Block 1:

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

He thought the Women’s Battle Royal was very good, and he also really enjoyed the match between Almas and Roderick Strong. He admits that he ‘popped’ from excitement while watching at home when Almas’ valet, Zelina Vega hit Strong with a hurricanrana on the outside of the ring. That spot was completely unexpected, it looked fantastic, and it rightfully garnered a huge reaction from the live audience.

Taz also liked the Undisputed Era coming out at the end of the match and presenting Roderick Strong with an opportunity to join their faction. He really thought it was smart of NXT to send Adam Cole out without a microphone, allowing the camera audio in the ring to pick up Cole’s voice. This made the segment feel more real in his opinion, and he thinks we should see more of this in wrestling.

A listener calls into the show and asks Taz if he thinks Almas can be the huge hispanic star that WWE appears to be searching for. Taz thinks that Almas definitely can be that guy because he has a great look and his work in the ring speaks for itself. For a long time Taz thought something was missing from Almas’ character, but Zelina Vega appears to have been that missing piece because they are the complete package right now.

Block 2:

The listener then points out that NXT has failed to crown any homegrown talents as Champion yet, with talents continuing to come into NXT from outside of the company and entering right into the main event picture. The caller asks Taz if there’s any apparent reason for this.

Taz says NXT’s Lars Sullivan is an example of a great homegrown talent who will certainly have an opportunity at the NXT Title down the line. The thing about homegrown talents is that they’re often starting from scratch and it takes a while to get to a main event level, where as guys like Kevin Owens, Nakamura, Bobby Roode and others have been professionals for years.

This is why these guys step right into the main event picture and ultimately win the Title. Nonetheless, Taz thinks it’s only a matter of time before a homegrown talent wins the NXT Title.

Taz goes on to say that most young wrestlers in NXT are still blocks of clay that are ready for moulding. He wishes that NXT would outsource some of these talents to a different group of trainers on occasion because he’s beginning to notice that a lot of the young talents are starting to work identical styles in the ring.

Another listener calls into the show speaking about the death of kayfabe. The caller says he doesn’t think the infamous MSG ‘Curtain Call’ didn’t kill it because Scott Hall then went into WCW and his debut was believable in the sense that many people really felt that WWE was invading WCW. The caller thinks the Montreal Screwjob and all the subsequent shoot interviews is what really killed kayfabe.

Blocks 3 & 4:

Taz says that was a great time to be a part of the wrestling business and he agrees with the caller in saying the Curtain Call was not the death of kayfabe. Taz points out that kayfabe will always be partially alive as long as there are wrestling fans, but the internet and social media can be blamed for its decline. Anytime we see a picture of a heel and a babyface renting a car together on Instagram kayfabe certainly takes a hit.

Taz comments on Jeff Jarrett entering himself into a WWE-sponsored rehab facility. He says that you can criticize WWE’s storylines all you want, but you can never say that they refuse to help their employees. McMahon has a standing offer on the table to help any performer who has ever worked for the company in the past should they need to attend rehab, and that’s a pretty amazing thing.

He also knows for a fact that McMahon has paid for other people to seek help, even though they never worked for WWE. McMahon also never talks about this stuff and he doesn’t look for people’s approval for doing so, he simply does it because he wants to.

That sums up today’s episode of The Taz Show. You can listen to the show yourself anytime here, and I’ll catch ya tomorrow for another recap!