The Taz Show - Monday Kick-Off (Oct. 5, 2015)

The Taz Show, Bodyslams & Beyond (Episode 11)
Host: Taz
Guest: None
Release Date: Oct. 5, 2015

Report by: Sean Sumey, PWPodcasts Reporter

HOT TOPICS

– TAZ REVIEWS MSG LIVE: Taz gives his match by match breakdown as the big guy becomes sentimental over the Garden

– TAZ REVIEWS BOUND FOR GLORY: Well, it might not be a review exactly but more of a review of the results and hearsay. Pretty interesting regardless.

– SETH IS A DADDY AGAIN: Producer Seth is out due to the birth of his baby girl.

– TAZ TALKS TO THE LISTENERS: Somehow, almost every caller asks a question that has already been covered.

SUBJECTS COVERED (w/Time Stamps)

(00:00-00:36) Ads

(00:37-01:13) Show intro

(01:14) Taz opens the show and said it has been a great week for wrestling and football fans. Taz will cover the Madison Square Garden show as well as TNA’s Bound for Glory event. Taz will also discuss some football.

(03:23) Taz sends out his congratulations to Matt Hardy on winning the TNA World Heavyweight Title. Taz says that Hardy is well-deserving and a great guy and will get more in depth later in the show.

(04:15) Taz announces that Seth and his wife gave birth to a baby girl. Taz will wait for Seth to return to give the baby’s name. Taz is very happy for Seth on his third child.

(06:22) This past weekend, Taz attended Legends of the Ring in New Jersey. Taz said that when he left WWE, he got a lot of requests from independent promoters but he always turned them down. Taz said this promoter who organized Legends of the Ring has a great reputation among the wrestlers so Taz has participated in the event for the last couple years. Taz got to spend time with Justin Credible, Sgt. Slaughter, George “The Animal” Steele, Vickie Guerrero, Carlito, The Headbangers, Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin, “Cowboy” Bob Orton, Blue Meanie, Vampiro, and more.

Charlie Haas is operating a wrestling school for children in the Dallas area. Taz met Vampiro for the first time when Vampiro introduced himself. Taz and Vampiro hit it off when they were talking about transitioning to commentary. Vampiro told Taz that he didn’t realize how difficult it would be. Taz believes Vampiro is doing a great job. Taz said he thought the same thing because he was always comfortable cutting promos. Taz said it is a whole different story when you have to focus on other people. Taz said Vince McMahon was very influential in coaching Taz to become a solid commentator. Vince taught him to check his ego at the curtain. The focus should be to put the guys in the ring over. Taz always tried to work “I” or “me” into his announcing. Taz gave an example as “Everybody said I could throw a great suplex, but look at Kurt Angle. Now there’s a guy who can throw a great suplex!” Taz also saw Billy Kidman and Dean Malenko. Taz joked about Dean Malenko breaking his neck years ago. Taz put over Dean for being an excellent worker and always staying in shape. Taz said a lot of people approached him and complimented him on his daily show. Taz is always interested to see if people listen live or on the podcast release. Taz feels it is split down the middle.

(17:17-19:24) Taz talks football and is disappointed that the Giants beat the Bills. Taz worked this into a live read for Sleeper Bot.

(19:26) Taz is getting a lot of feedback about Hump Day Promos. Taz will announce this Friday the topic for NEXT Wednesday’s Hump Day Promos. Taz said he has enough entries from last week to do another round of World Champion promos. Taz said if you send in a promo that includes profanity or anything vulgar, they will be disqualified.

(23:16) Taz said he got a text message from a friend of his who works backstage at NXT. NXT had a house show in Nashville, Tenn. recently where Finn Balor did the DX crotch chop on the street in front of the TNA offices. Taz feels this had to be cleared before it got posted on Twitter. Apparently a large bus stopped right in front of the TNA building and people thought it was involved. Turns out, it was just a bus that broke down. Taz talked about DX invading WCW back in the day. Taz also mentioned ECW invading WWE. Taz said there was a lot of that cross promotional action years ago.

(30:37-31:19) Break

(31:48) Taz said that a WWE house show at MSG in the fall brings back a lot of great memories. Taz felt the commentary team did a great job of building up the importance of the show. Taz felt the show had a unique look. The ring skirts were different and even the fan barriers were different.

(36:20) Taz takes a call from Pork Chop John in Arkansas. John is not grilling today. John says he felt the MSG show was great and thinks the arena itself was the biggest star on the show. Taz asked John if he heard the show while he was on hold. John didn’t hear and wasn’t aware that Taz was already discussing that. John thinks they should make the MSG Live event an annual thing for the WWE Network. John also feels they should dedicate it to Vince McMahon, Sr. Taz said he can attest to Vince Jr.’s love and respect for his father. Taz said WWE has cut back on the Garden shows due to finances.

