Nineteen years ago, the wrestler known as Taz made a decision that would change the life of the man named Peter Senercia. If you didn’t know, Taz and Peter are the same guy. Also, if you didn’t know, the change had nothing to do with wrestling.
Taz was already a star during his run in Extreme Championship Wrestling. His defection to the WWF (remember, this was pre-rebrand) was big news in the industry, and the way the WWF chose to introduce him to their fans was even bigger news.
He was the mystery opponent that would face Kurt Angle at the Royal Rumble in 2000. It was a perfect introduction. Taz made Angle submit, and ended the former Olympian’s undefeated streak at Madison Square Garden.
So how did he go from that life to one that has him waking up well before dawn every morning to talk about Carson Wentz’s health or whether or not Anthony Davis will join LeBron in Laker Land?
His journey to a nationally syndicated sports radio show began, naturally, in the professional wrestling world. Long before he and Marc Malusis were handling morning duties for CBS Sports Radio, Vince McMahon was tricking Taz into auditioning for a role at the broadcast table on Smackdown.
“I got a couple of injuries. I tore my bicep and I had this recurring neck injury,” Taz told me as we sat in an empty office at CBS Sports Radio’s Manhattan headquarters in September.
It was the middle of 2001. The writers had put him in a feud with Smackdown color commentator Jerry “the King” Lawler. Vince had an idea to have Taz show how little he respected Lawler by doing his job for one match.
“They wanted me to sit in for the opening match as a color commentator, mocking him and working with Michael Cole. Just one match, then Jerry was supposed to attack me from behind and take back his seat,” Taz said.
“I was like ‘Cool. Yeah. No problem.’ And then I did the match and then I sat there. I was waiting for someone in my headset to tell me to leave, because Jerry Lawler never attacked me.”
Taz wasn’t the only one that was confused. As match after match started and ended he sat at the table with play-by-play man Michael Cole.
“I didn’t get it. I looked at Michael Cole and he was like ‘I don’t know, man.'” You can sense some frustration in his voice as he tells the story. “Guys come out, they wrestle, and I’m like ‘What’s going on here? Why am I just calling all these matches?'”.
Jerry Lawler eventually did attack him from behind, it just took longer than Taz was told it would. “I forgot he was coming. I mean, like, it really hurt.”
When he got back to the locker room, Vince McMahon told Taz that he liked the way Taz sounded. The only response Taz could come up with was “What do you mean?”
That is when Vince explained his vision for the next phase of Taz’s career. Injuries were mounting for him. Usually, wrestlers in that situation get released. They either retire or head back to the independent circuit working for a fraction of a fraction of what they got in the WWF. But that wasn’t what Vince wanted for Taz.
The travel schedule was taking its toll on Lawler, who was handling analyst duties on both Smackdown and Monday Night Raw. The WWF needed someone to take over those duties on Smackdown, and Taz made his home in the suburbs of New York City. It would be no problem at all for him to make the hour trip to the company’s Stamford, Connecticut headquarters to receive the training necessary to turn him into a star.
Taz would hold various broadcasting roles for the company until 2009. That didn’t mean he was entirely done in the ring. He would win a tag team championship in 2002, and when his time at the WWE was over, he would join the TNA Wrestling brand.
But something else happened while he was calling matches for the WWE that got us from there to here with Taz’s career.
Michael Cole, who had spent time working for CBS Radio as a reporter before finding his way to professional wrestling, had a connection at a radio station in Houston. This connection called Michael and said that Smackdown would be taping an episode at the Toyota Center while his morning show was on vacation for the holidays. Did Michael and Taz want to fill in on the show?
Cole pitched Taz on the idea. In his mind, it made total sense. The WWE was going to pay for their flight no matter when they got to Houston. Why not go a day or two early and have some fun on the radio?
Taz didn’t see it that way. “I didn’t want to do it, and he’s like ‘Taz, just do it. Come on. It’ll be fun.’ I said ‘Radio’s hard dude! I’m a TV guy and radio is very hard!’ I knew that much.”
Cole eventually won him over. They did the shows, and Taz was hooked. It wouldn’t be the last shows the duo would do together on radio either. They would go on to host a week of shows on Howard Stern’s Sirius channel and then periodically on New York’s Free FM.
Taz says the fact that radio was so hard is why it appealed to him and made him want to be on the air more. Michael Cole told me in an email that it wasn’t as hard for Taz as Taz thinks.
“Taz is a natural broadcaster. He has a very unique take on a wide variety of subjects and really connects with the audience.”
Mark Chernoff must have seen that natural talent too. The Format Captain for sports radio at Entercom isn’t putting just anyone in morning drive on any of his stations, let alone on the company’s nationally syndicated network.
When I asked him if he could see skills from Taz’s WWE days translating into his radio career Chernoff said, “Well, he’s an entertainer and if you don’t know how to entertain then being in the media and being on a daily radio show probably isn’t for you.
