The Taz Show – Tommy Dreamer Interview (Oct. 19, 2015)

The Taz Show, Bodyslams & Beyond
Host: Taz
Guest: Tommy Dreamer
Release Date: Oct. 19, 2015

DIRECT LINK TO LISTEN/DOWNLOAD

Report by Sean Sumey, PWPodcasts Reporter

HOT TOPICS

– TAZ PREVIEWS RAW AND HELL IN A CELL: What is The Human Suplex Machine looking forward to and what angles have his interest?

– TAZ TAKES LISTENER CALLS: Should Raw be more like cricket? Should there be a female version of Legacy? Why do the Bills suck? Will Tyler Breeze answer the open challenge of John Cena?

– TOMMY DREAMER IS ON THE LINE: Dreamer pimps his upcoming shows and talks about his love of blood!

– THIS DAY IN WRESTLING HISTORY RETURNS: Sort of….well, technically it does.

SUBJECTS COVERED (w/Time Stamps)

(00:00-00:35) Show intro

(00:36) Taz opens the show. Taz introduces Brian and announces that Seth is back from his time off. Seth asks Taz to be the Taz-father to his child. Taz asks if Seth has godparents for his child. Seth says that he isn’t Italian. Taz said he is honored but Seth has to talk to his agent, manager, and lawyer before he can consider the offer. Seth talks about the issues between Seth and Brian. Taz said they are both untalented. Coming up today, Tommy Dreamer will be on the show to talk about his promotion, House of Hardcore, as well as plenty of ECW memories.

(10:04) Taz takes a call from Jason in Australia. Jason has a potty-mouth but, don’t worry, it got blanked out. Jason has been watching old-school Raws and Nitros. Jason wants to know why WWE doesn’t change the announce teams each hour. Jason says that in Australia, they have cricket on all day long and they regularly change out the announce teams. Jason thinks doing this would help WWE to keep the three-hour Raws interesting. Taz said it is an interesting idea. Taz remembers that WCW used to do something similar with Nitro.

(13:07) Taz discusses the series between the N.Y. Mets and the Chicago Cubs. Taz has been nervous watching these games. Daniel Murphy has really stepped up and isn’t really known as a big hitter. Murphy is going to be a free agent and is just increasing his worth. Taz talks about a time when Smackdown was in Chicago so he and Michael Cole went to a Cubs game at Wrigley Park. Taz said it was an amazing experience. Taz said the stadium is right in the middle of the city and you really get a feel for what Chicago is all about. Taz then switches gears to the American League with the Toronto Blue Jays taking on the Kansas City Royals. Bobby Roode is a huge Blue Jays fan. The Blue Jays are down in the series.

(16:45) Brian will not be watching Raw tonight because hockey will be on. Taz talks about how a fan on Twitter accused Taz of being paid by the WWE to cover their brand. Taz denies the rumor and explains that he covers WWE because he likes their product the best. Taz is also an ROH fan and will try to cover them more.

(18:08) Taz got attacked on Twitter by a Cincinnati Bengals fan after they defeated the Bills. Taz does not believe in talking trash on Twitter. Taz acknowledges that the Bengals have had rough seasons in the past, but are on a roll this year. Seth points out that the Jets have been winning since Taz left them and put his allegiance with the Bills. Taz thinks the Bengals will hit a wall soon. Taz then talks about the Texans quarterback, Brian Hoyer, sliding for a first down and getting drilled by a Jacksonville Jaguar player. Taz could tell Hoyer was injured but no one pulled him from the game. Taz thinks it is scary that guys, apparently, have to remove themselves from the game. Taz talks about his son in a recent lacrosse game where he had his bell rung. Taz said his son actually pulled himself from the game. Taz could tell that he wasn’t acting right. Thankfully, everything was okay. Taz then talks about the Ravens kicker, Justin Tucker. When he went to kick a field goal, the ground caved when he planted his foot. Taz then talked about the Broncos throwing the most interceptions in a game. Taz wonders if Peyton Manning is getting old. Seth counters that the Broncos have an awful offensive line. The Panthers went 5-0 after defeating the Seahawks. Taz was shocked.

