The Taz Show Recap – Calling Live Matches Vs. Taped, Asuka Needs A Challenge, Does Lana Deserve A Title Shot? More!

Blocks 1 & 2:

A listener calls into the show and presents an idea he has for the Mae Young Classic. He says that Asuka has been complaining about a lack of competition in NXT as of late, so perhaps she should be entered into the upcoming women’s tournament where she’d have to defend her NXT Women’s Title in every match.

Taz says thats a cool, unique idea, but WWE wouldn’t really be able to explain giving out multiple Title opportunities to women who didn’t earn it. Taz admits that WWE just did this by giving Lana a Title opportunity against Naomi at Money in the Bank, so perhaps they don’t worry about those types of details as much as we’d think.

Another listener calls into the show and asks Taz what your main goal should be as a colour commentator for a wrestling company. Taz says that first and foremost, you should never worry about getting yourself over. Your talking points should always focus on the story that the talents are telling in the ring, and your goal is to do everything you can to get those talents over with the audience.

Taz points out that a lot of commentators seem interested in getting themselves over more than the talents in the ring, and that should never be the case. He adds that colour commentators such as JBL or Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler can get away with that to a degree because they both had lengthy, successful in-ring careers before transitioning to the announce booth.

The Taz Show Recap – Smackdown Analysis, Jinder Taking Bumps, Lack of Babyface Champions, More!

Block 1:

Taz opens today’s show speaking about last night’s episode of Smackdown Live.

The first thing that stuck out to Taz on last night’s show was that Jinder Mahal came off like a complete star. He’s very glad that Mahal is Champion because this guy has extreme heat, and his poise, stature and ‘It factor’ all make him look like a legitimate Champion.

However, Taz couldn’t believe the way WWE booked Mahal’s match against Mojo Rawley last night. After Mahal’s amazing entrance, the bell rang and Mahal took a plethora of bumps right away. This killed Mahal’s heat in Taz’s opinion, and he says he would have booked the match completely different.

He says that Mahal should have gotten some heat on Rawley right away, and then later in the match Rawley could have had his comeback where Mahal could bump a little bit. Taz isn’t saying that Mahal should never bump, but he certainly shouldn’t be bumping out of the ring multiple times right at the start of the match.

Taz believes that Mahal should not be a ‘chicken’ heel. He needs to be more of a bad ass, killer heel because he’s a very intimidating man. From his height to his physique, from his entrance music to his ring gear, Mahal has everything going for him right now, and he should not be bumping all around the ring for Mojo Rawley.

The Taz Show Recap – Smackdown Analysis, In-Ring Psychology, Nia Jax Lashes Out, More!

Block 1:

Taz says that he enjoyed the different open to Smackdown Live last night. All five women who are competing in the Money in the Bank Ladder match next month cut promos in an old school ‘cold open’. He believes that from time to time, it’s a good idea for WWE to open their shows in different ways like this in order to keep fans guessing.

The only thing Taz didn’t like about these promos is that they all felt very scripted to him. He understands that each of these promos were very short, and it would have been tough for these women to ad lib promos that short.

He also says that by opening the show like this, WWE made their Smackdown Live Women’s Championship feel very important. Later in the show these five women went all out in a crazy brawl before Shane McMahon came to the ring and announced the first ever Women’s Money in the Bank ladder match. Taz thinks this is a great idea, and he’s looking forward to watching this match.

The Taz Show Recap – Smackdown Analysis, Mahal’s Celebration, Ed Nordholm Goes Rogue, More!

Block 1:

Taz opens today’s show speaking about last night’s episode of Smackdown Live.

He says that he liked last night’s show, but he has a few criticisms as well. He says that Nakamura should have came out to the ring first in the opening segment of the night. Having Nakamura do his full entrance while all the other performers were standing in the ring felt incredibly long and awkward to Taz.

He understands that WWE wanted Nakamura to come out last because they’re building him as the biggest star. However, having him come out last put heels like Kevin Owens and Dolph Ziggler in a bad situation, because Taz expected those guys to just attack Nakamura while he was finishing his entrance in the middle of the ring.

