Long before he was the fearsome hard-man that Extreme Championship Wrestling fans would grow to admire, and even longer before the man was the fun-loving announcer that would (often unintentionally) crack fans up alongside Michael Cole when broadcasting Smackdown, Taz was given the rather cheesy name 'Kid Krush'. Working out in Puerto Rico for the World Wrestling Council, Kid Krush was a face-painted grappler who was actually a lot more high-flying than a lot of fans will probably remember Taz being. Performing moves such as cross body blocks and various other top rope moves, this was the kind of Taz that wouldn't have really made it beyond the mid-card in North America. Quickly, the man would create the 'Tazmaniac', a wild man character which saw him tweak his ring style to lessen the high-flying elements and focus more on ground-based offence and brawling. It was during these years that Taz started to become more akin to the wrestler most fans know.
