Would EV 2.0 be more interesting if....

[Chrome]

Taz got off his ass and lost weight get in ring shape and lead that group instead of Dreamer?

When ECW was at its peak, Taz was Champion and the showcase of the orgainization. There would be more interest from a TV point of view having Taz in the ring again and leading this group.

Also come to think of it... Hardcore Justice would have made some sense.. if TAZ was in shape too. They could have done it for Taz to give him HIS last one night stand.. since in the WWE he was commentator and not wrestling at the time, so the biggest star to come from ECW never got his just due in any one night stand. This could have been used to set up him leading the group since he was already working at TNA for Months prior to this.

Anyways.. I think you all know what I am getting at here. If TNA HAD to go through with this idea, wouldn't Taz and Paul Heyman be the top two people to lead it? Would it have been more interesting than it is now?

Then you would have the following fueds.. (Healthy) Taz vs Samoa Joe , AJ Styles, etc etc.. When Taz was healthy his style would fit more in TNA than it did in WWE when they watered him down.

 

[Reddannihilation]

Yeah sure thing, while he's at it he can develop Wolverine's healing factor and miraculously come back from all those injuries that ended his career. Taz hasn't wrestled full time for close to a decade, he can't because of all the injuries he suffered during his career, so not only could this never have happened, it wouldn't improve or detract from EV2. And the fact that you think it's as simple as Taz getting "back in shape" kind of defeats your thread.

 

[Chrome]

Yeah sure thing, while he's at it he can develop Wolverine's healing factor and miraculously come back from all those injuries that ended his career. Taz hasn't wrestled full time for close to a decade, he can't because of all the injuries he suffered during his career, so not only could this never have happened, it wouldn't improve or detract from EV2. And the fact that you think it's as simple as Taz getting "back in shape" kind of defeats your thread.

I remember the same stuff being said about Shawn Michaels and he came back (remember we all said it.. he can't wrestle no more he won't wrestle his back is too bad..) then BAMB he came back and worked for a few years this past decade. (2002 - 2010)

All in all I was just thinking what would it take for Ev 2 to even be reliavaint or have an angle that could have made sense. Taz was the one guy who never got that final chance. It would have been nice to see.

Out of curiosity though, Was it ever told anywhere what his "mounting" injuries were?

I remember the WWF and HBK himself were saying he could not wrestle ever again that his back was too messed up to even step back in the ring. But then after a few years off he was back in the ring again.

Kurt Angle had a legit broken Neck and we see the stuff he can do.

 

[bloewaters]

Taz's neck is really messed up... but other then that I'm not sure. On a side note this just reminded me of an interview i read on taz, apparently when he broke his neck he WALKED into the hospital to get it checked out! how BA?

 

[shogunsrampage]

as someone said above..its alot more than taz just getting back into shape, .... tazz had severe neck problems where he had to end his career...its totally different than hbks situation as intially shawn had a bad back but then shawn got addicted to pills which wwe cut ties breifly wtih him. hhh states this in rise and fall of wcw and it explains why shawn was briefly in fmw... taz cant return at all to the ring hence why his match at ons against lawler literally was 30 sec. the problem with ev2.0 is there best stars are either 2 old,injured or dead. tna simply jumped the gun wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy too late on this as its unlike wwe doing the wcw invasion which was literally just after wcws demise which a majority of their stars were still popular...the difference is wwe was unable to land wcws biggest stars right away for the angle which cause that angle to go downhill...tna is going downhill simply bc it was too late for most ppl to even care about the true ecw

 

[Carpathian Florist]

Looking at the state of Taz recently, I think it would take far too long to get back into shape even if his neck was healthy enough to allow him to wrestle. He seems to have mellowed so much, if it was even possible would he still be able to conjure up the same intensity he used to possess in ECW?
I think that seems unlikely. He seems more like a pervy old grandfather to me now, I think it would be hard to take him seriously.
I say EV 2.0 would be more interesting if they had a backstage segment where they made some chauvinistic remark towards Velvet Sky, which led to a gauntlet match between her and all of them. Job them all out to Sky and have them retire forever in shame. That includes Mick.

