Taz Talks WWE Return, Traveling with Vince McMahon, & Leaving TNA
Former ECW Champion, WWE Superstar, and TNA announcer Taz recently sat down with Sport’s Illustrateded’s Extra Mustard website to promote his daily CBS radio show The Taz Show: Bodyslams and Beyond. The Extra Mustard branch of Sports Illustrated is described as the place “where culture meets sports.” Taz spoke about various topics such as traveling with Vince McMahon, his time in TNA, and if we would ever consider returning to the WWE.
Taz’s comments on traveling with Vince McMahon upon joining the WWE broadcast team full-time:
“I had the opportunity for so long to travel every week on Vince’s plane. Michael Cole and I would travel with Vince and the writers because we had to get back to Connecticut to do the voiceovers for Smackdown, so I got to see Vince behind the scenes 30,000 feet in the air. He’d be sitting there at one in the morning, on a flight from Anaheim to New York, while everyone was struggling to keep their eyes open, and he’d be working non-stop.”
On joining TNA in 2009 and why he decided to leave:
“I left WWE when I needed a break. At the time, TNA was a good alternative for me. It was refreshing at the time, and things were being run pretty good. It felt right. Then, after a couple years–and I’m not going to sit here and bash people–decisions were made that weren’t good decisions and the company started to go in another direction. There was a leadership issue, and I felt like it was the perfect time to segue into my radio career. I wanted to get out of there, and I did.”
Taz’s thoughts on returning to the WWE:
“I would go back to WWE, but I could not and would not leave my career with CBS Radio and my show. I have a very good relationship with WWE, I’ve never burnt a bridge with them, and we’ve always had a mutual respect. Time will tell, but my show is my number one priority.”
Mark’s reaction:
It’s nice to hear that Taz’s radio show is doing well and how he’s enjoying his time with CBS Radio. I have yet to give The Taz Show a listen as there are only so many wrestling podcasts a man could listen to, but I do plan on checking it out this week. I wouldn’t be opposed to seeing him make a return to the WWE announce team. Since it looks like WWE will be putting more interest into Smackdown next year once it moves to the USA Network, having Taz on that show would make sense. It’s a small step to making Smackdown feel more important as much more still needs to be done; nonetheless, I still think it would be a good fit for Taz.
His comments on TNA are not surprising either. The company’s been in trouble for a while now and has taken a significant step back from where they were 5 to 10 years ago. From the sounds of it, TNA didn’t seem like a place he enjoyed going to anymore so Taz was right to leave when he did.
Would you like to see Taz make a return to the WWE broadcast team? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.