3. Paul Heyman Sticks Up For Cole And Tazz At SummerSlam 2002
On a recent edition of Chris Jericho's podcast, Paul Heyman revealed that he had to go to bat for Michael Cole and Tazz at SummerSlam 2002. Vince McMahon wanted Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler calling Brock Lesnar's main event title win over The Rock, but Heyman felt strongly that the Smackdown commentary team should be calling their guy. McMahon and Heyman went back and forth on it. The Chairman felt like the 'A Team' commentators should always be closing the show. Heyman stuck up for Cole and Tazz, rightly pointing out that the Smackdown brand was the main event. Eventually, McMahon gave the 'B team' their chance. Cole and Tazz called Lesnar vs Rock, doing a brilliant job in the process. Heyman reveals that he used McMahon's doubts to fire the Smackdown crew up. Cole and Tazz ended up going out to prove a point, keen to prove their worth. That made SummerSlam 2002 distinctive as the first pay per view ever not to use the supposed A Team. From that day on, matches got called based on brand, not based on tradition of the 'lead announcers'.