Taz: Is He A Success?

[NSL]

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Since August, Mike Tenay's partner at the announce position has been Taz, ECW original, and mentor to Samoa Joe. He's brought his in-ring experience and knowledge of wrestling to the booth, as well as his moderate ignorance for the English language.

While he sometimes flubs easy words, and forgets what he was saying mid-sentence, I'll admit I think he's a nice alternative to Don West, who sometimes oversold matches more than he hyped them up. Taz and Tenay both have an endless knowledge of wrestling moves and holds, and it's helped a lot of casual fans get into the matches featuring mat wrestlers like Desmond Wolfe and Samoa Joe.

What are your thoughts?

 

[Mantaur Rodeo Clown]

Fuck yeah. Thanks NSL. Anyways, lets get right down to it.

Taz, or "Tha Taz" as he lieks to be called was the voice of Smackdown and later ECW for most of this decade. I didn't mind him that much, and his chemistry with Cole was ok. His commentary definately benefitted from experiences in ECW and WWE, and I think a lot of his insight into the product was a good thing. He had been in matches, he had been in the locker room and even in his kayfabe work, you could hear a lot of his insight came from first hand experience. This helps immensely, as well as the fact he's such a character. He's actually likeable.

This is certainly more than could ever be said for Don West. I always hated him with a passion. I never thought he was any good, and his commentary was awful. He didn't seem to understand that he wasn't selling something in an informercial (compared to the X Division, which didn't sell anything. Zing!), and thus he was always shouting. I never could get into him, and he just dragged the mood down for me. Tenay was okay, but you could always hear he was sort of in pain whenever he was at the booth next to West. I think with Taz in there, Tenay feels more at ease and hence, we get a smoother broadcast. Maybe it's just the WWE mark in me, but I like Taz and I think he's been rather effective.

 

[wiKid hoRse]

Personally I haven't been that impressed with taz. I gave him the benefit of the doubt in the latter part of his wwe run cause it was easier to blame his poor performance on vince b eing in his ear. I do appreciate his knowledge but I personally miss heel Don West. West could throw out the little sly insults and remarks that would at first go un-noticed then you'd realise that it was actually quite a vicious burn. Taz comes across a little bland to me atm and his blunders really distract me from the matches. If they could add West back and do a 3 man team then I reckon they'd be on the money. Tenay on the play by play, Taz the analyst and West the colour man. Just my opinion.

 

[Dagger Dias]

I think that Taz has been a success so far in TNA. He is already familiar to many fans for his work as an announcer on Smackdown for many years and is a lot better in the role than West was. The team of Tenay and West often felt like two random friends discussing the match together, rather than a professional announcing team. That was more West's fault than Tenay's though, in my opinion because Tenay is doing well with Taz. Things got a lot worse when they tried to turn West heel, the announcing went from sounding like two friends to extremely strange. It just didn't feel right at all. Then Taz came in, and things changed for the better. West is now a merchandise guy and a manager for Amazing Red, he's good in those roles. Taz is a much better announcer and fans of his Smackdown announcing might recognize him if they happen to find TNA when flipping through channels. Taz has definitely been a success so far because the announcing in TNA is the best its ever been in my opinion.

 

[wolvdog316]

I've never liked Taz as an announcer. Well, maybe in his early years. But not in his later Smackdown years and for sure not in TNA. But I think that has a lot to do with the fact I loathe Mike Tenay. I LOATHE him. He is beyond horrible. He is in my opinion the worst announcer in any sport any decade any age any gender anything. If Hogan fires him like it's being speculated I will return to Hulkamania just for that.

I find Taz to be dry at times. He needs a colorful guy to lead him so his comments actually have life in them. Tenay isn't that option and neither was Michael Cole.

On a sidetrack note, I REALLY loved Paul Heyman on the mic. If TNA got him, he is one of the few people, along with Jesse the Body and Bobby Heenan, that I could ignore the crap in the ring, cause those two would make any match money.

 

[Uncle Sam]

Watching TNA, I've not really liked Taz as an announcer. I'm not quite sure why; I liked him (ish) when he was in WWE.

It's just when anybody - and I mean anybody comes out - he starts gushing over them, trying to sell them as the best thing since sliced bread. It's not like Taz the character is there, more like Taz the person. And Taz the person likes to gush over young talent, apparently. Not to mention that yeah, he says random things and asks Tenay to correct him:

"Taz, are you seeing this!? Sting is in the rafters!"

"Did I say that right, Tenay? Onomatopoeia? Is it like a pier or what?"

