Early career (1987–1993) Senerchia began wrestling in
World Wrestling Council (WWC) and made his professional wrestling debut on June 3, 1987 in
San Juan, Puerto Rico, after being trained by
Johnny Rodz. He wrestled as
Kid Krush before moving on to the
name The Tazmaniac, of which he would use variations for the rest of his career. He would teamed with his cousin, Joe as the Tazmanaics. He would follow
Tony Rumble in leaving IWCCW to join the newly established
Century Wrestling Alliance (CWA). He would also tour in
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) in 1992. Senerchia had his first
World Wrestling Federation (WWF) match on August 19, 1991, as The Tazmaniac, when he was defeated by
Ray Odyssey. He then made his only appearance ever in
World Championship Wrestling (WCW) when he defeated
Joey Maggs in a dark match at a
Saturday Night taping in
Atlanta, Georgia on February 8, 1993. He would then make his second appearance in the WWF on May 5, 1993. Wrestling in a dark match at a Wrestling Challenge taping in Portland, ME, Tazmaniac would beat
Scott Taylor. He would go on to make two additional appearances on
house shows in
New Jersey on June 29 and June 30, losing to
Jim Powers on each occasion.
Eastern Championship Wrestling / Extreme Championship Wrestling (1993–1999) Early years and injury (1993–1995) Wrestling as "The Tazmaniac", Senerchia debuted in the
Philadelphia-based promotion
Eastern Championship Wrestling (ECW) in October 1993 at
NWA Bloodfest. He formed a
tag team with Joe Chetti (brother of
Chris Chetti) called The Tazmaniacs. In August 1994, The Tazmaniac competed in a
one-night eight-man tournament for the vacant
NWA World Heavyweight Championship, losing to
Shane Douglas in the quarter-finals. The Tazmaniac was put out of action by a legit injury for much of 1995. On July 20, during a tag team match
2 Cold Scorpio and
Dean Malenko delivered a
spike piledriver to him, and though he knew it was about to be performed, he did not have time to properly protect himself. As he explained on the DVD documentary
The Rise and Fall of ECW, "I landed right on my forehead and just jacked my whole neck back and that was it." The neck injury was so bad that, according to
Tommy Dreamer, hospital staff couldn't believe he'd walked into the hospital where he sought help after the match. Though he was unable to wrestle, Paul Heyman continued to pay him per their oral agreement, forging a loyalty between the men. Taz returned to the ring on December 19, 1995, at Holiday Hell with a new look and wrestling style. The new character had him clad in a black and orange
singlet and exhibiting a more physically intense in-ring style, focusing his offense on mat wrestling and
suplexes (inspired by working with The Steiner Brothers), which announcer
Joey Styles dubbed
Taz-Plexes, earning him the nickname "The Human Suplex Machine". He also debuted his
Tazmission/Katahajime finishing maneuver, causing opponents to
tap out to signal their submission as in
mixed martial arts instead of nodding their head or vocally saying "yes". This quirk was soon picked up by other companies throughout the country. Heading into the summer, Taz began feuding with Tommy Dreamer, joining up with
Brian Lee to face Dreamer and
Terry Gordy and later Dreamer and
"Dr. Death" Steve Williams. Taz also developed a friendship with The Eliminators, based on mutual respect, and they occasionally involved themselves in his matches.
