I havnt gone to the WWE site in quite a bit of time, so I decide to check it out, and I find this very sad article, it seems like the greatest wrestler of all time: Tazz, is on the verge of never stepping into the ring again...
Tazz: ‘The butterflies are gone’
by Seth Mates
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - July 23, 2002 - In a recent Ross Report on WWE.com, World Wrestling Entertainment Senior Vice President of Talent Relations Jim Ross mentioned that Tazz's in-ring career was likely over, and that the Red Hook native would be concentrating on the broadcast booth. WWE.com sat down with Tazz to get the lowdown on his future.
WWE.com: Is your in-ring career over?
Tazz: No one has officially told me that I'm done in the ring and I haven't officially told anyone that I want to be done in the ring. But I'm glad you guys want to do this interview with me, because I get people asking me all the time, no matter where I am, "Oh, Tazz, it's not cool, they don't let you wrestle enough, when are you going to get back in the ring?" (Being a commentator) is more or less my choice. I am extremely ecstatic doing what I'm doing. I love being a color commentator. I love being one half of the broadcast team on SmackDown! with Michael Cole. Michael and I are good friends; we have a good relationship and we work really hard at this.
A part of me wishes I could have done more in WWE as an in-ring performer. As most people know, most of my in-ring success came from ECW. It was the greatest six and a half years of my professional life, bar none. The greatest thing that ever happened to me was debuting in WWE against Kurt Angle at Royal Rumble in my hometown at Madison Square Garden. That was phenomenal. And I had a great time in my matches and my in-ring stuff in WWE. But as of late, it hasn't been the same. As J.R. said in the Ross Report, I focus everything towards broadcasting.
Color commentating is what I want to do. It's that simple. And WWE has given me that opportunity, and I'm assuming that they like the job I'm doing; otherwise, I wouldn't be doing it at the level I'm doing it. I'm thankfully that I'm getting that opportunity. I've really been working hard behind the scenes, at the TV studio every single week, spending countless hours in Stamford becoming a better color commentator.
WWE.com: You've always been such an intense in-ring performer. When you first started losing that "butterflies" feeling, what was that like for you? Was it scary? Was it frustrating? Were you weirded out?
Tazz: It weirded me out, that's for sure. That's a great way of putting it. I was fortunate enough that timing was on my side, where I was an announcer also, at the same time I was a wrestler. I always looked at commentating as a good thing to fall back on, as something I could do when I hung up the boots. I didn't expect the boots to be hung up now. I'm 35 years old, 15 years in the ring - I'm tired.
Except for the real hardcore fans, people don't realize that six and a half years at the level I was at in ECW, competing the way we used to compete - it takes a lot out of you physically. My body's busted up. From playing football in high school and college, and judo since I was 9 years old, my body is hurting. Not being one of the bigger guys, I had to work even harder in the ring to get over and get noticed. And my body's feeling that. I'm not a high flier like a Rob Van Dam or a Jeff Hardy, but I was catching those guys when they were flying, the Sabus and the Mikey Whipwrecks and the Rob Van Dams. All the bumps I've taken over the years, it's caught up to me.
As far as the ring, to be quite frank, it's just not the same for me anymore. I don't know what happened; it's just not in my heart like it used to be. I always was proud to go out there and bust my ass for five minutes, 10 minutes, 20 minutes, half an hour, whatever it is. I always was excited to go out and give the people their money's worth, impress my peers, try to impress the public, impress myself and bust my ass in the ring. But the last few matches I had several weeks back on house shows and whatnot, it just wasn't the same. I didn't have that same feeling.
I always told myself when I started wrestling that when the time comes that I don't have those butterflies floating around in my stomach before my music hits, it's time to hang it up. And that's what started to happen. The butterflies disappeared. In my opinion, this job as a sports-entertainer or professional wrestler -whatever you want to call it - you can't do it without having passion. And my passion for being in the ring - I hate to say it - is nil. It's disappeared. Why, I don't know. It just happened. I'm wrestling 15 years, I've had a great in-ring career.
