Victator Posted September 1, 2014 Posted September 1, 2014 Taz is one of the best Heyman Creations, along with The Public Enemy in that he fooled folks into thinking they were something special when they were really just average, at best, once they went from performing in front of die-hard smarks in 1,000 seat arenas to 25,000 seat PPV crowds w/ a ton more type of fans. That is not really true though. If Heyman could create acts as over as Taz at will, ECW would still be alive. Plus he was over in the WWF where he was far from protected. 1
Patrick B. Posted September 1, 2014 Posted September 1, 2014 St. Louis-area indy wrestling for September:-Saturday 9/6: Dynamo Pro Wrestling in Fenton, MO(Bobby Eaton appearing)-Saturday 9/13: MMWA in St. Louis-Saturday 9/20: SICW in East Carondelet, IL(Koko B. Ware appearing)-Saturday 9/27: SICW in Fairmont City, IL; MMWA in Herculaneum, MO; WLW in Troy, MO
mattdangerously Posted September 1, 2014 Posted September 1, 2014 That is not really true though. If Heyman could create acts as over as Taz at will, ECW would still be alive. Not exactly, because at the end of the day, Heyman was still a pretty awful businessman.
jaedmc Posted September 1, 2014 Posted September 1, 2014 I'll tell you what is true, Taz was fucking awesome. And I don't give a shit what Heyman sold him as, or how short he was, I'll watch him fuck Bam Bam Bigelow up all day. 20
JRGoldman Posted September 1, 2014 Posted September 1, 2014 I'm not sure we are giving Taz enough credit these days. Sure, we can look back and see he wasn't exactly what he was billed as, but I don't think we can say it was all Heyman like we can with some other guys. Sure, Heyman played to his strengths, but when your strength is coming across like the baddest dude on the planet, it's not as if Heyman had to be a wizard. Taz spoke to that generation of fans the same way DX did. He was a talented performer, who was a better fit in one company than another. I always felt like he was in line to get a pretty big push before tearing his bicep as well, just a matter of some unfortunate timing. As for the discussion on the WWE not playing to performers' strengths anymore, I think that was a major fault of guys coming up through the newer developmental systems. When you have guys who have learned a craft almost exclusively through OVW or what have you, they will inevitably get pushed or selected based on look and a checklist of qualities that the WWE looks for. When a performer has made it to the main roster in recent years, they have done so having only played one character and having worked one way for their entire careers. This leads to a writing staff being thrust a performers whose strengths and weaknesses they only have a vague idea about. Heck, I think a lot of wrestlers from this time period only have a vague idea of what they bring. Perhaps with NXT as it's own entity, we will see performers be able to explore and know themselves in a more significant way. 2
BurningBeard Posted September 1, 2014 Posted September 1, 2014 Jesus, what's with these weirdos stuck on Taz's height and the fact he wasn't 'legit'? Pro wrestling is about conveying an image and Taz did that perfectly, his promos were perfect for the time and his matches were always entertaining. Do you remember when he brought the Steiners in as backup for a one shot once? That was awesome Sometimes I think wrestling fans buy into the big-man fetish much more than Vince McMahon 5
mattdangerously Posted September 1, 2014 Posted September 1, 2014 All of Heyman's smoke and mirrors wouldn't mean shit if Taz didn't have the presence and aura to back it up. Remember all those times the WWE portrayed Miz as a badass?
cool arrow Posted September 1, 2014 Posted September 1, 2014 Part of the problem was that Taz was dropping guys on their heads in ECW, which wasn't going to happen in the WWF.
J.H. Posted September 1, 2014 Posted September 1, 2014 That's the thing about Taz to me, in retrospect he could really only get over in a smaller fed on the East Coast. His appeal wouldn't have played in, say, SMW or Memphis James 2
Hooks Posted September 1, 2014 Posted September 1, 2014 Punk losing his mind on Twitter as his wedding picture was stolen from AJ's Instagram. Would post the now deleted tweets but I'm on mobile. Gist of it was..."if you post this picture you're blocked. It's in place of me punching your fucking face. Pigs." I'm not sure I understand. AJ posted a picture on her Instagram.......someone else reposted it.......and that's considered "stolen" how? Maybe I'm missing something.