Perry Saturn and Taz were both trainers at ECW's
House of Hardcore wrestling school. For a while, some of the students, including Mako and
Chris Chetti, would accompany Taz and Alfonso to the ring as a faction known as Team Taz. Early in 1997, the antagonism between Sabu and Taz was growing, as Taz attacked Sabu's partner, Rob Van Dam, costing the team matches with The Eliminators and other teams. In the months leading to ECW's
first pay-per-view, Taz would choke out low-level wrestlers with the
Tazmission due to viewing his matches as secondary to his rivalry with Sabu. He then dominated another series of matches with Van Dam before meeting Sabu at
Barely Legal, where Taz defeated him with the
Tazmission, only to have his
manager Bill Alfonso turn on him and join Sabu and his partner
Rob Van Dam. Just before winning the World Heavyweight Championship, Taz "gave" the FTW Heavyweight Title to long-time foe Sabu in a match where he physically pulled Sabu on top of him to allow him to get the pin. Taz finally defeated Shane Douglas for the World Heavyweight Championship at
Guilty as Charged, thus ending Douglas' year-long reign. Taz was supposed to defend the title against
Chris Candido in his first televised title defense at
House Party but Douglas attacked Candido before the match and took his place, whom Taz defeated to retain the title in his first successful title defense. He would then begin a feud with Sabu over Taz's World Heavyweight Championship and Sabu's FTW Heavyweight Championship. The rivalry culminated in a title unification match at the
Living Dangerously pay-per-view, where Taz defeated Sabu to unify the FTW Heavyweight Championship into the World Heavyweight Championship. He would begin his next rivalry with Chris Candido, whom he defeated to retain the title at
CyberSlam. The two were scheduled to a rematch at
Hardcore Heaven, which Taz quickly won. However, he was attacked by
Dudley Boyz after the match, leading to a title defense against
Buh Buh Ray Dudley in a
falls count anywhere match in the main event later that night, which Taz won to retain the title. Taz then successfully defended the title against Candido on the June 4 episode of
Hardcore TV to end the rivalry. Taz made his next successful title defense against
Spike Dudley in a Falls Count Anywhere match on the June 25 episode of
Hardcore TV. He would begin feuding with the members of
Steve Corino's
new rising stable, primarily
Yoshihiro Tajiri. Taz successfully defended the World Heavyweight Championship against Tajiri at
Hostile City Showdown, the
Heat Wave pay-per-view and the September 3 episode of
ECW on TNN. During that time, Taz signed with the
World Wrestling Federation, before he losing the ECW title as the first man to be eliminated in a
three-way dance by
Mike Awesome and
Masato Tanaka at
Anarchy Rulz. This ended his eight-month reign at 252 days. As he walked out of the ring, a large portion of the ECW locker room joined him on the entrance ramp to give him an emotional sendoff. After being off of ECW television for most of the fall, he wrestled one final match as an ECW performer at
November to Remember, losing to
Rob Van Dam via
pinfall. Taz's final televised match in ECW aired on the November 13 episode of
Hardcore TV, in which he received a rematch against Mike Awesome for the World Heavyweight Championship, which he lost. In the DVD
The Rise and Fall of ECW, Taz said that he signed with the WWE because he was in the top of the company and he lost his passion. Senercia ultimately signed for the WWF, where he was renamed "Tazz". Beginning in December 1999, what would become Tazz's symbol would play on the Titantron during various entrances, and the arena would be shrouded in Tazz's signature orange color. Tazz made his in-ring debut in January 2000 at
Madison Square Garden at the
2000 Royal Rumble as the surprise opponent of the previously undefeated
Kurt Angle, who he defeated with the
Tazzmission. Just a few months after Tazz arrived in the WWF,
Mike Awesome, the man he had lost the ECW World Heavyweight Championship to at
Anarchy Rulz, secretly signed with WCW. Legal wrangling by Paul Heyman prevented Awesome from taking the championship belt with him, and in a bizarre piece of professional wrestling history, ECW and WWF officials agreed to have Tazz, a WWF wrestler, make a surprise appearance at an ECW show to defeat Awesome, a WCW wrestler, for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship. Tazz held the title for ten days before losing it to
Tommy Dreamer, during which time he wore it on various WWF shows, and including an episode of
WWF SmackDown! where he lost to
WWF Champion Triple H. However,
Vince McMahon later expressed some regret over
booking Tazz to lose to Triple H. After he lost the ECW World Heavyweight Championship at
CyberSlam, Tazz was placed into contention for the
WWF Intercontinental Championship, but he never won the title. In the summer, after taking time off for an arm injury, he turned
heel and placed into a feud with
color commentator and semi-retired wrestler
Jerry Lawler. and
Unforgiven, which they split. Tazz was only able to pick up the Unforgiven win when he received help from
Raven, who had returned to the company. Afterwards, the duo formed a
tag team that lasted until November. When the
Invasion angle began, Tazz acted as "the voice of
The Alliance", sticking up for them and speaking on their behalf whenever possible. Over the next few weeks, he'd be beaten up by
Stone Cold Steve Austin, made out as the weak link and "the example" needed to be made to the other Alliance members. Despite this mistreatment, Tazz would still speak positively about Austin and The Alliance as a whole while on commentary. He eventually left the
stable after he finally stood up to Austin and attacked Paul Heyman in the weeks leading up to Survivor Series, where The Alliance lost to Team WWF. In December 2001, Tazz began teaming with
Spike Dudley. On the January 7, 2002, edition of
Raw, Tazz and Dudley defeated
The Dudley Boyz for the WWF Tag Team Championship, and successfully retained them at the
Royal Rumble. They dropped the titles to
Billy and Chuck on the Smackdown edition of February 21, 2002.
Color commentator and departure (2002–2009) With injuries mounting, Tazz began performing part-time commentary on
Sunday Night Heat in October 2000. His first
pay-per-view announcement appearance was during
Rebellion in December 2000, announcing alongside
Jim Ross. He joined the
SmackDown! team in February 2001 after Jerry Lawler quit the company, as well as becoming one of the trainers for the joint WWF/
MTV produced reality series
Tough Enough. Lawler returned to the company on November 19, 2001, and resumed his place as commentator, with Tazz becoming both a wrestler and a commentator. When World Wrestling Entertainment
split into two brands, Tazz was put on the
WWF SmackDown! brand, where he resumed his color commentator duties. Not long after he retired from the ring in June 2002, and he became a full-time broadcaster. He co-hosted
SmackDown! for World Wrestling Entertainment until a third brand,
ECW, was introduced in 2006, at which point he became the color commentator for that show. During the recording of the April 29, 2008 episode of
ECW, Tazz's broadcast partner
Mike Adamle abruptly walked off set prior to the main event. Moments later, after reading the promo for the upcoming pay-per-view, Tazz walked out as well, leaving the main event with no commentators. On December 13, 2010, Tazz joined Right After Wrestling and said that it "pisses him off" when companies try to re-create the original ECW. He stated that the original ECW worked because "It was that era, that group of people, that leader in Paul Heyman. We were that little engine that could." In August 2008, Tazz filled in for
Mick Foley as a color commentator on the SmackDown brand after
Edge attacked Foley in the previous week, while Raw wrestler
Matt Striker filled in for Tazz on the ECW brand. When Foley left the company, Tazz became the permanent color commentator for the SmackDown brand once again. On April 3, 2009, WWE announced that Tazz had left WWE when his contract had expired before
WrestleMania 25. Two days later after his departure from WWE, his WWE.com profile was moved from the active SmackDown roster list to the alumni list. In October 2018, Senerchia talked about what led to his WWE departure stating "I left on my own terms. My contract was up the week going into WrestleMania, I wasn't there. That was it. I was done at the Dallas TV before that...They offered me a new deal, which was a great deal...I had to get out of there....I saw Vince in Dallas and I officially gave word, shook his hand, said I was leaving in Dallas. He and I were crying and hugging, 'I'm gonna miss you.' I thanked him for everything. It was great. I remember talking to Stephanie [McMahon] and Triple H……Stephanie was just looking at me, 'I'm really surprised. Why are you doing this?' She couldn't understand why I would leave. She wasn't mean. She wasn't disrespectful. 'I need to do this. I appreciate everything you've done for me. There's no ill will.' She was the same way with me. So was Hunter. They were extremely awesome to me; but, like an adult to an adult she was just wondering why and I was, 'I just need a break'". In April 2020, Senerchia further reflected his other reasons for his WWE departure stating "I didn't want to be around anybody named McMahon at that time, They were annoying, and it was the pompous, the arrogance. But the arrogance, not politics, the arrogance. That's what I keep saying. That's the adjective that keeps jumping out at me. Just the disposition of that elitist attitude, it got to the point where I was like, 'you know what?..I'm out.'"