Taz then switched to college football. Utah was victorious as was Oklahoma. Memphis defeated Ole Miss. Taz thinks Dixie Carter is crying because Ole Miss lost. Taz then does his sappy crying voice as an imitation of Dixie Carter. Taz talks about people bashing players for making mistakes during a game. Taz said that even when someone makes a mistake, it isn’t fair to put the whole game on them. Taz was referring to Blake O’Neill from University of Michigan botching a snap. Taz said that if the entire team was playing well, the game wouldn’t be coming down to just one play.

(35:30-35:58) Break

(35:59) Taz says people on Twitter have Twitter-muscles. People will say things on there that they would never say to your face. Taz compares it to beer muscles. One follower told Taz on Twitter that he liked his show better when it was a podcast. The follower thinks Taz’s daily show doesn’t have enough guests and thinks each show is the same as the others. Taz replied to let the follower knows he disagrees and told the fan “happy trails.” Taz said that he can take his need for guests and stick it. Taz then runs down the weekly guests that he has on his show like Jim Ross, Mike Tenay, and Mike Johnson. Taz plays Van Halen’s version of Happy Trails as Taz runs through a list of guests that he has had on his daily show. Taz tells anyone who disagrees to “go fleek themselves.”

(40:05) Raw will be in Dallas tonight. Ric Flair and Shawn Michaels are advertised. Undertaker and Brock Lesnar will also make an appearance. Bray Wyatt and Roman Reigns will both appear. Taz is looking forward to the Reigns-Wyatt match at Hell in a Cell. Taz thinks it will be violent but thinks it is a shame that they can’t use blood anymore. Taz is old-school and feels that cage matches need to have blood. Taz doesn’t think the use of blood needs to be excessive, but would like to see it in big matches. WWE will be showing Hell in a Cell on their own Network, so Taz feels they could take the opportunity to push the envelope.

Taz tells a story about wrestling Bubba Ray Dudley in Poughkeepsie for the ECW World Title. Taz cut himself on a giant speaker and bled profusely. Taz thought he might actually die from blood loss. Taz was pissed but knew that it was his fault. Taz said he had to literally wipe the blood out of his eyes so he could see. Taz got stitched up backstage by the doctor. Taz said the doctor was in a hurry because he had a date and just rushed through sewing him up. Taz would be surprised to see if there is any blood but thinks it is more likely in the Taker-Lesnar cell match instead of the Wyatt-Reigns match. Seth says that he has been watching Japanese wrestling and noticed that they have cut down on blood as well. Also on Raw, Taz is looking forward to the next chapter of the Paige and Natalya angle. On Smackdown, Natalya was taken out by a mystery person and it is pointing at Paige. Taz thinks it may be a swerve.

(50:51) Taz takes a call from Jarred in Australia. Jarred sent in a promo and it didn’t make the cut. Taz encourages him to keeps sending them in. Jarred wants to know if WWE would sign Tully Blanchard’s daughter. Jarred suggests bringing her in to team with Charlotte and Natalya like a female version of Legacy. Jarred would like to see them against Paige and Becky Lynch in an English/Irish connection. Taz points out that Blanchard’s daughter would most likely have to go through NXT for grooming and conditioning. Taz would like to see Bayley brought to the main roster. Taz also mentions that you have guys like Samoa Joe on the NXT roster, so it would be hard to justify someone jumping to the main roster. Taz can speak with experience about the difficulty of going straight to the main roster and only getting one shot at getting over. Taz is interested to see what happens with Team PCB. Paige is in a gray area and they could go either way.

(56:37-57:02) Break

(57:03) Taz talks about taking his family out to brunch. Taz paid the bill. Taz gets angry about it because as their party was leaving, the girl at the front desk stopped them and asked if they were the ones sitting in the back. Taz confirms that they were. The desk girl then says their bills was $200. Taz informs her that they paid their bill. The girl tells Taz that he didn’t sign the receipt. Taz knows for a fact he did because he remembered tipping them. Taz then begins questioning himself on whether he DID sign the bill or not. Anyhow, Taz asks that restaurant employees have some couth.

