Tazz

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Tazz
Statistics
Ring name(s) Kid Krush
The Tasmanian Devil
The Tazmaniac
Taz
Tazz
Billed height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[1]
Billed weight 240 lb (110 kg/17 st)[1]
Born October 11, 1967 (1967-10-11) (age 40)[2]
Red Hook, Brooklyn, New York
Resides Massapequa, New York
Billed from The Red Hook Section of Brooklyn, New York[1]
Trained by Johnny Rodz[2]
Debut 1987
Retired 2002

Peter Senerchia (born October 11, 1967),[2] is an American retired professional wrestler and current color commentator best known by his ring name Tazz, (originally Tazmaniac and later shortened to simply Taz). He is currently under contract to World Wrestling Entertainment, where he does commentary for the ECW brand.[1]

From his wrestling career he is probably best remembered from his tenure in Extreme Championship Wrestling, where he held the World Heavyweight,[3] Television,[4] and Tag Team championships,[5] as well as (kayfabe) created the FTW Championship.[6] His World Wrestling Entertainment career came to an early halt in 2002 when mounting injuries forced him to retire from in-ring action and take up his current position as commentator, first for the SmackDown! brand, then ECW.[1]

Contents

Career

Senerchia debuted in professional wrestling in Puerto Rico in 1987 after being trained by Johnny Rodz. He wrestled as Kid Krush before moving on to the name Tasmaniac, which he would use variations on for the rest of his career.[2] In the early 1990s, as The Tasmaniac, he wrestled for International World Class Championship Wrestling and held the IWCCW Light Heavyweight Championship for six months in 1991.[7]

Extreme Championship Wrestling

In October 1993, he and Jack Chetti debuted in the Philadelphia-based Eastern Championship Wrestling (ECW)—just prior to its name change to Extreme Championship Wrestling—as the tag team The Tazmaniacs.[8] When that team broke up he was put into one with Kevin Sullivan, with whom he won the ECW Tag Team Championship twice;[5] the Tazmaniac becoming a double champion during their second reign when he also held the ECW Television Championship for one night in March of 1994.[4] For most of the rest of the year he floated around the tag ranks, teaming with different partners. He held the title once more, this time with Sabu, until Sabu was (legitimately) fired by ECW owner Paul Heyman for no showing an event in favor of appearing at another event in Japan.[9]

Tazmanic was put out of action by a (legitimate) injury for much of 1995. During a tag team match 2 Cold Scorpio and Dean Malenko delivered a spike piledriver to him, and though he knew it was coming, he didn't have time to properly protect himself. As he explained on the DVD documentary The Rise and Fall of ECW, "The impact jacked my neck back and that was it." The neck injury was so bad that, according to Tommy Dreamer, hospital staff couldn't believe he'd walked into the hospital where he sought help after the match. Though he was unable to wrestle, Paul Heyman continued to pay him per their oral agreement, forging a loyalty between the men.[10]

When he returned, he did so with a revamped gimmick and used the shortened name Taz. The new character had him clad in a black singlet and exhibiting a more physically intense in-ring style, focusing his offense on suplexes—which announcer Joey Styles called "Tazplexes"—earning him the nickname "Human Suplex Machine". He also debuted his Tazmission finishing maneuver, causing opponents to tap out to signal their submission as in mixed martial arts instead of nodding their head or vocally saying "yes". This quirk was soon picked up by other companies throughout the country.[11] After feuds with 2 Cold Scorpio, Jason, and Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran Paul Varelans, Taz and his former partner Sabu were put into a angle stemming from the firing incident years earlier. The two chased each other throughout 1996 and 1997, including having an altercation on Monday Night Raw, the flagship show of their "competition", during a working agreement between the two companies.[9] The feud was all designed to lead to ECW's first pay-per-view, Barely Legal, where Taz defeated Sabu with his Tazmission,[12] only to have his manager, Bill Alfonso, turn on him and join Sabu and his partner Rob Van Dam.[2] Two months later, at Wrestlepalooza, Taz took the Television Championship from Shane Douglas to begin his second reign,[4] starting a feud with Bam Bam Bigelow over it and eventually losing it to him.

After losing the TV championship, Taz was elevated into the World Heavyweight Championship picture. In May of 1998, with Shane Douglas injured and unable to wrestle, Taz was given an old Television Championship belt painted orange—his trademark color—and began cutting promos declaring himself the FTW Heavyweight Champion of the World. Though the championship was unsanctioned in kayfabe, it was defended at ECW shows until Douglas was healthy,[13] at which time Taz defeated him for the ECW World Heavyweight title.[14] Just before winning the World title, Taz "gave" the FTW title to long time foe Sabu in a match where he physically pulled Sabu on top of him to allow him to get the pin.[6] Taz held the ECW World Championship for nine months before he signed with the World Wrestling Federation, losing the title as the first man eliminated in a three way dance at Anarchy Rulz.[15] As he walked out of the ring, a large portion of the ECW locker room joined him on the entrance ramp to give him an emotional sendoff. After being off of ECW television for most of the fall, he wrestled one final match as an ECW performer at November to Remember, losing to Rob Van Dam via pinfall.[16]

