In addition, Taz thinks it’s essential that colour commentators have history working in the business. He feels that in-ring experience allows colour commentators to talk about each situation in the ring with credibility, much like how ex-football players make great colour commentators for football games.
Jericho asks Taz how he started working as a colour commentator in WWE. Taz recalls working an angle with Jerry Lawler and Jim Ross in the early 2000s. He was thrown on commentary with Michael Cole one night and Lawler was supposed to come out and attack Taz after he called one match. After that match ended, nothing happened. Taz and Cole didn’t know what to do so they just called the next few matches.
Finally Lawler came out and attacked him, and he eventually made his way backstage. McMahon met him backstage and said, “You’re very good at this”. He wasn’t sure what McMahon was even talking about because he didn’t realize he was auditioning to be a commentator, but compliments from McMahon are few and far between, so he thanked McMahon and walked away. A few weeks later he received a call from Kevin Dunn, asking Taz to fill Jerry Lawler’s role on an overseas PPV. He was very nervous but challenged himself to make it work, and that’s what he did.
He admits that McMahon would over-produce the commentators from time to time, but he learned a trick from another commentator that helped him. Sometimes when McMahon would scream something in his ear he’d purposely ignore it. McMahon would get angrier and angrier but Taz would continue to ignore him. Once they’d go to commercial Kevin Dunn would ask him why he didn’t say what McMahon asked and Taz would say that there must be audio issues because he didn’t hear McMahon in his ear at all.
