What Went Wrong With Tazz's WWE Career?
Tazz is a respected figure in wrestling history. The foundation of that respect comes from his work in the original ECW where he hung with the hardcore crowd in terms of toughness, but also had a technique on his side as a suplex master whose Tazzmission was over as a choke hold finisher. This success, around ECW’s peak, opened the door for him to become a WWE Superstar, in addition to his time spent in Impact Wrestling and now in AEW. He never exactly thrived in WWE, though. Despite spending the final years of his physical prime with the company, he became better remembered as a broadcaster than a wrestler there.
The WWE Main Event Picture Was Too Stacked In 2000
Tazz was a main event player for ECW when he got the attention of WWE. Indeed, he was over enough to be chosen for a unique role in an unusual sequence of events—when ECW Champion Mike Awesome signed with WCW, WWE allowed Tazz to return to the ECW fold just after he’d signed to play the transitional champ, ferrying the title from Awesome to ECW mainstay Tommy Dreamer to restore stability to the promotion. However, it’s telling that, as ECW Champion, WWE booked Tazz to put over WWE Champion Triple H.
This dynamic bespeaks how deep the top of the roster was for WWE at the time. While it’s easy for the ECW faithful and particularly Tazz fans to think he deserved to headline in WWE, it’s also hard to see where he’d fit in with not only Triple H, but The Rock, and The Undertaker around the top, Kurt Angle and Chris Jericho on their way up, and guys like Kane, The Big Show, and Rikishi flirting with the top of the card. That’s not to mention that Steve Austin was recovering from injury and would be back at the end of the year to reassume the tip-top spot in the company. Once Tazz was wrapped up in a broadcaster feud with Jerry Lawler and Jim Ross, it was arguably too late for him to main event.
Tazz Didn’t Fit The Mold Of A Top Guy I’m WWE
In addition to Tazz arriving on a loaded WWE roster and not being a homegrown guy, there’s also the uncomfortable reality that he just didn’t fit the mold of what the powers that be in WWE would typically look for in a top-level star. While some wrestlers are able to overcome Vince McMahon's first impressions, it's much easier said than done.
Tazz stood 5’9”, which may not be short by conventional standards but was a tougher sell in WWE’s “land of the giants.” While fit, he wasn’t chiseled out of granite either, and while he was good on the mic, his tough-talking New York accent set him up for a much clearer road as a mid-card guy than a main eventer in this company.
Being Part Of The Alliance Did Tazz No Favors
Like most ECW alumni in WWE in the back half of 2001, Tazz found himself drafted into the vast membership ofThe Alliance, representing WCW and ECW against WWE’s finest. With Paul Heyman representing the group as their lead heel color commentator, Tazz fell into an awkward spot—not quite lost in the shuffle, but not pushed as a top guy either.
Related: 8 Stories About The Invasion Storyline We Can't BelieveInstead, Tazz’s most memorable work during this stretch was as someone who showed some dissent against Stone Cold Steve Austin’s leadership, and consequently found himself extensively dressed down in front of his faction members in lengthy promos, without ever achieving any meaningful revenge.
Tazz Was Well Past His Prime By The ECW Re-Launch
The best chance Tazz probably had to be any manner of headliner for WWE was with the launch of the new ECW. This third brand of the main roster originally looked built around a combination of pushing past ECW stars and establishing new faces. Indeed, when the brand officially launched at the second One Night Stand PPV, Tazz not only wrestled, but outright squashed Jerry Lawler.
However, Tazz was closing in on 40 at this point and had mostly transitioned to a color commentator role, including an underrated pairing with Micahel Cole. In WWE, he focused on his broadcast work from this point forward, closing out any possibility of being a major wrestler for them.
In the end, Tazz had a highly respectable career as a wrestler, broadcaster, and manager, in addition to his efforts behind the scenes. Between timing and what he brought to the table, though, it just wasn’t in the cards to be a top guy in WWE.
