During a recent episode of Grilling JR, Jim Ross spoke on why Taz fell out of favor with Vince McMahon. Here’s what he had to say:
Vince trusted my judgment, but then he got unconvinced. I don’t know if it was after meeting Taz or what. I have no idea. But the bottom line is, he fell out of favor. A lot of the people he could’ve drawn money working with believed that them selling a guy that was 5-8 didn’t make any sense and people would not believe it, even though Taz could probably whip their ass in a real shoot. But we weren’t shooting, we were working. I think that’s where that was. Nobody could have had a better debut at Madison Square Garden – a guy from Red Hook, Brooklyn, all that shit – than Taz got. And he beat Kurt Angle by submission. He choked his ass out.
People thought his suplexes were dangerous and all this other stuff. So, a lot of the talents went back to Vince and said, ‘I don’t want to work with this guy. Too dangerous.’ They didn’t tell me that, but they told Vince that. He heard it enough, and Vince saw that a lot of the top talents were uncomfortable to step in the ring with Taz. He finally took it to heart. Taz got hurt and tore his bicep or tricep, and I think Bruce [Prichard] and I were talking to him after that show. He was very worried about getting cut because he had to have surgery. I just think enough of the top talents convinced Vince that Taz was not a good hire and was limited on what he could do and that his suplexes were dangerous. So, he fell out of favor and eventually became a broadcaster.
You can listen HERE.
Credit: Grilling JR. H/T 411Mania.