Brian Damage
In sports, it is very common to see former athletes and coaches make a second career for themselves as broadcasters once their days in pro sports has ended. In pro wrestling it is no different. We have seen guys like Jesse ‘The Body’ Ventura, Larry Zbyszko, Bobby Heenan and Wade Barrett make that smooth transition to commentating on the action they were once a part of themselves. Some have had more success than others, but for Peter ‘Taz’ Senerchia…he has reached a class on to himself.
You can look at former NFL players like Michael Strahan and Nate Burleson who truly created brand new careers for themselves in broadcasting, far removed from their days on the grid iron. Taz has created that for himself in professional wrestling. He certainly had a solid career as a wrestler with his biggest and most memorable moments as a member of the ECW roster. For more on his active career, check out Joe King’s Spotlight on Taz.
Taz got his first taste of broadcasting back in 1995 for the original Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) after suffering a broken neck. While on the sidelines, Paul Heyman asked Taz to sit in on commentary with announcer Joey Styles to keep him relevant with viewers as he healed from his injury. It was during that time that Taz learned the fundamentals of broadcasting and match calling.
By the early 2000’s, while working for WWE, Taz was limited in the ring and was battling numerous physical issues including a serious neck injury. While recovering from his injuries, Taz filled in on commentary for Sunday Night Heat. Vince McMahon loved his approach on commentary feeling it was something different and fresh, plus McMahon liked his New York accent feeling it added something hip to the broadcast. Vince approached Taz about doing color commentary on a permanent basis. With Jerry Lawler gone from the company, McMahon envisioned Taz as someone younger and cooler for fans to embrace.
At first, Taz declined the offer feeling that he still had something “left in the gas tank” as a pro wrestler. McMahon wouldn’t take no for an answer and gave Taz the impression that if he still wanted to stay employed, sitting behind a desk and doing color commentary was the best option for him. Taz ultimately agreed to the new job and said that Vince was very inciteful and taught him a lot about becoming a broadcaster. Along with WWE producer Kevin Dunn and Jim Ross, Taz gained invaluable learning techniques for his new career behind the microphone. He said that for the first few months as a commentator, McMahon gave him a lot of leeway and let him develop a chemistry with his broadcast partner Michael Cole. To help aide Tazz’s transition to broadcasting, Vince had a private car pick him up daily and drive from New York to Stamford’s WWE headquarters to practice and learn all the nuances of broadcasting.
As that chemistry took shape and Tazz gained more confidence and a groove as an announcer…Vince became more hands on and would often bark out things he wanted said and covered during a show. Tazz said that while that was very distracting, he eventually learned to separate the voices in his headset and was able to decipher McMahon from Michael Cole and Kevin Dunn. He quickly became a favorite of both McMahon and Dunn. That led to more broadcasting gigs within the company. Years later, Michael Cole named Tazz as his favorite broadcast partner. Definite high praise.
The chemistry between Tazz and Cole led to getting noticed by shock jock Howard Stern who invited the duo to try out for a slot on his radio group ‘Howard 101’ on satellite radio’s Sirius XM in 2006. The show was titled ‘Talkin’ Smack’ and was infamous for Cole cursing out a listener for wishing the show only had Tazz as the host. The show lasted just a week and was not picked up. The radio bug bit Tazz and he auditioned and received a fill in role on New York City’s 92.3 Free FM with a talk show in late evenings. That lasted until 2007, when the station switched formats from talk radio to music.
After nearly a decade working on all of WWE’s brands including Raw, Smackdown and the revived ECW, as well as other hosting gigs…Tazz was burned out. He began to hate going to work. Tazz said that before a show went on the air, he would just sit in his car until the last minute before going out and do commentary. When asked what was his favorite part of working for WWE, Tazz said, “Not being there anymore.” He did say that he was extremely grateful to Vince McMahon and everyone who helped him along the way, but he knew his time was up in the company. He remembers sitting at home with a new WWE contract extension and just staring at it and not signing it. He knew it was time to leave and said it felt real good once he did.
Taz would jump ship to TNA wrestling in 2009 and replace Don West as color commentator. He also worked as a heel in storylines as an advisor to Samoa Joe. By the time Taz landed in TNA, he was a seasoned pro behind the microphone. The broadcast pairing of Taz and Mike Tenay was given mixed reviews from fans who had gained an appreciation for Don West and Tenay beforehand.
Taz remained with TNA/Impact Wrestling for 6 years where he also worked as a judge in TNA’s reality competition segment called ‘Gut Check.’ He also turned heel again after getting involved in the Aces and Eights storyline as a member of that faction. Taz’s time with the company came to an end after not receiving payments on time. It was enough for him to walk away. He said he held no bitterness to the company, but wanted to explore new ventures in his career.
One of those ventures was to start his own podcast called ‘The Human Podcast Machine’ later renamed ‘The Taz Show.’ He did the podcast from New York City and was aired on CBS Radio’s network. The podcast lasted for over 500 episodes and he won the Gold Award in 2015. The award recognized the podcast’s high production value and rapidly growing audience.
Taz would return to the radio airwaves when he teamed with veteran radio and TV personality Mark ‘The Moose’ Malusis for a sports talk show entitled ‘Taz and the Moose.’ It covered a wide variety of sports like the NFL, NBA, Major League Baseball and of course…professional wrestling. The Taz and the Moose show lasted nearly two years between January of 2018 and December of 2019.
Taz would return to pro wrestling when he did some guest commentary for the upstart All Elite Wrestling (AEW). That led to Taz becoming a heel manager of the faction ‘Team Taz’ which included his son Tyler aka Hook. Eventually, Taz was given a permanent role as a commentator on AEW Dynamite in 2020…a position he still holds to this day alongside Excalibur and Tony Schiavone. Schiavone had this to say about working with Taz….“As much as anything else, I really enjoy working with Taz and Excalibur. I just love it. I think Taz is just a joy to work with.”
All in all, Peter ‘Taz’ Senerchia has had an incredible run as a broadcaster. Some might say that his second career in broadcasting has surpassed anything he ever did inside the ring as a pro wrestler. Regardless, to think that at one time long ago, he didn’t want to do commentary in the WWF/WWE for Vince McMahon. It was all about taking a chance and believing in himself and it has certainly paid off.