Bustronaut Posted September 1, 2014 Posted September 1, 2014 I was confused by that too. Maybe there's private pictures? #WeAreOld 1
SirSmUgly Posted September 1, 2014 Posted September 1, 2014 That's an interesting question: how much of Taz' believability as a badass was just Heyman being really, really adept at protecting guys and playing to their strengths? More important question: why doesn't the WWE protect guys and play to their strengths? That's the thing I don't get either. It seems they go out of their way to make guys look like idiots. I remember when they put The Hart Dynasty on commentary and it was cringe worthy. On the one hand, yes, The HD should learn to talk better and sell themselves better but on the other hand, they clearly weren't ready for that sort of thing and were awful talkers, so why even put them in that position in the first place? Why not give them a manager or a valet? Thing is, Tyson Kidd is back in NXT and week by week has become better on the mic. He's not amazing, but he's good at portraying his character and would be fine in that spot on commentary now. What WWE needs to do is not pull guys up to the main show so quickly where they are going to get lost in the fray anyway; some of these guys get killed right off the bat by being put into situations that they need more practice in.
steve Posted September 1, 2014 Posted September 1, 2014 Maybe he's mad because he doesn't want people to see him actually looking happy. 1
Dre013 Posted September 1, 2014 Posted September 1, 2014 I was confused by that too. Maybe there's private pictures? #WeAreOld Yes, they were supposedly in her "private" Instagram, which is only accessible by friends (invites). At least they weren't of the Jennifer Lawrence variety.
Stevie Ray Von Erich Posted September 1, 2014 Posted September 1, 2014 The Taz and Rhino discussion made me pull up some Rhino promos, and he's really good at yelling and cussing. Like, I fully believe he wants to hurt people. That's all I want in my pro wrestling. Especially in an ECW setting where the matches were going to be more violent anyway, a gimmick like that really works. It also made me pull up some New Jack promos, and he really is one of the most underrated promos ever. I think we were discussing as much a few months ago, but he's awesome. 2
The Comedian Posted September 1, 2014 Posted September 1, 2014 Shit man, every time we discuss promos here I'm all in on the notion that New Jack is one of the greatest ever on the mic... 2
Web Conn Posted September 1, 2014 Posted September 1, 2014 New Jack is batshit crazy but in the relm of ECW and Pro Wrestling it worked. What happened to Jack and Sandman was and alot of others once they went out on their own and didnt have Paul or others to reign them in they went completely out of control and the drugs didnt help either.
The Comedian Posted September 1, 2014 Posted September 1, 2014 The promo New Jack cut on the Eliminators before the Gangstaz beat them for the tag titles and the promo he cut on the Dudleys after they hurt Mustafa are two of the best "deathly serious" promos I've ever seen... 1
Stevie Ray Von Erich Posted September 1, 2014 Posted September 1, 2014 I don't know. I feel like Hak could have gotten over in WCW if he was given something other than "hardcore guy." Sandman wasn't going to set the world on fire or anything, but he was in great shape and could have been a nice DDP-like midcard everyman face.
Sammo~! Posted September 1, 2014 Posted September 1, 2014 Whenever New Jack spoke, I legitimately thought he was going to murder whoever he was cutting a promo on. And I'm pretty sure New Jack thought so too, which is why it worked. 5
cool arrow Posted September 1, 2014 Posted September 1, 2014 Incidentally, I've always wondered this but I've never been able to find the answer. How did Sandman ever get the nickname "Hak?"
Matt D Posted September 1, 2014 Posted September 1, 2014 That's the thing about Taz to me, in retrospect he could really only get over in a smaller fed on the East Coast. His appeal wouldn't have played in, say, SMW or Memphis James Could you imagine the Taz/Bill Dundee feud?
Curt McGirt Posted September 1, 2014 Posted September 1, 2014 Because he was a carpenter is what I always thought. That only halfway makes sense though.
Web Conn Posted September 1, 2014 Posted September 1, 2014 I've always heard it was a childhood nickname and what he is called outside of wrestling other than "Jim".
Casey Posted September 1, 2014 Posted September 1, 2014 Sandman is actually really nice, and is like a big teddy bear. Thus, "Hugs and Kisses". Hak. 7
Recommended Posts