Taz also points out that it was strange for Shane McMahon (a babyface authority figure) to give Kevin Owens (a heel) his way, after Owens complained about not being an entrant in the Money in the Bank ladder match. If Shane was a heel authority figure that would have made sense, but heels are supposed to complain, and it’s strange when babyfaces succumb to heel demands.

Taz says A.J. Styles should win the Money in the Bank ladder match in his opinion, because Styles is a top babyface who can surprise the Champion at any moment and have a terrific match. Styles is also good on the mic and can back up his briefcase win with believable promos.

The Taz Show Recap – Backlash Analysis, Don’t Hinder Jinder, Difference Between 205Live & UK Wrestlers, More!

Block 1:

Taz opens today’s show speaking about the online fan criticism directed at Jinder Mahal after he captured the WWE Championship at Backlash last night. A lot of fans seem to be angry at Mahal’s meteoric rise to the top of the WWE roster, along with claiming that he must be taking steroids to have a body like he does.

Taz points out that steroids don’t make you a better professional wrestler, and he says PED use means nothing to him in professional sports. He’s not suggesting that people start using PEDs, but he couldn’t care less if people do choose to use them at a professional level.

He says that he doesn’t know Jinder Mahal at all, but he’ll defend any wrestler who has paid his/her dues over the years, and Mahal has certainly done that. After dealing with a plethora of terrible gimmicks and then eventually getting released, Mahal worked his ass off and made it all the way back to the top and he deserves a lot of credit for that.

As far as fans’ criticisms that Mahal came out of nowhere to win this Title, Taz says that’s not the case at all. Mahal has been wrestling for many years, starting in Canada before getting signed by WWE initially many years ago. He was released from WWE in 2014 and worked around the world at indie events before being resigned by WWE. His hard work paid off, and this win certainly didn’t out of nowhere.

The Taz Show Recap – Backlash Predictions, New Champion Will Be Crowned, How Would Taz Get Heat as A Heel Today? More!

Block 1:

A listener calls into the show asking Taz how he’d get heat from fans if he was still wrestling as a heel today. Taz says that first and foremost, it all depends on the type of push he’s receiving. His approach as a heel all depends on whether he is getting pushed as as ‘killer’ heel, a ‘comedic’ heel or a ‘cowardly’ heel. Braun Strowman gets heat in a far different way than someone like The Miz.

The listener also asks Taz if he thinks it’s a good idea as a performer to get some intentional heat backstage, as a way to show your confidence and move up the roster’s depth chart. Taz says that you’ll never see a new talent come into the locker room like a hotshot because quite frankly that would be career suicide. Some veterans can give their opinions and that may result in some heat with another talent, but it’s never intentional.

Tye Dillinger vs. Aiden English – Tye Dillinger
* Taz doesn’t see Dillinger losing this match. The NXT call-up is still getting established on the main roster, and Taz would be very shocked if English picked up the win here.

Luke Harper vs. Erick Rowan – Erick Rowan
* Taz thinks WWE is going to get behind Rowan for a push. He points out that Harper was the recipient of a small push for a period of time, but that has apparently slowed down. Taz isn’t sure why WWE gave up on Harper, because he thinks with a few changes to Harper’s look, he could be a gamer.

The Taz Show Recap – Camera Work in Wrestling, Were Orton’s Tweets A Work? Which NXT Star Impressed Taz? More!

Block 1:

A listener calls into the show and asks Taz about the importance of camera work in professional wrestling programming. Taz says that the camera work is vitally important to producing quality wrestling programming. WWE’s ‘shaky’ camera style was inspired by ECW’s camera work in Taz’s opinion. Paul Heyman originally got the idea to implement this type of camera work from watching ‘Cops’.

WWE is too heavy with the camera shaking at some points in Taz’s opinion, and he points out that Lucha Underground has their camera work down to a science. He believes that this is a result of Lucha Underground’s camera men working a ‘Hollywood’ style of filming, where they film the backstage segments as if it was a movie.

Taz says that sometimes fans complain about the long backstage promos in WWE, but you rarely hear criticisms of Lucha Underground’s backstage promos. Taz says that fans only complain about long promos when they’re poorly done. Ric Flair and Dusty Rhodes cut awfully long promos but they were terrific so they didn’t feel long.