World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment

Wrestling

Taz debuted for the World Wrestling Federation—with the slightly modified ring name Tazz—at the January 2000 Royal Rumble in a win over the previously undefeated Kurt Angle.[17] Just a few months after Tazz arrived in the WWF, Mike Awesome, the man he'd dropped the ECW World Heavyweight Championship to, signed with World Championship Wrestling. Legal wrangling by Paul Heyman prevented Awesome from taking the title belt with him, and in a piece of bizarre wrestling history, ECW and WWF officials agreed to have Tazz, a WWF wrestler, make a surprise appearance at an ECW show to defeat Awesome, a WCW wrestler, for the ECW Championship.[18] Tazz held the belt for ten days before losing it to Tommy Dreamer, during which time he wore it on various WWF shows, including an episode of SmackDown! where he lost to the WWF Champion Triple H[19]—a booking decision Vince McMahon later expressed some regret about.[20]

After losing the ECW title, Tazz was placed into the WWF Intercontinental Championship picture, but never won the title. In the summer, after taking time off for an arm injury, he was turned heel and placed into a feud with color commentator Jerry "the King" Lawler.[21] The feud included matches at SummerSlam[22] and Unforgiven pay-per-views, which they split.[23] Tazz was only able to pick up the Unforgiven win when he received help from a debuting Raven, however, and afterwards the duo formed a tag team that lasted until November.

When the Invasion angle began Tazz acted as "the voice of the WCW/ECW Alliance", sticking up for them and telling their side whenever possible. He eventually left the stable after Stone Cold Steve Austin criticized his decision to stay on commentary rather than help Alliance leader Stephanie McMahon.[24]

Lawler returned to the company on November 19, 2001 and resumed his place as commentator, with Tazz becoming both a wrestler and a commentator.[25] In January he and Spike Dudley won the World Tag Team Championship,[26] holding it for over a month before losing it to Billy and Chuck.[27]

Commentating

His injuries mounting,[28] Tazz began performing part time commentary on Sunday Night Heat in October 2000. He joined the SmackDown! team in February 2001 after Jerry "the King" Lawler quit the company, as well as becoming one of the trainers for the joint WWF/MTV produced reality series Tough Enough.[21]

When World Wrestling Entertainment split into two brands, Tazz was put on SmackDown!, where he again became color commentator.[29] Not long after he retired from the ring, he became a full time broadcaster.[30] He co-hosted SmackDown! for World Wrestling Entertainment until a third brand, ECW, was introduced, at which point he became the color commentator for that show.[1] He is also co-host, with Joey Styles, of History of Extreme Championship Wrestling on WWE 24/7, a show that re-airs archived episodes of the original ECW's weekly television programs. Before and during episodes he and Styles provide insight into the storylines, inner workings, and general ambiance of ECW at the time—as they remember it.

In February of 2006, Tazz and his SmackDown! broadcasting partner, Michael Cole, hosted a week long trial run of a show on Howard 101 on Sirius Satellite Radio, but the show was not picked up. He also hosted a talk show on 92.3 Free FM at sporadic intervals between late summer 2006 and early 2007, but it was not picked up and the station changed formats, replacing all post morning programming with music.

During the recording of the April 29, 2008 episode of ECW, Tazz's broadcast partner Mike Adamle abruptly walked off set prior to the main event. Moments later, after reading the promo for the upcoming pay-per-view, Tazz walked out as well, leaving the main event with no commentators.[31]

In wrestling

  • Nicknames
    • The Human Suplex / Wrecking Machine
    • The One Man Crime Spree
    • The Path of Rage
    • The Most Miserable Man / Son of a Bitch on the Planet

Championships and accomplishments

The custom Taz edition ECW World Heavyweight Championship belt design used during his second reign.
The custom Taz edition ECW World Heavyweight Championship belt design used during his second reign.
^† The ECW Tag Team Championship reigns were prior to the companies withdrawal from the National Wrestling Alliance and subsequent name change. They also occurred before ECW declared the tag team championship a "World" championship.
^‡ Only one of these reigns is recognized by World Wrestling Entertainment.

Personal life

Senerchia currently resides in Massapequa, New York with his wife Theresa Smith and son, Tyler.[38] He is the cousin of wrestler Chris Chetti,[39] whom he helped to train when he was the lead trainer at ECW's House of Hardcore.

Senerchia was trained in Judo and holds a 3rd dan black belt.[8] He attended C.W. Post on Long Island for four years and played on the football team. He started his wrestling career when he was in college.

He has a tattoo of the Looney Tunes Tasmanian Devil on his upper left biceps accompanied by the legend TAZ. His action figure produced by Jakks Pacific does not include the character, but does include the name. He also has a self designed tattoo on his left lower biceps.

