fans heard about it too right around the same time and add to the fact that the locker room didn’t like him because he acted like a tough guy and he was doomed. Sad to say but he really buried himself. I think if he was a little more humble and a lot less of an asshole he might have done much better in wwe. Let’s not forget too he was really small compared to pretty much the entire roster of the time too. He looked like the guy in every group of friends that won a fight once and was convinced he was the toughest mf’er out there and would always try to pick fights then the one time someone actually fights back he gets his ass kicked. He looked like an average short stocky guy that wore muscle shirts not a badass pro wrestler.
Size Queen Jones ova here!
@@LuckyStrike01it's true rvd even smacked his lil ass for his attitude
I remember thinking Mike Awesome was a much bigger guy…until he went to WCW. It didn’t hurt RVD as he was average height and more of a flyer
@@FallicIdol Having Nash squash Mike Awesome was idiotic. RVD was more of a cruiserweight when it came to his style, so his size didn't work against him.
In "The Rise & Fall of ECW" DVD (best WWE documentary EVER), Taz TOTALLY downplayed his decline in the then WWF (as well as in subsequent interviews). I suppose he didn't want to ruffle any feathers. They totally held him back, just like countless others.
The Rise And Fall Of ECW is THE greatest documentary WWE has ever given us
@@WrestlingCompilations 💯
tazz was one of my favorites watching ECW but his time in wwe was terrible as he ended up being a joke. yet, he would become a fun commentator as his commentary in AEW is a joy to listen to and i'm glad he's having fun while his son hook is kicking ass in AEW.
Not all Vince and his fault. He wanted Taz to fight from underneath due to his size. Taz wouldn't work that way though and kept trying to do what he had been doing ECW.
He was definitely mistreated and mishandled. But heavyweight title push? Idk
Back then I liked him enough for it but going back I dont think so. Maybe a dominant ic title run to see if he can get better at in ring promos. DDP definitely deserved a lot more better than taz.
That being said taz was pretty great on commentary
I disagree... DDP was 45 by the time he got to the WWE as a wrestler. At that age, there's just not much the WWE is going to do with a guy who's getting there for the first time. Taz on the other hand, was 34 years old. This means he had been in the business long enough to be seasoned, but was still young enough for his in-ring work to not begin to heavily suffer for at least another 6 to 8 years.
He was too short and he was constantly injured.
Taz career wasn’t wasted, he literally dyed his hair blonde and joined the bloodline
Like that Conan O’Brien segment called “In The Year 2000”.
Tazz didnt actually make it cause he was injury proneby the time he got to wwe he was already overly small being injury prone didnt help
I was a big Taz fan, I hated what the WWE did to him
Vince seen him for his mic skills
I've ALWAYS said that Taz not being a main event guy was tragic for WWF. They needed new blood & Taz brought that extra element of brutality that would've gotten over
At that time it was ground breaking a legitimately contracted WCW Wrestler vs a legitimately contracted WWF Wrestler for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship
Mate rvd’s ecw promos were miles better than his later career ones, he actually said stuff other than dude, weed and whatever
They had Tazz jobbing to Jerry Lawler in the summer of 2000
Taz is really only 5'6" inch to small for the main companies'
Forever one of the giants. Love Tazz
I hate how they wasted Taz. Vince knew what he did and tried to kinda make it right by making sure he was paid and had a career, but Taz was the original Stone Cold
Like did we really think Vince was gonna push a 5 foot 3 bloated Italian man. And I love taz but its Vince were talking about we all know the type of dudes he pushes.
It’s crazy how he squashed Kurt then angle became the champion several months later. But he I think if razz was a couple inches taller he could had been handled better. He was like another Steiner brother
There weren't any factors Taz said it himself as soon as the top guys in the back heard that pop his wwf run was finished Taker,Hunter,rock,Austin, and others decided it was done
Tazz looks like a "Nascar" Daniel Cormier 🤷♂️
Taz have a better chance getting over in New Japan than in WWE ( It's unfortunate that his talent in WWE as a wrestler was wasted ). It's understandable that no one in WWE want to work with Taz but they probably say the same thing with the likes of Mick Foley. It Taz did have better run in WWE his best run would be being the Intercontinental Champion.
Vince doesn't want WRESTLERS....he wants actors and actresses who cannot wrestle, and that's what's happening today.
Smark.
Then they found out the hand he picked from Van Damn slapped the gimmic toughness out of him the end
Tazz was the man!!! Brooklyn stand up!
Razz was one of the best in ECW I couldn’t believe how he wasn’t nothing in WWE smh 🤦♂️
WWE dropped the ball with Taz. Maybe he shouldn't have got the push he got in ECW, IC or Euro level would've been good
Never liked The Human Ball bag. That's what my friends and I used to call him lol I guess we smoked to much herb.