It scared me a little bit too, not having that passion. And I let the front office know -- that it's just not the same, and I'd like to put all my focus towards announcing. Believe it or not, they talked to me, 'Oh, are you sure?' - it seemed like they wanted me to stick with the in-ring and also announcing. And I did that for a while.
This whole thing has been going on for a while. People don't realize that. I just feel like I'm short-changing the fans and that I'm short-changing myself, my opponent and my boss if I can't go out and have that same passion. I never dogged it. The night that Spike Dudley and I won the Tag Team Titles from the Dudley Boyz in Madison Square Garden (on the Jan. 7, 2002, episode of RAW), I was excited, but it wasn't like it should have been. It was not like it should have been for me.
Winning the Tag Team Titles with Spike at Madison Square Garden against the Dudley Boyz was a great privilege, and I appreciated it to the lengths that no one can imagine. But I would have rather been announcing the Tag Title Match. It's important to me for the people to know and the front office to know that I did appreciate everything that was done for me as an in-ring talent, from my opponents to my fans to the guy that signs my paycheck, Vince McMahon. I appreciate everything that I've gotten.
I'm a professional, and I have pride in what I do. On TV, you couldn't tell, but it just wasn't in my stomach, it wasn't in my heart. I was extremely fortunate to get that opportunity from WWE for Spike and I to defeat a team like the Dudley Boyz - the greatest tag team ever in my opinion. And other guys would have jumped for the opportunity to take those titles, especially from the Dudleys in the Garden on TV.
I didn't dog it, I always busted my ass, but it just wasn't the same to me, and that's when I knew it. If I'm getting this chance, to be Tag Team Champions, to beat guys like Bubba Ray and D-Von, and to have them be businessmen with me and Spike - Bubba and I are very good friends, and we talk a lot. As a good friend, he tried to pull it out of me. But it just wasn't the same for me. And if that can't pop it out of you, nothing's going to. And that's what happened.
WWE.com: So you come to this realization, but it doesn't seem like the kind of thing where you can just go to Vince McMahon or J.R. and say, "I don't want to be in the ring anymore." This must have been very tough for you to come forward with.
Tazz: Oh, extremely tough. This wasn't one of those things where I said, "Well, I'm not happy with what they're doing with me creatively." It was nothing like that at all; I was cool with all that. Anything that comes my way creatively whether I like it or not, you make the best of it. You try to make chicken salad out of chicken s***, and I learned that from Paul Heyman. But it wasn't one of those deals. It was just one where it wasn't there anymore. And I hate when people ask, "When are you gonna wrestle? Why don't they let you wrestle?" I don't have anything against the fans that ask me that question; I just want people to know how I feel. And hopefully the Internet fans now reading this will know how I feel about it. And I hope that just as the Internet fans have supported me all the years I've been wrestling, that I get that same support as a color commentator.
I get great enjoyment out of sitting there and calling the action, and I'd be lying if I didn't say that sometimes when I'm sitting there and I hear a guy get a great pop or hit a great move - especially a suplex - I get instant memories and I miss that. But not as much as I should miss it. I could not be happier right now where I am in my professional life, and I mean that from the bottom of my heart.
WWE.com: Has Tazz had his last match?
Tazz: I think physically, I have a few more matches in me. Mentally, I don't think I have any in me. Emotionally, I don't think I have any in me. Physically, I can. I train and stay in shape. I'm not in ring shape; I haven't worked in a while, taking bumps and stuff. I haven't worked in a while.
It's a tough question. Have I had my last match? That's so final. I'm over here talking to you, telling you I don't want to do it, and even if they came to me and said they had this great idea that would make me into a mega-star, I probably wouldn't do it. Unless they really wanted me to, of course - this is my job and I get paid to do my job. But I'm happy right now. I would rather just be doing what I'm doing. Let's put it this way - if I never put my boots on again, it will be fine with me. That's the best way I can answer that.