 

[MB1025]

I think it would help if he was a mouth piece for them. Like have that old Brooklyn attitude he had back in ECW and WWF. Of course this would only work if EV2 was a heel group. That way he could be a heel announcer and when EV2 does promos in the ring he could leave the announce table or even do it at the table with the guys surrounding the table.

 

[That young knockout kid]

Taz is no shape to go in a ring anytime soon ,he's been retired for years due to nagging injurys ,thats why he was given a role as a commentator.

Agreed that Dreamer shouldn't be the face of EV.2 though ,there's many more wrestlers who where more iconic in ecw than he was .Of the employees of tna ,i'd say the two most iconic figures of ecw is either Raven or Sabu(excluding keyfabe half dead RVD) .I'd have Raven as the leader of Ev2 due to his immense mic skills and ability to advance and carry a story,something i feel Dreamer doesn't have.

 

[I_Am_Electro_Boy]

Even if Taz got to the best shape of his life he still couldn't do much. He has had nagging injurys throughout most of his carear, so it's best for him to stay behind the announce table.

 

[Rampage Bentley]

I remember the same stuff being said about Shawn Michaels and he came back (remember we all said it.. he can't wrestle no more he won't wrestle his back is too bad..) then BAMB he came back and worked for a few years this past decade. (2002 - 2010)

All in all I was just thinking what would it take for Ev 2 to even be reliavaint or have an angle that could have made sense. Taz was the one guy who never got that final chance. It would have been nice to see.

Out of curiosity though, Was it ever told anywhere what his "mounting" injuries were?

I remember the WWF and HBK himself were saying he could not wrestle ever again that his back was too messed up to even step back in the ring. But then after a few years off he was back in the ring again.

Kurt Angle had a legit broken Neck and we see the stuff he can do.

Shawn Michaels is an exception, he didn't come back until he became a Christian, so he had Jesus powers healing him.

And Kurt Angle's "broken neck" is quite exaggerated, it wasn't a full-on broken neck, he had a crack in it, the equivilant to a shin splint in his neck. Not saying his working through it and winning a gold medal wasn't impressive, but most people think he had a straight up broken neck

And just because I know i'm going to be asked for a source on Angle's injury, his own damn book

 

[King Blitzkonic]

Well here's the thing: As a few posters have already said, Taz wouldn't be able to get into in-ring shape because of all factors present, BUT I could see him being a mouthpiece (and a far better one that Foley or Dreamer at that!).

IMO, what would make EV 2.0 more interesting is for this damn angle to end. Look, I got respect for most of these guys, but when you're out the spotlight for years or you've retired, there is NO need to come back unless it's in a purely advisory capacity, and even then I have my doubts about some of the signings. Same goes for you Ric Flair! Stay. Out. Of. The. Ring.

But seeing as TNA isn't going to can the angle anytime soon, switch the focus that guys like Sabu and Dreamer and Foley have been getting as EV 2.0 to some of the younger, more able guys like Kid Kash, FBI, and now Brian Kendrick. That way we can see more Total Nonstop Action instead of Total Nonstop Age-tion or Total Nonstop Asininity.

 

[legend23x]

I think the thing with EV 2.0 that most people are missing is the reason they are there. They aren't really there to get one last shot at glory anymore. That was hardcore justice. That one PPV given to EV2 also gave them some relevancy to current day and showed that they can still perform. At least somewhat. The guys that are around now are left there because Fortune needs someone to feud with. They need an established group of tough guys (or "hardcore" guys in this case) that they can beat down to establish their dominance. That's it. EV2.0 isn't there to win or be that exciting. Fortune needs to beat them down to be able to add to their credentials and claim that they ran some of the toughest guys in the business out. They'll show that they are the young guys, they ARE TNA, and that the old guys just can't hang with them. This establishes that TNA is greater than the EV guys ever were.

I think a lot of people bash TNA for "pushing the old guys". People must be completely blind. With the exception of the Jarret/sting/nash/hogan thing which takes up a small amount of TV time, it's only the young guys that are getting pushed. It also takes time to feel everyone out. That's why people like lethal get a short push and then disappear for a time. They're trying to give people a chance to see who they can really benefit from. Everyone needs that chance and with the number of people on the roster, they have to fit them in a little at a time. They're basically giving people tryouts but can only devote so much of the show to that. They still have to have a storyline to build the company around.