I was the one thousandth like on this upload.❤️
Vince liked the big men, Taz is just a little guy...
It wasn't a missed opportunity. It was totally true. Taz was so tiny and made no sense. He's smaller than freaking Brian Danielson for Christ sake.
I see it a lot differently.
That first year was meant as a humbling experience.
Look at BookerT’s first year in WWE. He went from heavyweight champion to “you sure can’t read books.”
If Tazz persisted and his body was willing, he would’ve gotten his flowers as a competitor, much as Booker, Benoit, Guerrero, RVD, Mysterip & Jericho all had done later in the decade.
Vince just wanted to set the standard where wrestlers’ accolades outside of WWE could not be leveraged to help land them higher spots on the card.
+ this video undermines the career longevity he’s had ever since Vince made that decision to have Tazz at the announce booth. It may not be why he signed with WWE, but boy what a ride it’s set him on!
i never saw Taz as a weak wrestler i dont think this video does him justice lol..... and anyone who played those early WWF wrestling games on nintendo64 knows there was some respect on Taz's name just for the fact that he was hard as to win against in career mode lmao, but back to the show so what that they made him lose to big names ... they straight put him with the big guys right away if thats not respect idk what is. Then he went on to have a comentator career after 10 years of right time ? i really dont think WWF hated Taz lol.
ECW was the absolute best show between WWE, WCW, ECW, ROH, TNA or AEW.
Loved tazz theme song and entrance!
I didn’t get to see all of Taz’s ECE run. But, I was a HUGE GOLDBERG fan at the time. As well as being a big fan of wrestlers. That would use the wrestling/judo suplex style. Like the Steiner brothers. Like Perry Saturn. Also being a big fan of the Ultimate Fighting Championships. I found out about Taz. Through a buddy of mine who loved Professional Wrestling like I did. He said man you got to see this guy Taz. The height never mattered to me. Taz was a short compacted walking brick wall. I was very excited for his WWF debut and potential run. I always wonder why it didn’t take off. Looking back from this video. I can see exactly what happened in my humble opinion. He was saw as a threat and was buried because of it. It’s a cut throat business. You see examples of what I mean. With HHH being mysteriously booked to run over Taz basically. I bet I know who was in Vince’s ear. Take one guess.lol
That's why I'll never respect Vince McMahon. Idc if he a billionaire, the guy doesn't know a good thing when he sees it
Wish he at least win the IC title, tazz with tomohiro ishii, iron sheik and british bulldog are my wrestling mount rushmore
Tass would be a superstar in today’s WWE.
I am a huge fan of Tazz and he was under used. He is one of the iconic characters from ECW. The WWE always take wrestlers from other companies and make them d class on the roster. Vince had his vision and those that don't fit are jobbers to sell his annointed ones.
Tazz is 5'6. He was wreckless in the ring and tried to wrestle like a heavyweight. There's a reason he never panned out in the wwe. Dude was a big fish in a small pond in ecw.. now DDP was more of a wasted talent
WWF should have signed. Taz and said to ECW "keep him but we want tapes of his matches that we can use for vignettes on tv"
The booking would be This monster so dangerous we sent him away
What is grind house?
Never even knew he was a wrestler. I always saw him as a commentator
Man taz should have won the tag titles with raven. Nope their thing was short lived. Taz should have also won the ic title. Most people don't even his tag title win with spike dudley.
Taz was a megastar. Before Goldberg, there was Taz. Vince ruined a BIG opportunity, like he did with Vader. SMH
There are countless wrestling careers WWE destroyed-Scott Steiner, DDP, Mike Awesome, Chris Kanyon, Sting-just to name a few. With the exception of Booker T and a few other WCW guys like Benoit, Jericho, and Eddie Guerrero, Vince completely decimated the legacy of many WCW stars and ECW stars. I'll be glad when that megalomaniac is six feet under.
Weighted at 248 pounds...... TAZZ!
*it's Tazz !*
Its sad they dit him like this but hes great at commentary he always did benoit and angle matches he explain matches so well
He was injury prone and sloppy as hell in the ring. His career was only wasted by himself.
It’s crazy that I said Tazz was wasted talent a couple of days ago on UA-cam, one guy said he was just injured I said bro before the injury he wasn’t showcased that much in WWE😂
Tazz is up there with Angle, Benoit, and Guerrero. Needs 2 B in more video games.
No kidding they wasted this guy. At least they got it right letting him commentate. I loved tazz. Loved his character and loved his announcing. that dude is for sure one of THEE GREATEST announcers EVER.