(40:15) Taz takes a call from Jared in Australia. Taz is interested in a foreigners’s opinion of Madison Square Garden. Jared said the he and his friends have attended WrestleManias at the Garden and can appreciate the historical significance.

(41:36) Taz felt the MSG show had similar camera shots to Raw and Smackdown. Taz pointed out that NXT, ROH, and TNA all look different from Raw and Smackdown. Randy Orton and Dolph Ziggler defeated Rusev and Sheamus. Taz felt this was a solid match with great physicality. Taz liked the use of the RKO.

(44:29) Taz takes a call from Rick in Pittsburgh. Rick remembers the MSG shows from the ’70s and ’80s and how dark the arena used to be. Taz felt this MSG show looked darker than Raw or Smackdown. Taz said some fans were complaining on Twitter that the show was so dark. Taz always liked the look of a spotlight over the ring. Taz said it makes the wrestlers look larger. Taz knows all the ways to look bigger than you are.

(48:40) Stardust lost to Neville. Taz loved the match and thought it was exciting. Taz felt this was a perfect spot for the match. Paul Heyman then cut a promo with Renee Young backstage. Paul is a New York kid who got his start in MSG. Taz thought he got a great pop from the fans.

(51:22) Taz tries to take a call from James in New York. We have lost James!

(52:10) Kevin Owens defended the Intercontinental Title against Chris Jericho. Taz liked how Jericho gave a shout-out to Lance Storm and Don Callis. Taz felt that Jericho’s promo was very sincere and heartfelt. Taz is happy that Jericho got to celebrate his 25th anniversary in the business, but jokes that he would’ve liked it if he got to do the same thing. Taz felt the match was really good. Owens actually cheated for the win. Taz felt they could’ve used Storm to allow Owens get some more heat. Owens is very sarcastic and could’ve reacted to Jericho’s promo.

(59:06-1:00:02) Break

(1:00:28) More on Jericho and Owens. Taz feels Jericho and Owens could have went back and forth with Owens getting the upper hand. On the outside of the ring, Owens could’ve have taken Jericho out and then get in the face of Lance Storm. Owens would pie face Storm and bumps him. Storm could have jumped the barrier and got a shine on Owens leading to a pop up powerbomb. Taz felt Owens should’ve went over stronger considering Jericho is in the twilight of his career and Owens is just getting hot. The Dudleys beat New Day by DQ. Taz repeats that he felt the Dudleys would win the titles. Taz said the fan who disagreed with him was right. Taz said the fan wasted no time in contacting him on Twitter to rub it in.

(1:07:15) Taz takes a call from Adam in Connecticut. Adam agrees that WWE missed an opportunity to get heat on Jericho’s friends. Adam confirms that he also couldn’t hear the show while on hold so didn’t realize Taz had just suggested that. Taz and Adam exchange some memories about the New Haven Coliseum.

(1:09:35) Taz wouldn’t have disagreed with New Day defeating the Dudleys leading to a rematch. Taz said now that WWE has the Network they can use the screwy finishes more often. Brock Lesnar defeated the Big Show. Taz said it was smart that they didn’t have a long match. Taz said Show and Lesnar do not have a lot of chemistry. Brock took three chokeslams in a row. Taz said Brock does a physical sell as opposed to a dead sell. Taz thinks it is unique and very smart. Lesnar then starts hitting Show with German Suplexes. Taz points out that Lesnar began losing Show during an F5. Lesnar was able to turn the move into a back bump to protect Show. Taz reminds fans that Lesnar only appears reckless but is actually a very good worker. After Brock wins, he leaves the ring. Brock then returns and nails Show a few more times. Taz said this was probably ad libbed and added on at the last second. Taz isn’t sure how many more matches Show has left in him. Taz felt the fans should have given Show a more respectful send off. Taz also thinks the announcers could have laid back and let the fans show their respect for Big Show.

(1:20:27-1:22:09) Taz does a live read for DraftKings.com. Use promo code TAZ to play for free.

(1:22:34) John Cena defended his U.S. Title against Seth Rollins in a steel cage. Taz said JBL did a good job building up the match. Taz joked that JBL utilizes Google for his show preparation. Taz felt the announcers lost energy halfway through the match. Taz enjoyed the match and thought both Rollins and Cena made it look like the win was important to them. Kane comes out and causes Rollins to climb back down the cage and continue the fight against Cena.

