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Post by I Like Your Poetry on Dec 29, 2009 14:13:42 GMT -5
Was just watching Royal Rumble 2000 on "Classics on Demand" and let's face it....Tazz had the debut match every wrestler dreams of.
He debuts to a huge pop at MSG from a crowd who recognizes him from ECW, beats the ever-awesome heel Kurt Angle in a nice match that displayed Tazz's moveset...and yet, he never really got much further on the card than that fateful night.
When all was said and done, Tazz only was able to win the Hardcore title a few times, and become Tag Champs with underdog Spike Dudley, before becoming a pretty adequate announcer.
So it begs the question..what happened? Was it the ridiculous "Tazz's finisher is a choke controversy?" Having the Kurt Angle match annulled? The debut of the Radicalz a month later who pretty much stole his shine?
Can't help but feel that after such a stellar debut, a lot of superstars would be made that way... instead of just having the highlight of their career be that particular match.
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Post by Numero Dos on Dec 29, 2009 14:15:50 GMT -5
I think it was a combination of his lack of size he looked quite short compared to the WWF guys who on the whole were taller than his opponents in ECW and the neck injury he suffered in ECW still causing him trouble.
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Post by Clash, Never a Meter Maid on Dec 29, 2009 14:16:07 GMT -5
Wasn't it mainly injuries?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 29, 2009 14:16:07 GMT -5
I think it was because his old neck injury from ECW apparently cut him short and limited his push and ring work.
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Post by Ben Wyatt on Dec 29, 2009 14:17:03 GMT -5
I think it was a combination of his lack of size he looked quite short compared to the WWF guys who on the whole were taller than his opponents in ECW and the neck injury he suffered in ECW still causing him trouble. Pretty much this. I wont lie, they didnt book him great. But these 2 reasons were the main culprits
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Post by American Dragon on Dec 29, 2009 14:17:28 GMT -5
I remember Triple H squashing him in a match here in Philadelphia a month after his debut.
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Post by valiens on Dec 29, 2009 14:23:32 GMT -5
I thought it was that he didn't want to be an in-ring performer anymore.
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bob
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Post by bob on Dec 29, 2009 14:26:32 GMT -5
losing to Lawler killed him
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Post by FunkerCM on Dec 29, 2009 14:32:44 GMT -5
He clearly ticked someone off backstage.
You don't go from going over the company's hottest new heel in years to jobbing to Jerry Lawler then lasting literally a few seconds in the Royal Rumble without rubbing someone up the wrong way.
His attitude from ECW must've reappeared at the wrong place and wrong time for him but when he looks back, he should probably be thankful he kept himself out of a wheelchair thanks to the 7 or 8 years he'd had at the announce booth instead of doing even more damage to the neck.
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Post by Slingshot Suplay on Dec 29, 2009 14:36:17 GMT -5
um... Triple H used his backstage power to bury him? ;D
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Post by nerdinitupagain on Dec 29, 2009 14:48:57 GMT -5
Crappy attitude. Screwed up neck. The Radicalz arrival clearly stole thunder.
The other problem was he was just as over as most of the upper midcard already. Which means he should've been an upper mid carder immediately by crowd reaction... but by doing so, you're given a lot of legitimacy to ECW saying that their departing World Champion is able to hang in at the top of the card right away. Which (in kayfabe) means his challengers should be able to and therefore ECW's talent is on an equal standing with the WWF.
Taz was never going to be a World Champ in the WWF. In WCW or ECW, maybe. There was more of a focus on wrestling in those two throughout the years. Had he gone to WCW, I bet Storm/Taz would've eventually been a major feud over the Big Gold Belt had WCW stayed around.
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Post by cabbageboy on Dec 29, 2009 14:54:35 GMT -5
Yeah it was a ton of stuff. The problem with Taz is that his debut hype lasted all of a few weeks until the Radicals arrived and everyone quickly forgot about Taz. They didn't follow up on his match with Angle well at all and he drifted into feuding with Bossman and Bull Buchanan soon after, then won the Hardcore title a couple of times.
Where was there on the card for Taz at that point? He wasn't near the WWF title scene, there were guys like Benoit, Angle, Jericho in the IC division, and Eddie Guerrero was an ideal European champ. So he was left doing garbage brawls which is ironic since his ECW character was all about the exact opposite.
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Post by Turd Ferguson on Dec 29, 2009 14:55:28 GMT -5
I thought it was his Body-By-Pats/Genos physique.
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Post by mike5286 on Dec 29, 2009 15:41:46 GMT -5
I'm guessing injuries from 5 years of being in ECW and going throuigh table and getting dropped on his head.
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Post by The Varsity Club on Dec 29, 2009 15:46:26 GMT -5
lawler
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Post by clifford on Dec 29, 2009 15:48:53 GMT -5
A program with Jerry Lawler.............. the death knell for any up and coming mid carder the last few years (see also Helms, Gregory, and Hassan, Muhammed, and Kendrick, Brian, The.)
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Post by Cry Me a Wiggle on Dec 29, 2009 15:56:03 GMT -5
Agreed with all of those who say injuries and the Radicalz. The WWF didn't plan on having Benoit, Malenko, Guerrero, and Saturn. They just kind of fell in their lap, so that kind of halted any serious plans they had to build Tazz up.
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Post by Ryushinku on Dec 29, 2009 16:02:38 GMT -5
Tazz himself, as far as I've seen over the years, has never seemed to bear any kind of grudge about his in-ring WWF/E run.
For one thing he was quite happy to do a commentary role, for another he has always mentioned his neck was really pretty screwed up even in his last couple years in ECW.
I think more could have been done with him but, when you get right down to it, there's not much blame to lay around...96 or 97 would've been better for Tazz to be there.
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Post by egyptianblizzard on Dec 29, 2009 16:12:58 GMT -5
The extra z McMahon gave him.
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Post by American Dragon on Dec 29, 2009 16:19:50 GMT -5
Remember on Raw a few years back, I think in 2006 when Taz had his feud with Lawler around One Night Stand Taz and Lawler got up from the announcers table and started fist fighting? I totally thought that was real, anyone have a video of it?
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