Block 1:
Taz opens today’s show speaking about WWE’s release of James Ellsworth. He says that nobody expected Ellsworth to make it to WWE, not to mention the fact that he picked up a win over A.J. Styles and had a great, extended run. Taz says it sucks that WWE released him because you never want to see someone lose their job, but Ellsworth appears to be a very smart guy and he’ll do great on the indie scene.
Taz points out that Mauro Ranallo made a huge error during his commentary on last night’s go-home episode of NXT. At one point he promoted NXT Takeover: War Games which will air this Saturday night, but when he promoted it he said it will air ‘A week from Saturday’. Since NXT’s shows are taped together weeks in advance, the dates for each show can become confusing for commentators, but there’s no way that this slip up should have made it to air last night.
He points out that this may not have even been Ranallo’s fault. He may have been incorrectly told that date was correct prior to the tapings, and since NXT is taped weeks in advance, some parts of the show that aired last night may have originally been intended to be a part of last week’s show. This would have made Ranallo’s comment factual.
In either event, this comment should have been edited in post production prior to last night’s show airing. This type of error should never make air on WWE’s programming, especially from a company that prides itself with perfection.
Block 2:
Taz isn’t sure what NXT has in store for this Saturday’s War Games match. Apparently each team will be held in ‘shark cages’ on the entranceway, and Taz doesn’t think this is a good idea. He’d much rather that NXT took the same approach to the match that WCW officials did 20 years ago.
He thought it was really cool to see all the team members on the outside of the huge cage in the old War Games matches, banging on the cage and rooting on their team members from the outside before they get in themselves. Taz thinks this is another example of WWE changing history, and he wishes they’d just leave these types of ideas in the past if they’re going to change everything about it.
Taz thinks there should have only been two teams involved in this match, not three. A listener writes into the show and points out that this match has turned into WWE’s combination of War Games and Elimination Chamber. Taz agrees, saying that the shark cages have definitely added the Elimination Chamber element to the match.
Taz thinks Lars Sullivan has huge potential, and he predicts that Sullivan will emerge victorious from his match on Saturday night. He also believes that Aleister Black and Velveteen Dream are going to have a great match, and he loves both of those guys. Taz thinks Black is going to win this match, but he would prefer to see Dream win.
Block 3:
Taz is a big fan of all the women in the Fatal 4-way for the Women’s Championship. He hopes that Peyton Royce wins here because Royce is ‘money’, and he thinks that’s the way NXT officials are leaning as well. He likes Ember Moon, but there’s something missing in her presentation. Taz says that when he watches her work it looks like she’s always thinking, and you should never look like you’re thinking when you work.
Taz thinks that Almas is primed and ready to take the NXT Title from Drew McIntyre, but he assumes McIntyre will retain on Saturday. He thinks that NXT’s booking has let McIntyre down during his Title reign thus far, so hopefully they turn that around on Saturday. In the War Games match, Taz says that The Undisputed Era should, and will win.
Moving into Survivor Series, Taz thinks Baron Corbin will defeat The Miz on Sunday. He’s a big fan of The Miz, but he thinks Corbin really needs a win on a big show. He also thinks The Shield will defeat The New Day, with Roman Reigns officially rejoining his Shield brothers for the first time since returning from illness.
He thinks Charlotte will continue her winning ways by defeating Alexa Bliss on Sunday. We saw Bliss slap Charlotte during RAW’s invasion of Smackdown Live last week, so he thinks Charlotte will get her revenge on Sunday.
Block 4:
Taz is really looking forward to the A.J. Styles and Brock Lesnar match. He’s friends with both men, and they’re two of the best in-ring performers in the business today so he thinks this is going to be a very exciting match. He also thinks that the in-ring style of both men will work really well with each other, since Lesnar’s a power guy and Styles is a high flyer. In the end, he thinks Lesnar will win.
In the traditional 5 on 5 Survivor Series match, Taz thinks Team RAW will win. Taz predicts that we’ll see Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn get involved to cost Team Smackdown Live the match. In the Women’s 5 on 5 match, he thinks we’ll see a returning Paige join Team Smackdown and pick up the pin for the Blue brand.
That sums up today’s episode of The Taz Show. You can listen to the show yourself anytime here, and I’ll catch ya on Monday for another recap since there will be no Taz Show tomorrow.
