Kurt Angle Explains Vince McMahon’s Issues With Taz
Kurt Angle has given his opinion on what happened with Taz’s WWE run and why he never got a major push while working for Vince McMahon.
When Taz debuted with WWE at the 2000 Royal Rumble, he came in with a lot of fanfare because wrestling fans knew him as one of the greatest wrestlers in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). During his ECW career, Taz was a two-time ECW World Champion that was often times booked as a dominant wrestler.
After signing with WWE, the company added a “z” to his name to make him become Tazz. As for his first opponent, that would be Kurt Angle, who was undefeated at the time.
At the 2000 Royal Rumble, Taz beat Kurt Angle in just over three minutes. It appeared as though WWE would use Taz as a killer just like Paul Heyman used him in ECW, but it didn’t happen that way.
While Taz was a WWE Tag Team Champion and three-time Hardcore Champion, he was never given much of a push as a singles guy in the company. By 2002, Taz became an announcer, which is a role he’s still in over 20 years later in AEW.
During an appearance on Refin’ It Up with Brian Hebner & Jimmy Korderas, WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle explained why Vince McMahon didn’t use Taz that much while adding that he wanted the 5’9″ brawler (Taz) to sell more than what he was used to in the past.
“I think the problem was, and this is what Vince told me, he wanted Taz to sell underneath, like he was always fighting for his life because he was smaller, but Taz wanted to be a giant in the ring. He wanted to dominate.”
“Vince was having a problem translating that to Taz. He said, ‘You have to sell. Don’t no-sell’, and that’s what Taz was doing. He was no-selling, and Vince was like, ‘No, I want you to sell all the time. I want these guys to beat the crap out of you and you sneak a win, a victory, and that’s the way I want you to be.’”
As he continued, Kurt Angle talked about how Taz didn’t want to do what Vince suggested for him.
“For some reason, Taz didn’t want to do that. He wanted to be a dominating wrestler. I think that’s the reason why things kind of fell apart for Taz. He should have had an incredible future. He was a great wrestler. He cut incredible promos. He had a great look. There was nothing wrong with Taz to be a top guy.”