Jim Ross Recalls Taz Jumping Guardrail at 1996 Raw & Wanting to Sign Him, Taz Doing AEW Dark Commentary

– On the latest Grilling JR, Jim Ross looked back at the angle where Taz jumped a guardrail during an episode of Raw in 1996 as well as Taz’s commentary appearance on AEW Dark. The guardrail jump happened on the September 23rd, 1996 episode of Raw during a match between the Bodydonnas and Owen Hart & British Bulldog. The angle saw JR rip Taz and ECW, calling them the “local wrestling promotion…[that] wrestles in a bingo hall.” This was of course one of the instances of WWE and ECW working together.

Taz also got attention recently when he was a guest commentator for AEW Dark when they held Dynamite in Philadelphia, appearing alongside Excalibur. Highlights from the talk and the podcast itself are below:

On the angle where Taz jumped the guardrail: “Taz jumping the guardrail was just a booked angle. Something to create some talk, and — look, we knew all the stars at ECW. I mean, gosh almighty. Paul had done a good job of putting that band of outlaws together and creating an ‘us against the world’ mentality. And then kicking ass in their own unique style. And Taz was one of those guys. He was one of those cornerstones, just like the Dudleys, Rob Van Dam, Sabu, Dreamer. Sandman, all those guys were stars. We didn’t have a place for all of them, but some of them we certainly had high expectations that at some point sooner than later, that I’d be able to sign. And Taz was one of the guys on top of that list. We thought he’d fit in real well. And he would have fit in real well if he could have stayed healthy. That’s not his fault, it’s just one of those deals, man.”

On Taz doing commentary on AEW Dark: “Good, I like them [Excalibur and Taz]. A smart move by Tony Khan. I suggested to the Powers That Be several weeks ago, i.e. when [AEW Executive] Rafael Morfi released the schedule of where AEW was gonna be travelling and doing our TVs. I saw Philly, so I thought, ‘You know, that’d be –‘ Taz I had been communicating, I knew he was interested in getting his toe back in the water in some shape, form, or fashion. I’m a fan of his work, he’s a friend of mine. We’re football guys and all that good stuff. So I suggested to some of our people that maybe [it could be] a surprise thing in Philly. And of course, he comes out in Philly and I though, you use him as a second or a manager, or a referee or whatever. Some minor role. And when, I think it was Cody. Cody and Tony Khan decided to use him on commentary with Excalibur. Which freed up Schiavone and me, which did not hurt my feelings at all.”

On how they did: “I thought they did well, man. And I’m not sure how much that’s going to happen. Don’t know, but I hope Taz is back with us more often than not for sure. Nice hire.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Grilling JR with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.