“You can’t teach entertainment. You know, people can pick up knowledge as they go, but personality and entertainment? Either you have it or you don’t. He’s got it. If you just talk to him off the air, he’s entertaining. He’s got a big personality.”
That big personality is key to what Taz and Marc Malusis do every morning on CBS Sports Radio, because all Taz wants to do is be Taz and talk sports. That means you’re going to hear about his kid’s lacrosse career, and of course there will be some stories from his wrestling days too.
See, Taz may not make a living in the ring anymore, but he is still wrapped up in the business. He’s never given up The Taz Show, his thrice-weekly podcast where he gives opinions and responds to listeners’ opinions on the most recent developments in professional wrestling.
If you’ve ever looked at ESPN or Fox and noticed how much their websites devote to WWE coverage or how often WWE Superstars show up on those networks, you have seen the reach of Taz’s influence. Radio.com, which hosts The Taz Show, was the first outlet that wasn’t wrestling-specific to offer real time reaction to some of the sport’s biggest events. That turned into the show streaming live on Radio.com everyday.
“I’ve been at every agent meeting and every production meeting in my history with ECW, the WWE, and TNA. I’ve sat with Hulk Hogan and in conference rooms with Eric Bischoff and Vince Russo and Vince McMahon and on and on and on,” Taz says as if he needs to sell me that he knows what he is talking about.
When I ask what it is about his show though that created an opportunity for him that didn’t materialize for other popular wrestlers-turned-podcasters like Steve Austin, Chris Jericho, and Jim Ross, his answer comes quick and is unwavering.
“Not only were we taking listener phone calls, but I was proud that (The Taz Show) wasn’t guest driven. It was topic driven. Those two things are very different, as you know.”
In that way, The Taz Show is structured way more like a sports radio show than any of iTunes’ other most popular wrestling podcasts. It also forced Taz to drive the bus and learn how to develop topics and opinions instead of being a good listener and reacting to someone else’s story.
Still though, a lot of what Taz & The Moose is is uncharted water for the pro wrestling icon. For one, he will admit that he is still learning to be a fan of everything. That’s not easy to do when you grew up a New York sports fan and are doing sports radio in New York City.
When I ask Taz how often he has to remind himself that the show can’t just be about the Yankees and Red Sox or what the Giants should do with Eli Manning in the offseason, he laughs. “Almost everyday,” he says. “And our bosses remind us.”
Chernoff says Taz doesn’t give himself enough credit. He thinks Taz focuses so much on what he isn’t supposed to do that he forgets how much he is doing right.
“Some of our meetings it’s just ‘remember that you’re doing a national sports show,’ and I give (Taz and Marc) lists of where they’re on. You have to remember where you’re on in national radio, and when you’re on. On the West Coast, stations that are taking the show live are airing it in overnight.”
Chernoff, who in addition to running CBS Sports Radio has run WFAN in New York since 1993, is very familiar with analyzing audiences and topics. He told me that what he wants Taz to remember is that it is okay to do local radio for the affiliates.
“On WXYT in Detroit or WJZ in Baltimore, if there’s things going on there, those are pretty big cities! Even in some of the smaller markets. You know, they’re on in a lot of Ohio. Ohio State football and all that is going on with Urban Meyer might be a local story for that audience, but there is huge national interest.”
Taz will always be able to connect with an audience regardless of what he is talking about. So what if he has to remind himself that maybe a listener in Kansas City might not care about how Manny Machado would fit in the Yankees’ lineup?
That listener probably isn’t counting on Taz to deliver a nuanced take on what Dedric Lawson allows Kansas’s offense to do when he is on the floor. They are coming to Taz to entertain them, because for so many guys in America, that is what Taz has been doing for nearly 20 years (25 if you’re an old school ECW fan).
Sitting across from him it is easy to see how he connects with people. We spent the better part of an hour together and I walked away feeling like we were buddies. Why? Because he tells great stories, has a big, infectious laugh, and just exudes charm.
I never asked Taz if he would give up his radio success to be able to get back in the ring and compete at the highest level of pro wrestling night-in-and-night-out again. I didn’t have to. It’s clear Taz is where he thinks he is supposed to be.
“There’s nothing like radio, and I am proud to say I’m a radio guy. I’ve become a radio guy, and that didn’t happen overnight. I feel like my career has evolved over the years. I’m blessed, and I am happy about that.
“I can tell you it is my dream job, doing daily radio. It’s tough, and yeah, it is a grind. There are some days you don’t want to go on air, but once the mic goes on, you gotta bring the energy to get people awake. You gotta have fun.”
Demetri Ravanos is a columnist and features writer for Barrett Media. He is also the creator of The Sports Podcast Festival, and a previous host on the Chewing Clock and Media Noise podcasts. He occasionally fills in on stations across the Carolinas in addition to hosting Panthers and College Football podcasts. His radio resume includes stops at WAVH and WZEW in Mobile, AL, WBPT in Birmingham, AL and WBBB, WPTK and WDNC in Raleigh, NC.
You can find him on Twitter @DemetriRavanos or reach him by email at DemetriTheGreek@gmail.com.
