Block 1:

A listener writes into the show and points out that on this day in 1998, ECW had its November to Remember PPV where RVD, Sabu & Taz challenged Shane Douglas, Chris Candito and Bam Bam Bigelow. Taz informs that backstage prior to the show’s start all the talents were trying to get the finish from Paul Heyman but Heyman was running around doing a thousand things.

When you’re putting together a wrestling match you start with the finish and work your way backwards so this was a problem for them. Heyman didn’t give them the finish until late in the day and the six men didn’t have much time to plan their match. They decided to say ‘screw it’, went out and got physical, and whatever happened happened.

For the most part the match went well but there were a few spots that didn’t go quite as planned. Taz remembers being furious at the end of the match and when they got in the backstage area they all began arguing with each other, even teammates. The only talent who didn’t argue with anyone was Chris Candito. Taz doesn’t often remember the details of each event, but this match has definitely stuck with him over the years.

Getting into some thoughts on Smackdown Live, Taz thought Corey Graves was leaning too far towards the RAW side during his commentary last night. Taz thinks WWE should have brought a different colour commentator onto Smackdown for a while, at least until after Survivor Series because having Graves on both shows is confusing right now.

Block 2:

Taz also didn’t like that Smackdown’s lead commentator, Tom Phillips was promoting the 25th anniversary of RAW. He says that WWE needed to have a voice over as to not put Phillips in that awkward position. He also says that it wouldn’t have been a good idea for Phillips to acknowledge his hatred of RAW during that promo because that would have distracted fans from the importance of RAW’s 25th anniversary.

He thought Dolph Ziggler and Bobby Roode had a great match last night, and he specifically liked that one of the three falls occurred during the commercial break. This made the match feel more real in Taz’s opinion.

He also points out that ring announcer, Greg Hamilton announced this match as ‘one fall’ prior to its start. He assumes that this was just an error by Hamilton and says Hamilton does a good job for the most part. He suggests that in situations like this the talent should simply make fun of themselves to acknowledge the error.

Taz thought Sin Cara’s aggressive new presentation was refreshing last night and he also liked the promo that Sin Cara cut backstage after his match. He does point out that if WWE is going to continue to have Sin Cara cut promos they need to make his mask more audible because it was tough to understand him last night.

Blocks 3 & 4:

Taz welcomes special guest, ‘The Million Dollar Man’ Ted DiBiase to the show.

DiBiase recalls Pat Patterson telling him very early on during his WWE career that the ‘Million Dollar Man’ gimmick is basically the character that Vince McMahon would portray if he could be a character on his own show. Patterson made DiBiase realize that if this was McMahon’s gimmick, just imagine how hard he was going to push it. This excited DiBiase and Patterson turned out to be correct.

DiBiase says he has so much respect for Vince McMahon’s work ethic. Even at 73 years of age McMahon is still the hardest worker in his company and sleeps for just 4 hours per night. DiBiase adds that McMahon could still be on the cover of Muscle and Fitness given the tremendous shape he’s in.

He informs that his new documentary, the ‘Price of Fame’ will debut on November 7th. This is a very emotional story for him, highlighting his professional wrestling career and the decisions that nearly cost him his family and his life. Luckily he was able to turn those things around his personal redemption is something he’s happy to share with his fans.

DiBiase mentions that he still receives plenty of questions surrounding the infamous ‘basketball skit’ when he kicked the basketball away from a helpless child. He informs that he actually ran into that child – who’s now a full grown man – at an airport a while ago. The child actually ended up going to college on a basketball scholarship which he thought was hilarious.

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!