References and notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f TV Shows > ECW > Superstars > Tazz > Bio. WWE.com. Retrieved on 2007-07-20.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Tazz bio. SLAM! Sports. Retrieved on 2007-07-20.
  3. ^ a b ECW World Heavyweight Title. Wrestling-Titles. Retrieved on 2007-07-20.
  4. ^ a b c d ECW Television Title. Wrestling-Titles. Retrieved on 2007-07-20.
  5. ^ a b c ECW World Tag Team Title. Wrestling-Titles. Retrieved on 2007-07-20.
  6. ^ a b c Fuck The World title history. Solie's Title Histories. Retrieved on 2007-07-22.
  7. ^ a b ICW/IWCCW Light Heavyweight Title. Wrestling-Titles. Retrieved on 2007-07-21.
  8. ^ a b Tazz profile. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2007-07-21.
  9. ^ a b (2004, November 16). Rise and Fall of ECW, The (Documentary) [DVD]. WWE Home Video.
  10. ^ (2004, November 16). Rise and Fall of ECW, The (Documentary) [DVD]. WWE Home Video.
  11. ^ "12/17/95". History of ECW. WWE 24/7. 2007-08-14.
  12. ^ Barely Legal 1997 results. Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved on 2007-07-22.
  13. ^ Heat Wave 1998 results. Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved on 2007-07-22.
  14. ^ Guilty as Charged 1999 results. Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved on 2007-07-22.
  15. ^ Anarchy Rulz 1999 results. Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved on 2007-07-22.
  16. ^ November to Remember 1999 results. Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved on 2007-07-22.
  17. ^ Royal Rumble 2000 results. Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved on 2007-07-23.
  18. ^ Oliver, Greg. Mike Awesome found dead. Slam! Sports. Retrieved on 2007-07-23.
  19. ^ SmackDown! results - 2000. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2007-07-23. “April 20, 2000[...]WWF World Champion, Triple H, b ECW World Champion, Tazz”
  20. ^ (2004, November 16). Rise and Fall of ECW, The (Documentary) [DVD]. WWE Home Video.
  21. ^ a b Kapur, Bob. Tazz talks: ECW, Tough Enough, WWF. Slam! Wrestling. Retrieved on 2007-07-24.
  22. ^ SummerSlam 2000 results. Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved on 2007-07-24.
  23. ^ Unforgiven 2000 results. Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved on 2007-07-24.
  24. ^ SmackDown! results - November 8, 2001. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2007-07-23.
  25. ^ SmackDown! results - November 22, 2001. Online World of Wresting. Retrieved on 2007-07-24.
  26. ^ Michael McAvennie. "WWE The Yearbook: 2003 Edition", Pocket Books, 2003, pp. 13-16. (English) 
  27. ^ a b WWWF / WWF / WWE World Tag Team Title. Wrestling-Titles. Retrieved on 2007-07-24.
  28. ^ Tazz (January 20, 2008). Tazz shoots again. WWE. Retrieved on 2008-01-11.
  29. ^ SmackDown! results - April 4, 2002. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2007-07-24.
  30. ^ Zerr, Scott. Tuning into Tazzvision. SLAM! Wrestling. Retrieved on 2007-07-24.
  31. ^ Bishop, Matt. ECW: Announcing follies overshadow decent show. SLAM! Sports. Retrieved on 2008-04-30.
  32. ^ "ECW World Champion Taz pinned Shane Douglas at around the 14-minute mark following a Tazmission Plex through a table laid against the corner; Douglas wore a cast on his right arm for the match (ECW House Party 99 - 1/16/99; ECW Arena)" from angelfire.com/wrestling/cawthon777/dvd.htm
  33. ^ a b ECW Music Tracks & Musicians Credit. Slashtones.com. Retrieved on 2007-09-25.
  34. ^ Noted by Joey Styles during the 1997 November to Remember broadcast
  35. ^ WWF Hardcore Title. Wrestling-Titles. Retrieved on 2007-07-25.
  36. ^ Pro Wrestling Illustrated Top 500 - 1999. Wrestling Information Archive. Retrieved on 2007-07-25.
  37. ^ Pro Wrestling Illustrated's Top 500 Wrestlers of the PWI Years. Wrestling Information Archive. Retrieved on 2007-07-25.
  38. ^ Ross, Jim. Lesnar… Buckethead Radio Show… Austin DVD… Super Bowl… Las Vegas… Mamajuana Energy… Rumors… Random Thoughts. JR's blog. JR's Bar B Q. Retrieved on 2008-02-02.
  39. ^ Chris Chetti Bio. Slam! Sports. Retrieved on 2007-11-03.

External links

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Persondata
NAME Senerchia, Peter
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kid Krush, Tazmaniac, Taz, Tazz
SHORT DESCRIPTION Professional wrestler and wrestling color commentator
DATE OF BIRTH October 11, 1967
PLACE OF BIRTH Red Hook, Brooklyn, New York
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH