Taz Says He Needs Both Knees and Shoulders Replaced

Former 3-time ECW World Heavyweight Champion Taz, pictured after his 2nd ECW Heavyweight Championship Win in 1999 at ECW Living Dangerously 1999. The match saw him defeat his ECW nemesis, Sabu, whom he had feuded with for years in ECW. The match was for Sabu's FTW Championship as Sabu held the belt after Taz "decided to let him have the belt" since he was going for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship. However, Sabu rubbed it in his face and they faced off with both belts on the line at Living Dangerously. 

 Former ECW World Heavyweight Champion Taz retired back in 2002 from in-ring competition and only wrestled once after that, when he defeated Jerry "The King" Lawler at ECW One Night Stand 2006. Since his retirement he has been doing color commentary and has cemented himself as one of the longest tenured commentators in recent memory, working for such companies as WWE, TNA and now AEW, where his son HOOK wrestles at. 

He has mentioned he is in need of both his knees and shoulders replaced, but that he is opting not to have surgery right now. The 56 year old legend said on social media:

 "highly acclaimed orthopedic surgeon" has informed him that he needs the four joints replaced, he's not going to have it done now. 

Taz is instead choosing to keep trying regenerative procedures and will attempt to deal with the pain.

Taz said the issue with his knees and shoulders is from training too heavy in the gym during his career, not the bumps he took in the ring. He urged today's wrestlers to be smarter about how they train:

Went to a highly acclaimed orthopedic surgeon yesterday to discuss my knee. It’s been brutal for a couple of years, he did testing & X-rays on me. So, both of my shoulders & knees need to be replaced. 4 joints. I am not doing this right now. I’m gonna keep trying regenerative procedures & try to suck it up dealing with the pain.

*This is NOT from bumps… It’s from training too heavy like a caveman trying to be 'big'. I’m posting this for today’s wrestlers, please be smarter, times have changed for the better!!

A former ECW Champion and WWE wrestler, Taz retired from in-ring competition in 2002 and only wrestled once after that, returning for a quick squash of Jerry Lawler at ECW One Night Stand 2006. He's worked as a commentator for WWE, TNA, and AEW.

Taz signed with AEW in 2020 and is part of the announce team for Dynamite. He's the father of AEW wrestler HOOK, who is a former 2-time FTW Champion, having recently lost the title to Chris Jericho at AEW Dynasty 2024! 

Today in ECW History - April 29th

 

Today in ECW History - April 29th:

1995: ECW Live Event @ Caesar Rodney High School in Dover, Delaware. Attendance was 375. Matches:

• Hack Meyers and Mikey Whipwreck def. Raven and Stevie Richards
• Marty Jannetty def. Shane Douglas
• Ron Simmons def. Jim Neidhart
• ECW World Television Championship: Eddie Guerrero (c) vs. Dean Malenko went to a double count out draw
• ECW World Tag Team Championship: The Public Enemy (Johnny Grunge and Rocco Rock) (c) def. The Pitbulls (Pitbull #1 and Pitbull #2) to retain the titles
• Barbed Wire Baseball Bat Match: Axl Rotten def. Ian Rotten
• The Sandman def. Tommy Dreamer
• Cactus Jack def. Terry Funk

1999: ECW Live Event in Palmetto, Florida. Attendance was 800. Matches were:

• Danny Doring and Roadkill def. Ricky Santana and The Cuban Assassin 
• Nova def. Buck Quartermaine
• Yoshihiro Tajiri def. Little Guido
• Mosco De La Merced def. Super Crazy
• Steve Corino def. Skull Von Krush
• Jerry Lynn def. Justin Credible
• ECW World Tag Team Championship: The Dudley Boys (Buh Buh Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley) (c) def. Balls Mahoney and Spike Dudley to retain the titles
• Tommy Dreamer def. Lance Storm

2000: ECW Live Event @ Mid-Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie, New York. Attendance was 2,500. Matches were:

• Little Guido def. Johnny Swinger (Hardcore TV)
• Chris Chetti and Nova def. Bill Wiles and CW Anderson (Hardcore TV)
• Danny Doring and Roadkill def. Da Baldies (Tony DeVito and Vic Grimes) (Hardcore TV)
• Tommy Dreamer def. Simon Diamond (Hardcore TV)
• ECW World Heavyweight Championship: Justin Credible (c) def. Mikey Whipwreck to retain the title (Hardcore TV)
• Lance Storm def. Kid Kash (ECW on TNN)
• Jerry Lynn def. Scotty Anton (ECW on TNN)
• The Sandman and Yoshihiro Tajiri def. Rhino and Steve Corino (ECW on TNN)

Two ECW Originals Win Tag Team Gold In Separate Independent Wrestling Promotions

 

As we reported on our Facebook page, two ECW Originals won Tag Team gold as of the last couple of days. First off, ECW Original CW Anderson won the AML Wrestling World Tag Team Championship along with former AEW star Brock Anderson (the legitimate son of "The Enforcer" Arn Anderson). 

Our other ECW Original was Tommy Dreamer, as "The Innovator of Violence" won the International Wrestling Cartel Tag Team Championship along with Channing Decker! 

Congrats to both teams for their huge championship wins! 

Dark Side of the Ring Episode On The Sandman Set For Next Week!

 

This coming week's episode of Dark Side of the Ring is the much anticipated episode on ECW Icon The Sandman! 

The episode will air on this coming Tuesday night at 10 PM ET on VICE TV!

Chris Jericho To Continue His Over Exposure on Tonight's AEW Dynamite After Winning Championship

 

As we  noted, All Elite Wrestling continues to overexpose one of the legends signed to their promotion to the point that fans have seemingly turned on him all the way, showering him with chants of "Please, retire!" and "Go home Chris". Jericho who is now 53 years old and has seemingly slowed down a considerable bit since signing with AEW in 2019 is going to march on though as if things aren't happening the way they are. 

Jericho faced off with Taz's son HOOK on last Sunday's AEW Dynasty pay-per-view and was only the 2nd man to have defeated HOOK in a match since the son of the Orange and Black little man debuted in AEW in 2020 (making his official in ring debut a year later after being introduced through backstage segments involving other members of his fathers stable Team Taz). 

Word going around is that HOOK could be leaving to pursue a career in the WWE and that would answer as to why he lost the title to Jericho, however, Jericho probably wasn't the best idea for a person to end the title reign that HOOK had been having since August of last year. Fans as of late have seemingly all but a couple left have turned on Jericho. Is this something that is justified? Jericho has over exposed himself and fans main gripe with Jericho has been, despite the appearance that everyone he has worked with "becoming better in the end for having worked with Jericho", it is actually quite the opposite. With fans calling Jericho's rivalries in AEW as being part of the "Jericho Vortex", a term that has even recently been brought up on live television by Jericho and HOOK. 

This is my opinion but it is now time for Jericho to do what he has done in the past, several times over. It's time for him to reinvent himself to stay relevant. That or continue to hang on like he has and continue to tarnish his own legacy.