Exactly How Good Was Taz?

Taz(z)' WWE debut has been the subject of much conversation in the last few years, and mostly because of the 'Human Suplex Machine's story of how it did him more harm that good.

What still plays to fans as an electrifying greatest hits package at the expense of poor Kurt Angle's bones was in fact too good. Earning one of the biggest pops of the period, this theoretically should have propelled him into the stratosphere right as the company was reaching a commercial and critical apex. Instead, it doomed him to a life on the losing end of every big match he ever had.

The scale of the reaction scared the sh*t out of some of Tazz' new colleagues, who made no secret of their disinterest in selling much for a guy half a foot shorter than them. Four months after Madison Square Garden exploded for him, Triple H was pinning him on SmackDown and only the fools of the hardcore division were taking his suplexes at WrestleMania.

Smartly realising his fate, Tazz used a feud with Jerry Lawler and Jim Ross to return to a former stomping ground. Tolerating Vince McMahon's inner-ear screaming, he seamlessly flitted between part-time wrestler and commentator roles until mounting injuries moved him next to Michael Cole permanently in 2002.

His second life in wrestling had begun.

CONT'D...