One MIND-BLOWING Secret For Every WWE SummerSlam

26. 2000 | Original Tazz Plans

Tazz WWE
WWE.com

The WWF never got Tazz, or, more accurately, they never wanted to get Tazz. 

As incredible as he was in ECW, he was simply too short for Vince McMahon to ever push to the main event level. He was also broken-down physically by the time he made what was an exceptionally cursed jump. 

It started brilliantly. Madison Square Garden took him seriously as a credible ass-kicker, and Kurt Angle bumped around gleefully for him at Royal Rumble 2000. Then basically nothing happened. By SummerSlam 2000, Tazz portrayed a generic bully, whose comeuppance was dealt by, of all people, Jerry Lawler. Tazz tried to menace Jim Ross, Lawler stopped gawping at knockers long enough to stand up for his colleague, then Lawler, a full-time commentator, won a SummerSlam match that went less than five minutes. An attempt was made to “protect” Tazz, in that Ross smashed a glass jar over his head just before the finish, but it hardly worked or mattered. By the end of the year, Tazz was milling about on the Heat and Jakked C-show circuit. While Tazz won a rubbish Strap match sequel at Unforgiven, that he feuded and went 50-50 with an old commentator did not get him over, funnily enough. The alternate timeline might not have doomed him. 

Per the July 31, 2000 issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Tazz was originally pencilled in to wrestle Rikishi at SummerSlam. He’d have probably lost, since Rikishi was a bigger star at the time, but watching Tazz suplex a far bigger dude, always an awesome sight, might have earned him some new fans. 

Alas, a match against Cratered Ass Jones never did come to pass.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick (Creative Writing BA Hons) is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over a decade of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential UK institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!