(1:01:45) Taz then talks about the feud with Kane and Seth Rollins. Taz puts over Rollins’s abilities and says that most guys would get lost in this corny angle. Taz also thinks Kane is doing a great job at making it work. Taz thinks the match will be really good. Taz always enjoyed working against Kane. Taz then talks about working Triple H one time on Smackdown. Taz is interested in Raw and has been watching almost the entire show recently. The Dudleys and New Day match will be good. Taz is looking forward to the build for Hell in a Cell. Taz mentions the Intercontinental Title picture involving Kevin Owens and Ryback. Taz mentions that a Twitter follower is happy to have Seth back and compares Taz and Seth to Taz and Michael Cole. Taz accuses Seth of just sitting there waiting to talk while the show is going on. Taz said that Brian actually works. Taz then continues with his promotion of Hell in a Cell. Taz thinks that Seth Rollins will be victorious and they will do away with the Corporate Kane character.

(1:11:45) Taz takes a Twitter question. The question involves WWE commentators taking time off and possibly losing their spots. Taz thinks it is a great question. Taz said that not all the wrestlers are independent contractors. As for the announcers, Taz said the fans get used to certain voices on the shows. WWE isn’t going to deny vacations, but you do have to worry about other people taking advantage of your absence. Taz said that even when he worked a lighter schedule in WWE and TNA, your whole week ends up being based on your one or two days a week that you are working. He said one day of TV tapings can feel like an entire week of work. Vince McMahon expects a high energy level at all times and that can cause a lot of stress.

(1:18:11) Taz takes a call from Talo in Seattle. Talo’s phone has a rough connection. Talo wants to know what is up with the Bills. Taz explains that there are a few injuries that are affecting the team. Taz also criticizes decisions made by Rex Ryan.

(1:21:08) Taz believes Raw will be a solid show and will be a good send-off for Hell in a Cell. Taz, Brian, and Seth talk about what they will be watching on TV.

(1:23:05) Taz takes a call from Michael in New York. Michael has heard a rumor that Tyler Breeze will debut tonight on Raw. Michael hopes Breeze will answer the John Cena U.S. Open Challenge. Taz would love to see Breeze on the show, but doesn’t think WWE will put him against Cena right off. Taz describes Breeze as a lean figure compared to Cena being built like a horse. Taz would rather see James Storm answer the U.S. Open Challenge. Taz would also like to see Samoa Joe answer the challenge.

(1:26:50-1:27:26) Break

(1:27:41-1:29:07) Taz does a live read for Draft Kings. Use promo code TAZ to play for free.

(1:29:12) Taz takes a call from Chris. Location unknown! Chris is a WWE fan but has really lost interest recently. Chris would like to see some big shake-up tonight on Raw. Taz said they aren’t going to do anything too crazy because they are heading into a big event. Chris said that the show has become predictable. Two guys will start a match, wrestle for 30 seconds, and then run-ins turn it into a tag match. Taz reminds fans that WWE is tasked at creating hours and hours of fresh content each week and it would be difficult not to fall into patterns after a while.

(1:31:20) Tommy Dreamer joins the show by telephone. Taz picks on Dreamer for not being a morning guy. Dreamer talks about working in Japan and having to call shows in America to do a radio interview. Taz then asks Dreamer about his opinions on blood in wrestling. Dreamer feels that blood is missed in the product. Dreamer talks about drinking guys blood and no one getting tested. Dreamer said recently he tore open his arm in a match. After the injury, Dreamer began pulling his cut open so it would bleed more. Dreamer said after the match, some reporters approached him and showed surprise that he was actually wounded. Dreamer was also in a six-man tag in Japan where he bled along with three other guys. Dreamer said none of them were tested.