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Oh well the "Butterflies" are gone but the memories will still be around
and with comments like "No one has officially told me that I'm done in the ring and I haven't officially told anyone that I want to be done in the ring." maybe one day Tazz will gain the desire once more to step into the ring and become what we all know he can be, the best damn champion pro wrestling has ever seen....
Tazz: ‘The butterflies are gone’
by Seth Mates
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - July 23, 2002 - In a recent Ross Report on WWE.com, World Wrestling Entertainment Senior Vice President of Talent Relations Jim Ross mentioned that Tazz's in-ring career was likely over, and that the Red Hook native would be concentrating on the broadcast booth. WWE.com sat down with Tazz to get the lowdown on his future.
WWE.com: Is your in-ring career over?
Tazz: No one has officially told me that I'm done in the ring and I haven't officially told anyone that I want to be done in the ring. But I'm glad you guys want to do this interview with me, because I get people asking me all the time, no matter where I am, "Oh, Tazz, it's not cool, they don't let you wrestle enough, when are you going to get back in the ring?" (Being a commentator) is more or less my choice. I am extremely ecstatic doing what I'm doing. I love being a color commentator. I love being one half of the broadcast team on SmackDown! with Michael Cole. Michael and I are good friends; we have a good relationship and we work really hard at this.
A part of me wishes I could have done more in WWE as an in-ring performer. As most people know, most of my in-ring success came from ECW. It was the greatest six and a half years of my professional life, bar none. The greatest thing that ever happened to me was debuting in WWE against Kurt Angle at Royal Rumble in my hometown at Madison Square Garden. That was phenomenal. And I had a great time in my matches and my in-ring stuff in WWE. But as of late, it hasn't been the same. As J.R. said in the Ross Report, I focus everything towards broadcasting.
Color commentating is what I want to do. It's that simple. And WWE has given me that opportunity, and I'm assuming that they like the job I'm doing; otherwise, I wouldn't be doing it at the level I'm doing it. I'm thankfully that I'm getting that opportunity. I've really been working hard behind the scenes, at the TV studio every single week, spending countless hours in Stamford becoming a better color commentator.
WWE.com: You've always been such an intense in-ring performer. When you first started losing that "butterflies" feeling, what was that like for you? Was it scary? Was it frustrating? Were you weirded out?
Tazz: It weirded me out, that's for sure. That's a great way of putting it. I was fortunate enough that timing was on my side, where I was an announcer also, at the same time I was a wrestler. I always looked at commentating as a good thing to fall back on, as something I could do when I hung up the boots. I didn't expect the boots to be hung up now. I'm 35 years old, 15 years in the ring - I'm tired.
Except for the real hardcore fans, people don't realize that six and a half years at the level I was at in ECW, competing the way we used to compete - it takes a lot out of you physically. My body's busted up. From playing football in high school and college, and judo since I was 9 years old, my body is hurting. Not being one of the bigger guys, I had to work even harder in the ring to get over and get noticed. And my body's feeling that. I'm not a high flier like a Rob Van Dam or a Jeff Hardy, but I was catching those guys when they were flying, the Sabus and the Mikey Whipwrecks and the Rob Van Dams. All the bumps I've taken over the years, it's caught up to me.
As far as the ring, to be quite frank, it's just not the same for me anymore. I don't know what happened; it's just not in my heart like it used to be. I always was proud to go out there and bust my ass for five minutes, 10 minutes, 20 minutes, half an hour, whatever it is. I always was excited to go out and give the people their money's worth, impress my peers, try to impress the public, impress myself and bust my ass in the ring. But the last few matches I had several weeks back on house shows and whatnot, it just wasn't the same. I didn't have that same feeling.
I always told myself when I started wrestling that when the time comes that I don't have those butterflies floating around in my stomach before my music hits, it's time to hang it up. And that's what started to happen. The butterflies disappeared. In my opinion, this job as a sports-entertainer or professional wrestler -whatever you want to call it - you can't do it without having passion. And my passion for being in the ring - I hate to say it - is nil. It's disappeared. Why, I don't know. It just happened. I'm wrestling 15 years, I've had a great in-ring career.