(1:27:47-1:28:27) Break

(1:29:12) Taz pointed out a spot in the Rollins-Cena match. Rollins hits a superplex on Cena and rolls through into a standing vertical suplex, ending with a sit-out powerbomb. Taz said this was an incredible spot and that Cena should get a lot of credit for making it happen. Taz said that is a spot that the guy taking the moves has to do most of the work. Taz criticized the ref for running out of the cage when Kane entered. Taz felt the announcers could have pointed out that Kane is so scary that the ref is terrified of him. Taz really enjoyed the overall show.

(1:33:06) Taz takes a call from Noah in Alabama. Noah really likes the chemistry between Cena and Rollins but worries that they are working too much and will lose some steam. Noah has heard that Cena is taking time off. Noah wonders who will get the U.S. Title. Taz suggests Cesaro or King Barrett.

(1:35:50) Taz didn’t get to watch TNA’s Bound for Glory, but did speak to several of his friends who work for TNA. Taz remembers wrestling in Concord, N.C. where the show was held. Taz broke Sabu’s jaw during the match. Sabu returned with his jaw taped up and “FU” written on the tape. Taz also tore his own bicep during the match. Matt Hardy won the TNA World Title. Taz heard that fans who had VIP passes got to roam around backstage. Taz said some of the talent was complaining that it was an invasion of privacy. Taz said if this is true, it is BS. Taz said the TNA front office does a horrible job of respecting the backstage element and separating the talent’s personal time from the show. Taz said it is nice that Dixie Carter wants to reward the fans, but said she always takes it too far. Taz said the fans don’t need to be eating with the talent in catering when the talent is trying to get prepared for a show.

Tigre Uno retained the X-Division Championship, but got hurt during the match. Taz said he is amazing and has a bright future. The American Wolves retained their Tag Titles. There was a gauntlet for the #1 contender spot. The match was won by Tyrus, but featured several older wrestlers like Al Snow, Tommy Dreamer, and The Pope. Taz said TNA should focus on developing new talent rather than relying on the established workers who don’t wrestle nearly as often. Kurt Angle defeated Eric Young. Bobby Roode retained his King of the Mountain Championship against Bobby Lashley. Taz said those two always have solid matches. Gail Kim defeated Awesome Kong. Taz complains that a lot of the card was recycled angles that TNA has done before. Taz said he can remember calling a lot of these matches when he was in TNA. Taz likes TNA putting the belt on Matt Hardy. Even though Matt is getting older, Matt works his butt off and can go strong. Taz doesn’t like the matches where you can win the title without defeating the champion.

(1:47:55) Taz wants to reiterate that he is not bitter toward TNA. Taz is the happiest he has been in his career right now. Taz left TNA on his own terms and wasn’t fired or released. Taz said it is difficult to be bitter toward a company that you chose to leave. Taz said fans are accusing him of watching WWE more than TNA. Taz said he actually likes ROH better than TNA and barely covers them. Taz said 90 percent of the talent in any of the major promotions are legit and deserve to be there. Taz points out the wrestler from India who was in the TNA gauntlet match and said he is not good. Taz said he doesn’t belong on TV and doesn’t know what he is doing. People don’t mind goofy stuff if it is fun and entertaining. Taz said he heard this wasn’t good goofy. Taz said WWE would never expose someone like that.

Taz mentions Braun Strowman and points out that WWE protects him and makes him look strong. Taz said even ROH and Lucha Underground would have avoided putting someone out there who isn’t ready. Taz believes TNA is horrible at protecting talent who isn’t ready to be on TV. Taz mentions that fans pointed out that Pope took a shot at Taz. Taz said Pope didn’t do that on his own and was coached. Taz believes it was in response to Taz putting TNA on blast for not promoting his interview with Bobby Roode.

(1:56:58) End of the show

RATE & REVIEW

6 out of 10. An okay show that wasn’t newsworthy but was solid. It was interesting to hear Taz review a show that he didn’t watch. Taz was upfront and gave a disclaimer that he hadn’t actually watched the TNA PPV. It goes to show how stale the TNA product is when Taz is able to say that he has called most of that card before. I always like hearing Taz’s booking ideas because I think it is obvious that Taz has a good mind for the business and how to draw out an angle. The technical issues returned this show with the fans not being able to hear the show while on hold. I’m always amazed how it seems every fan wants to discuss something that Taz had JUST finished discussing. Callers need to come up with some interesting and original questions for the Human Suplex Machine, for the love of all that is black and orange! No guests this episode but still pretty enjoyable. As always, I welcome any critiques or comments.