Dreamer is still working as an agent for TNA and wrestles occasionally. Taz mentioned conversations in TNA about whether guys should bleed or not. Dreamer said those conversations still happen. Dreamer said the network gives them issues over blood and will gray out the show when there is blood. Dreamer thinks that is odd because horror movies don’t have to eliminate blood from their production.

House of Hardcore has an Internet PPV on November 13 coming from the old ECW Arena in Philadelphia. For some reason, November 13 sticks in Taz’s mind. Taz thinks it might have been when he was pissed at Sabu for skipping an ECW event. At the House of Hardcore event, Tommy Dreamer will team with Tajiri to take on Eric Young and ECIII. Abyss, Rhino, Bobby Roode, and Austin Aries will also appear. Taz is a fan of Dreamer’s promotion. Taz wants Dreamer to send in videos so Taz can include them on the show. Tajiri is excited to come back to Philadelphia. Tajiri works as an acupuncturist and doesn’t get to perform in Philadelphia as much.

Dreamer talked with Sabu about not being able to do as much. Sabu is 52 and Dreamer is 44. Dreamer said Sabu still looks great and he often forgets that his body has been beat to hell. Dreamer joked about using Sandman who couldn’t wrestle when he was in his prime. Taz points out that he has never lost to Tajiri. Taz mentions how he lost to Triple H thanks to Dreamer. Dreamer joked that Taz never lets go of a grudge. Dreamer mentions a show in Puerto Rico where Taz got his eardrum busted by Gypsy Joe. Taz remembers that and still holds a grudge. Gypsy Joe stopped wrestling last year.

Terry Funk is heading back to Japan to wrestle at 71-years-old. Taz jokes about a match being a popcorn match. Dreamer explains that a popcorn match was a match where the fans used the opportunity to go get popcorn because they knew they wouldn’t miss anything. Dreamer said they should now be called gimmick and 8×10 matches because he doesn’t think they really sell popcorn anymore. Taz asks for Dreamer’s opinion on the Dudleys. Dreamer is happy for them. Dreamer jokes that the fan the mentioned being bored with the product corresponds with the Dudleys returning. Dreamer urges fans to visit HouseofHardcore.net. Dreamer will be taking on ECIII in a Street Fight on their next show. Tajiri will take on Chris Hero. In a Monster’s Ball match, Sabu will take on Abyss. The American Werewolves will take on The Dirty Heels – Roode and Aries. Dreamer is trying to get it approved through TNA to make the match for the TNA Tag Team Titles.

Taz puts over Dreamer’s talents and passion for the business. Taz offers to help promote the shows anyway he can. Dreamer talks about a show in Japan where they turned out the lights and when they turned them back on, Sabu was in the ring with Onita. Sabu challenged Onita to a match that has been 20 years in the making. Dreamer said the building went nuts. Onita is 61 and still takes crazy bumps and looks great. Dreamer said the match will happen “soon.” A fan tweets Taz a picture of Terry Funk giving someone the DDT this past weekend in Cleveland. Dreamer tells a story about Funk trying to get Dreamer to book Onita against him. Funk wanted Dreamer to attack Onita in Japan during a press conference without telling him. Dreamer is a fan of Draft Kings. Dreamer says there is no loyalty on Draft Kings just like in wrestling. Taz closes out the interview and mentions how Dreamer was the best man at his wedding.

(1:54:40) Taz begins closing out the show. Seth gives This Day in Wrestling History very quickly. Sabu defeated Gary Wolfe in 2002. Taz stops him and says they will hit it tomorrow.

RATE & REVIEW

6 out of 10. The Dreamer appearance was entertaining. You can tell Taz and Dreamer are good friends and are very comfortable with each other. Taz handled more listener phone calls than recent shows. Taz always does a good job of explaining his opinions especially when he is disagreeing with someone. It was good to Seth back. I am interested to see if Seth and Brian both stay as on air talent. My only criticism is Taz still takes listener calls as if he doesn’t have control of the timing. Taz will be in mid-conversation and then just randomly say, “Let’s go to so and so from wherever.’ This just throws the conversation out of whack, but he usually does a good job getting it back on track. As always, I welcome all comments and critiques.

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