Block 1:

Taz opens today’s show speaking about last night’s episode of Smackdown Live.

He points out that Michael Cole was the lead commentator due to Tom Phillips being ‘on assignment’. Taz says that’s an old news term, used to explain the absence of a commentator or broadcaster when they had time off. Phillips may have been granted personal leave for family reasons or he may have had other responsibilities with the company that kept him off of last night’s show.

Nonetheless, he thought Cole did a good job as Phillips’ replacement which is no surprise since Cole is a pro. Taz does admit that having the same lead commentator on both shows – even for a short period of time – hurts the integrity of WWE’s brand split, and that’s something they should consider in the future.

Taz liked Jinder Mahal’s promo last night, and he’s intrigued by Mahal’s challenge to Lesnar. When Mahal first issued that challenge Taz was concerned that the announce team were going to undermine Mahal’s ability to defeat Lesnar, but they avoided that thankfully. Taz feels that WWE’s two major Champions should be held in similar regard.