It scared me a little bit too, not having that passion. And I let the front office know -- that it's just not the same, and I'd like to put all my focus towards announcing. Believe it or not, they talked to me, 'Oh, are you sure?' - it seemed like they wanted me to stick with the in-ring and also announcing. And I did that for a while.
This whole thing has been going on for a while. People don't realize that. I just feel like I'm short-changing the fans and that I'm short-changing myself, my opponent and my boss if I can't go out and have that same passion. I never dogged it. The night that Spike Dudley and I won the Tag Team Titles from the Dudley Boyz in Madison Square Garden (on the Jan. 7, 2002, episode of RAW), I was excited, but it wasn't like it should have been. It was not like it should have been for me.
Winning the Tag Team Titles with Spike at Madison Square Garden against the Dudley Boyz was a great privilege, and I appreciated it to the lengths that no one can imagine. But I would have rather been announcing the Tag Title Match. It's important to me for the people to know and the front office to know that I did appreciate everything that was done for me as an in-ring talent, from my opponents to my fans to the guy that signs my paycheck, Vince McMahon. I appreciate everything that I've gotten.
I'm a professional, and I have pride in what I do. On TV, you couldn't tell, but it just wasn't in my stomach, it wasn't in my heart. I was extremely fortunate to get that opportunity from WWE for Spike and I to defeat a team like the Dudley Boyz - the greatest tag team ever in my opinion. And other guys would have jumped for the opportunity to take those titles, especially from the Dudleys in the Garden on TV.
I didn't dog it, I always busted my ass, but it just wasn't the same to me, and that's when I knew it. If I'm getting this chance, to be Tag Team Champions, to beat guys like Bubba Ray and D-Von, and to have them be businessmen with me and Spike - Bubba and I are very good friends, and we talk a lot. As a good friend, he tried to pull it out of me. But it just wasn't the same for me. And if that can't pop it out of you, nothing's going to. And that's what happened.
WWE.com: So you come to this realization, but it doesn't seem like the kind of thing where you can just go to Vince McMahon or J.R. and say, "I don't want to be in the ring anymore." This must have been very tough for you to come forward with.
Tazz: Oh, extremely tough. This wasn't one of those things where I said, "Well, I'm not happy with what they're doing with me creatively." It was nothing like that at all; I was cool with all that. Anything that comes my way creatively whether I like it or not, you make the best of it. You try to make chicken salad out of chicken s***, and I learned that from Paul Heyman. But it wasn't one of those deals. It was just one where it wasn't there anymore. And I hate when people ask, "When are you gonna wrestle? Why don't they let you wrestle?" I don't have anything against the fans that ask me that question; I just want people to know how I feel. And hopefully the Internet fans now reading this will know how I feel about it. And I hope that just as the Internet fans have supported me all the years I've been wrestling, that I get that same support as a color commentator.
I get great enjoyment out of sitting there and calling the action, and I'd be lying if I didn't say that sometimes when I'm sitting there and I hear a guy get a great pop or hit a great move - especially a suplex - I get instant memories and I miss that. But not as much as I should miss it. I could not be happier right now where I am in my professional life, and I mean that from the bottom of my heart.
WWE.com: Has Tazz had his last match?
Tazz: I think physically, I have a few more matches in me. Mentally, I don't think I have any in me. Emotionally, I don't think I have any in me. Physically, I can. I train and stay in shape. I'm not in ring shape; I haven't worked in a while, taking bumps and stuff. I haven't worked in a while.
It's a tough question. Have I had my last match? That's so final. I'm over here talking to you, telling you I don't want to do it, and even if they came to me and said they had this great idea that would make me into a mega-star, I probably wouldn't do it. Unless they really wanted me to, of course - this is my job and I get paid to do my job. But I'm happy right now. I would rather just be doing what I'm doing. Let's put it this way - if I never put my boots on again, it will be fine with me. That's the best way I can answer that.
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Oh well the "Butterflies" are gone but the memories will still be around