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2009–2015) in July 2010 At
Victory Road, Senercia, under his Taz ring name, made his official
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) debut during
Samoa Joe's match against
Sting, revealing himself to be Joe's
on-screen adviser and consequently a
heel as well as an ally of the
Main Event Mafia. The match ending was booked as Taz's presence enabling Joe to recover from Sting's
Scorpion Deathlock and win the match via submission after applying the
Coquina Clutch. On the August 20, 2009 episode of
Impact!, Taz replaced
Don West as the promotion's color commentator and also became a
face upon stating that he was only loosely associated with the Mafia and that he had taught Joe everything he knew and that it was now up to Joe to use his newfound skills. In May 2012, Taz began appearing as a judge in the monthly
TNA Gut Check segment on
Impact Wrestling. On the January 17, 2013 episode of
Impact Wrestling, Taz was a
groomsman at the wedding between
Bully Ray and
Brooke Hogan. As Ray and Brooke exchanged their vows, Taz interrupted the ceremony and proclaimed himself to be a member of
Aces & Eights after revealing a
kutte underneath his coat, turning heel again in the process. Following his revelation, Aces & Eights ambushed the ceremony and attacked Ray, his groomsmen
Tommy Dreamer and
Brother Runt and Brooke's father
Hulk Hogan. The following week on
Impact Wrestling, Taz revealed that he joined Aces & Eights because of his desire to be a member of a group that adheres to a higher power. On the November 21 episode of
Impact Wrestling, Aces & Eights was forced to disband after Bully Ray lost to
Mr. Anderson, which also saw Anderson retain his career in TNA. On April 15, 2015, it was officially announced that Taz had departed TNA. Three days later on April 18, 2015, Taz stated that what led to his TNA departure was that he was asked for his release and he got it and said that it was all professional and he left the proper way. He revealed that his deal was due to expire in the summer anyway and was already looking into alternatives and the way he said it was that he was not going to renew his deal anyway even though TNA wanted him to stay. He confirmed the reports that payments were not coming in and his checks came late and had to do what he had to do. "I did a service, I wasn't paid for that service," Taz said, adding that TNA understood his situation. Once the checks were not coming, he gave TNA his notice and that was it. He said that he would have liked to make a little bit more money but then again everyone felt like that and despite not making the most he was happy from the financial side of things".
Return to WWE (2016) In November 2016, Taz made an appearance on the
WWE Network special,
The Authentic Untold Story of ECW, alongside former ECW management Paul Heyman and wrestlers Bubba Ray Dudley, D-Von Dudley, and Tommy Dreamer. In the one-hour special hosted by
Corey Graves, the guests talked about their experiences in ECW and the promotion's legacy on professional wrestling.
All Elite Wrestling (2019–present) On October 12, 2019, Taz made a guest appearance for
All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he appeared on the October 22 edition of
AEW Dark as a guest commentator. On November 9, 2019, Taz made his guest appearance during
Full Gear as the pre-show commentator. On the January 1, 2020 episode of
AEW Dynamite, Taz made his
Dynamite debut on commentary filling in for
Tony Schiavone. On January 16, 2020, it was announced that Taz had officially signed a multi-year deal with AEW, and he was made a member of the AEW broadcast team. At
Double or Nothing on May 20, 2020, Taz accompanied newcomer
Brian Cage to the ring during the Casino Ladder Match and in what appeared to be the role of a manager, establishing himself as a
heel in the process. Cage would win the match, which also made him the number one contender for the
AEW World Championship, and Taz celebrated the victory with him afterwards. At
Fight for the Fallen, Cage lost to
Jon Moxley after Taz threw in the towel. Soon after, Taz would recruit
Ricky Starks to create a group known as
Team Taz along with Cage as they began feuding with
Darby Allin. On the November 18, 2020 episode of
Dynamite,
Will Hobbs joined Team Taz after hitting
Cody Rhodes with Cage's FTW championship belt and then helping Taz, Cage and Starks when they attacked Rhodes and Allin. On August 4, 2021, it was announced that Taz would permanently join the commentary team on
AEW Rampage beginning August 13, 2021. In June 2022, Taz switched to full-time commentary on
AEW Dynamite, in a commentary team rotation swap with
Jim Ross. In October 2024, Taz was attacked by an unknown wrestler, later revealed to be
Christian Cage of
The Patriarchy. This was done to write Taz off of television to allow him to get
knee replacement surgery. == Professional wrestling style, persona and legacy ==