Taz recently spoke to Sports Illustrated’s Extra Mustard Blog about the return of the WWE brand split, his career as a broadcaster and more. You can check out the full interview here along with some highlights below.
Who will run Raw and SmackDown:
“Stephanie and Shane have a kind of sibling rivalry, so Stephanie will run Smackdown and Shane will run Raw. Stephanie will ask, ‘Why do you get three hours on your brand and I only get two on mine?’ Then Vince can come out and settle the argument between his kids by making it plain and simple–‘Raw and Smackdown will both be two hours.’ When someone asks what happens to that third hour, then boom–you play Triple H’s music and you give NXT to Triple H.”
Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins:
“Roman Reigns has the ability to work, he definitely has the awareness now and popularity. I don’t know if he has the promo skills yet, and he needs to keep working on that, but they’ve put a lot of money behind him–millions–and they can’t give up on him and they won’t. They’ll build around Roman Reigns on one show, and they’re going to build around Seth Rollins. I do not think Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns will be on Raw together or Smackdown together. I would change one of their looks a little bit and some branding around the guys, but those are the two guys they’re going to run with.”
Possibly doing a WWE Network podcast:
“People tell me every week that ‘The Taz Show’ would be great on the WWE Network. They had interest in it and we did have talks with them. The talks didn’t go far, but you have to understand that my bosses [at CBS Radio] are not going to allow my content to be tweaked or tainted with, and the show is not the show with me having a filter. The show is the show because it’s unfiltered. I’m speaking from the heart and giving my true opinion. That doesn’t mean I’m right–I’m just giving my opinion built on three decades of experience in every facet of the wrestling business. My opinion is formed off experience, and I don’t think WWE wants that, at least not to that degree.
I criticize their booking a lot, but I also praise their booking a lot. I sometimes promote their brand better than their announcers do. The WWE Network is an online, video-streaming network, and that is exactly what I am on with CBS. I don’t need to be on WWE’s network. It would be awesome to bring ‘The Taz Show’ there, but I don’t fall in line. I’ve never fell in line, and Vince knows that. I wouldn’t bash their content if I was on their network, but I would critique it. I don’t think they want that, but that’s exactly what their network needs. Someone on their show sometimes takes a shot at the internet hardcore fan, but that’s who is paying for the WWE Network–the internet wrestling fan. So why not give them a real unfiltered show? So it’s one of those things where we talked a couple of times, but it never really took off. Maybe it eventually will.”