I think he needed Vince yelling in his ear. Maybe he was telling him how to pronounce things.

 

[TellMeWhy]

Taz brings a good analyst perspective to the commentary booth that was missing in TNA but that's all he's good for. He's quite annoying when he's not doing that. He's always asking Tenay questions like, "Hey what's up with that Tenay?" or always saying a joke that's not funny or saying something random. I really think he's a step down from Don West. Don West would at least try to make sense out of the few wacky things going on in the TNA script and could adjust to his heel role with the weird face/heel booking.

Not to mention, Taz is suppose to be the color guy as well. He sold Jeff Hardy in the Impact Zone like shit! Mike Tenay did the same as well. His debut could've been so much better if the announcers were excited and made more of a big deal out of it. This is where Don West would've been useful because chances are high that he would've sold the hell out of Jeff Hardy returning to TNA.

 

[Vintage]

Taz is without a doubt a success, but I preferred Don West for TNA as it gave them their own sound and style. West was doing some epic heel commentary right before he got pulled from the announce desk. I'd spend half of Impact laughing at the commentary alone. That being said, I'm a huge Taz fan, he does his job and he does it well but I keep waiting for Tenay to say vintage lol. He's an upgrade if they want to be taken serious and bring their production to the next lvl, which it seems is their goal. I think they should have made it a 3 man, Taz on analysis, Tenay on play by play and heel west doing color and being the TNA voice of reason. West would have had a field day with Homicide not being able to get out the cage. That's gold waiting to happen. Even if it was just for PPV's....

 

[raja]

Whoever thinx taz is not a success is a ******. i do agree tho, that he does sometimes over do it in hyping certain wrestlerz but oh well. Tenay does suck ass tho, he is tooooo boring. foley or even heyman need to be added to the mix to make it a 3 man announce team, with tenay speaking occasionaly as the old guy. but that said heyman and tazz wud sound too familliar,

 

[Supersayin]

They definitly need Don West back, i hate listenning to their commentary now, its horrible. Don west went from being one of the worst announcers to the the absoulte best in wrestling today and out of no where TNA drops him.

 

[X]

He's been a success to me, mainly because of his knowledge of wrestling holds and moves. I mean Mike Tenay used to be the guy to go to to identify any kind of hold or move but over the last few years in TNA he's become such a bland play-by-play guy that the addition of Taz not only helped in the entertainment department, but it really helped when it comes to wrestlng knowledge, and the Angle-Wolfe matches among others helped prove that (as well as the Lashley-Joe "MMA" match from a few months ago). Taz really helped those matches with his commentary, so I'd call him a success. Don West was getting better, but I still prefer Taz.

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

Taz, in my view, is a complete and utter failure to the broadcast booth. He adds nothing to the show, just like he did when he was in WWE. He sounds a little more enthusiastic about the show, but that's about it.

He doesn't get me excited about matches. He doesn't get me excited about the show. He doesn't make the commentary any more interesting.

Shame on Dixie Carter for copying Vince's style of Play by Play / Analyst commentary on her show. I think this was nothing more than pettiness on her part because of behind the scenes squabbling with Jarrett, when those two were going at it ... because Jarrett was in favor of returning to Face/Heel commentary and wanted Don West as a Heel, and Carter was just making a power play because she was upset at Jarrett, at the time.

So what we are left at is the exact same thing that essentially we got from ECW's December to Dismember, when Vince rejected everything Paul Heyman wrote, just to prove a point that McMahon was the boss to inflate his ego, not Heyman .... absolute garbage.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

I think Taz is doing very good in TNA. I liked Don West, but he sometimes went way over the top with the excitement level. What I mean by that is, it wouldn't just be for a certain part of the match, sometimes he would do it the entire match, and it could get really annoying.

Taz and Tenay have very good chemistry together. The whole West VS Tenay thing was good when it started out, but it got stale pretty quick. Taz does makes mistakes sometimes, but still, he brings that entertaining element to the announce table. It reminds me of how he was, when he first started out on Smackdown. Plus he came up the "zombie hot" nickname for my favorite Knockout Daffney, so that's always a plus for me.

 

[Baximus]

Taz has been an improvement but that's because West-Tenay was a terrible combination. Taz is at least excited but there's no back and forth here either.

I'm still completely flummoxed as to why Mike Tenay is on commentary. He's boring and bland.


But announcers need to get the crowd excited, they need to make any event feel like a big event. With the notable exception of Monday Impact, that hasn't been the case with the TNA guys.


So here's my solution: Get Joey Styles (whose announcing ALONE put ECW over) and get Heyman as a member of creative and put him on color commentary. Those two would make TNA's announcing awesome again.

