TNA color commentator Taz appeared on the Busted Open Sirius XM satelitte radio recently to talk about his time in ECW, thoughts on the CM Punk situation and his current run with TNA. Here are some excerpts from the interview:
If TNA is on the upward swing in 2014 after a disappointing 2013:
“I think I can speak on behalf of most of the guys in the company, the roster, the creative team, production–I mean, I’m sure they all– it’s nice hearing someone say that probably. Look, you guys know TNA has been the whipping boy in the industry online for a couple of years now. I mean god, I’ve been here now five years and I’ve heard from where I came in, “you’re going out of business, the place is going out of business, yadda yadda.” Ok yeah. Enough with that. They’re not going out of business. As long as you have a TV contract, you’re not going out of business. As long as you have a niche audience that you have with over a million people 52 weeks a year with original programming on world wide TV; you’re not going out of business. That’s for all you smart marks because you think you know everything and you really don’t. So that’s number one. Number two; I agree there was some–it was a rougher year maybe? You’re right, I kind of agree with you. Look, you have down times, you have up times. I mean that’s–same with WWE. Same, I’m sure with ROH.I remember when I was with ECW, it was the same with us. Everybody thinks that everything we did in ECW was the cat’s meow. And everything Paul (Heyman) touched was gold. No it wasn’t. Paul would be the first one to tell you not everything worked. For all of us. The wrestlers back then and the current wrestlers now. Listen, fans need to realize that our industry is the most unique because there is no down time. There is no off season. So you hear wrestlers or promoters or whomever in interviews say that a lot what I just said. There’s no off season like the NFL or the NBA or Major League Baseball, NHL. True, right? But put it in perspective and really think about that. There’s no off season. Therefore, these creative teams in TNA or WWE or wherever that get bashed and ripped by hardcore wrestling fans. Which are the fans that–believe me when I tell you behind the scenes we all truly love cause we know no matter what, through thick and thin, they’ll always be there. The thing is man it’s not an easy task to write 52 weeks of TV and stay fresh. With the most–an audience that is so fickle and that expects so much more and to top yourself every week. That’s an extremely, extremely ambitious thing to do. I’m telling you, I’ve been in creative meetings with the WWE. I’ve been in meetings with TNA and I’m not on the creative team but I’ve been part of giving input at times.–Guys, there’s so much more involved with it then you’ll ever, ever, ever, ever know. And how difficult it truly is. So to understand, I don’t want to speak for WWE but I think the industry as a whole that’s doing TV every week could understand that it’s a deal where–you gotta try to keep it fresh, keep it hot, keep doing stuff that keeps people talking. Keep your talent over. Get the guys and gals over that you’re trying to get over and hopefully they click and connect with the audience. You gotta do that every week! So you know there are times where TNA–yeah. We might have some shows that are horrible but then there might be some shows that are great. I can tell you those shows that were horrible; the intentions were for those shows to be great. Okay, so it’s like a baseball player. He gets to the box. He gets up to the plate. His intention is to make contact and get on base. His intention isn’t to hit a foul ball or foul out or strike out or hit a pop up. He wants to get on base. Okay. Same with us. We want every show to be a homerun. Every show. That’s the goal. That don’t always work. Look, I just wanted people to understand that that’s kind of the ebb and flow, the ups and downs of the industry.”
On The Great Muta coming to Lockdown:
“I think that’s awesome. I mean, geez. Who doesn’t have mad respect for The Great Muta? Great Muta is just the bomb. I mean just a legend. Iconic figure in our industry worldwide. I mean no doubt about it. So I think that’s awesome. Very excited. I have not seen Muta in years. Looking forward to seeing him again. Last time I saw him it was in Tokyo, many years ago when I was wrestling there. But I’m looking forward to seeing him.
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Source: PWInsider.com