You NEED the old guys there to establish the new guys at least for a given amount of time. Since Hogan came in they did bring in some people to get name recognition, but look at those who are in the spotlight. Pope, Anderson, Hardy and Angle. Pope and Anderson are really getting the push. Angle seems to be getting possibly a last run at the title and can still hang with the best in the world. For him to pass the torch to Pope or Anderson, he needs to HAVE THE TORCH. He'll likely get the title which will lead to a feud with one of the new guys. Whether it is Pope, Anderson, AJ, Joe, etc, someone will feud with Angle and come up short each time until the last chance where the new guy finally overtakes Angle as THE GUY. That is how you build someone up.

Fortune establishes dominance as a group by destroying EV2. I really believe the NWO was supposed to be the group in this place originally. Waltman and Scott Hall screwed up any plans to use the NWO to help establish the new guys though. What better way to establish Fortune as a dominant group than to take out the NWO which was the most dominant group in history. Since that couldn't happen right away, EV2 was brought in for that purpose. Sting and Nash said they are coming for flair after their current feud is over but they need to get re-established as the Wolfpac. Expect someone else will come in to join Sting/Hall. When Sting/Hall come after Flair, Fortune will then establish their dominance by taking out the Wolfpac as well. That then establishes TNA as better than WCW ever was also.

When the question is asked "who has fortune ever beaten?" they can claim they beat the best of ECW and the best of WCW. While that is a stretch, they can make that claim at least. To be the man, you have to beat the man and the same goes for the factions. There however is no dominant faction in TNA, or really anywhere in wrestling, so they have to pull up some old ones. Once Fortune establishes that dominance, then they are the top of the mountain. Everyone else then needs to chase them. This whole EV2 thing is just a way for fortune to reach that mountain peak.

 

[hatehabsforever]

I think I get what the OP is saying, and I somewhat agree and I somewhat disagree as well.

Suffice it to say that Taz is in no shape to get back into the ring and wrestle on a regular basis, to wrestle in a real match, or to take a significant bump due to his well-documented health history. I realize HBK came back and wrestled for a decade at pretty much full capacity after career ending back issues. Kurt Angle continues to wreste at a high level despite his injury status. But these guys are the exceptions to the rule.

However, why couldn't Taz align himself with the faction to a greater degree and bring greater credibility to it than Dreamer brings (with all due respect to Tommy). He could step into the ring and serve as their mouthpiece. He could be a more vocal supporter from the announcing table. I'm sure he could step into the ring and perform a wrestling move on someone, you know, some sort of offensive move, without having to take any form of bump. Why couldn't he super-plex some guy and then have the rest of the faction step in to protect him? Bret Hart is a recovering stroke victim and he's in the ring all the time. Sure, he's not wrestling really, he takes no bumps whatsoever, but he does smack a guy in the mouth every now and then, or put a guy in the sharpshooter, or whatever. Why couldn't Taz do something like this, after all he doesn't appear to be made of glass. Because some would say that Taz, even as a shadow of his former self, brings a lot more to the table than Tommy Dreamer does, as well as a lot of the other members of EV2.0.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

Taz would be awesome even just as a mouthpiece/manager for EV2.0, the man is golden on the mic and funny as hell too. I enjoy seeing/hearing Taz whenever he is on screen.

It really is a shame he cant get in the ring anymore, I loved his style when he was the mean SOB in ECW, those suplexes that he threw out were awesome, and I think he should have been allowed to climb the ladder in WWE, they wasted his talent

 

[darkman_96]

Anyone would be a better leader than Tommy Fat Bastard Dreamer. He is terrible, his wrestling is terrible his Mic skills are terrible and i was embarresed when he was in a woo off with the god Ric Flair. How dare he even be near someone like Ric Flair.

Taz being the leader.... no chance hes fat and annoying and as a commentator is crap and always brings up past injuries. Geeze we all know their injuries because u've told us a hundred times fatty. If Jerry Lynn came to TNA he could be the leader.

The best thing that could happen in my eyes if EV2 become a heel stable and Paul Heyman comes in and takes over. That would be awesome.

FUCK OFF DREAMER.

Flair is god.

Tna is - AJ Styles, Samao Joe and use to be Christopher Daniels.

Bring Back Daniels.

Piss off Hogan.