Then you have Taz turn heel and join back up with Joe as an angry character with Hogan for booting him from commentary.

That would be great. Can anyone else already hear Joey annoucning an X Division match? OH MY GOD!

 

[SpiralHands]

Personally when I heard Taz had signed with TNA, I prayed he would be going to the booth and my pray was answered lol! I think he has made sooooo much difference to the programme, hes more professional than Don West, fans can instantly recognize his voice since being there I feel like Mike Tenay is better than he was. It even gives a more professional feel to iMPACT! Top class work I believe from them both so great signing for TNA, it certainly beats Mr "No Personality" Todd Grisham and Mr "Just plain boring and way too annoying for a wrestling program" Matt Striker!

 

[X]

Taz, in my view, is a complete and utter failure to the broadcast booth. He adds nothing to the show, just like he did when he was in WWE. He sounds a little more enthusiastic about the show, but that's about it.

Ahh, our first battle Sid, remember? It was on this very subject. As I said in my last post, he definitely adds something to the show Sid and that's a very detailed knowledge about wrestling from years spent being an expert and accomplished amateur wrestler as well as his years in the pro wrestling business. He made me enjoy the Angle-Wolfe matches more just by listening to his commentary, because he really knows his stuff.

He doesn't get me excited about matches. He doesn't get me excited about the show. He doesn't make the commentary any more interesting.

I'd argue he makes the commentary more interesting, for me atleast. He may not be the heel character you want, but as an "analyst" as you call them he's quite good. I've always enjoyed listening to Taz, he's a funny guy and a legit badass and he's got a large wealth of wrestling knowledge. I mean Tenay has apparently forgotten how to call a match as the play-by-play man in TNA so it's nice to hear someone actually sound like they know what they're talking about, which Taz does.

Plus, you must remember Sid, your average wrestling fan will be much more inclined to pay attention to a program if someone is on commentary that they recognize, like Taz. Something as little as that can be very important for TNA.

 

[Kenny Powers]

I was skeptical at first because I was a fan of the heel Don West. I wasn't really a fan of Taz on commentary on Smackdown either. I have to say though that Taz has impressed me. Taz and Tenay actually seem like they are having a blast and they aren't scripted or as boring as the Tenay and West team of old.

Taz is a great analyst because of his knowledge of wrestling moves. He called out moves and wrestlers that most of us have never even heard of. He makes the show seem more professional and enjoyable. I would like to see Don West brought in as a third play by play man to argue with Tenay and Taz though.

I think overall Taz has done a great job in TNA, and is a great fit with their product. I don't know how many times Taz has said you will never find any matches or wrestlers like this anywhere in the world. He's right.

 

[EStreet]

West always screamed and overhyped everything. Taz's knowledge of the sport and his own wrestling background definitly adds to the color. Its like any pro sport, a player (if a good enough speaker) always makes a better color analyst because they know the game in a different way

 

[Suneeboy]

I would say he has done a good job. I like that Taz is very knowledgeable. He compliments Tenay well, and they seem to genuinely like working together. Their commentary doesn't sound forced, and I think that is due to Taz coming in and being able to just be himself.

He hasn't pissed me off like he did in the WWE when he was in the booth there, and that is the most important factor me.

Would be nice if they had a heel commentator, but we would lose out on the shoot style analysis of the match, which I enjoy. So is Taz a success? I guess he is, because I'm entertained by the commentary.

 

[Renzino]

Taz has good moments and bad moments.

When he's on and being serious Taz can be a really good color guy.

But a lot times he can be annoying with his "goof ball" persona from the WWE and not taking a lot of things serious at times.

I'm just going to say that to me Taz is in between.

As for Don West I actually liked him before the heel turn, but when he did turn heel he became so entertaining.

I loved when he would tell lies about cooking breakfast for Velvet Sky and their late night "sexting" sessions.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Well, from where I'm sitting, Taz is doing exactly what he was doing when he was in the WWE. He hasn't done anything in TNA that makes me stand up and say "Damn, he was really held back in the WWE". Having a former wrestler as a commentator does add that addition bit of credibility to a commentating team. Taz has the knowledge and the experience and can help a casual fan connect with what's going on.

Don West just got on my nerves for the most part. West did come off as passionate, but man he loved to oversell and overly hype just about everything that was happening. It just got annoying after a while, particularly with that raspy voice of his that made him sound as though he was going to need Oxygen pumped into him through a mask at any given second. Now, Taz is guilty sometimes of overselling what he sees, but not nearly as much as West did.