Kurt Angle Explains Why Vince McMahon Didn't Make Taz A Top Guy In WWE

At the turn of the Millennium, Taz was the hottest act in ECW, with the ‘Human Suplex Machine’ tearing through all on-comers with ease as he reigned as ECW World Champion.

Come late 1999 and Taz would sign with WWE, debuting at Royal Rumble 2000 in Madison Square Garden with a convincing victory over the then-undefeated Kurt Angle. However, after the Rumble, Taz started to slide down the card, and during an appearance on Brian Hebner’s Refin’ It Up podcast, Kurt Angle believes that Vince McMahon didn’t push Taz as a top star due to a specific reason:

“I think the problem was, and this is what Vince told me, he wanted Taz to sell underneath, like he was always fighting for his life because he was smaller, but Taz wanted to be a giant in the ring. He wanted to dominate. Vince was having a problem translating that to Taz. He said, ‘You have to sell. Don’t no-sell’, and that’s what Taz was doing. He was no-selling, and Vince was like, ‘No, I want you to sell all the time. I want these guys to beat the crap out of you and you sneak a win, a victory, and that’s the way I want you to be.’”

Angle continued: "For some reason, Taz didn’t want to do that. He wanted to be a dominating wrestler. I think that’s the reason why things kind of fell apart for Taz. He should have had an incredible future. He was a great wrestler. He cut incredible promos. He had a great look. There was nothing wrong with Taz to be a top guy.”

This revelation will come as little surprise, as McMahon was known for booking ‘smaller’ wrestlers as scrappy underdogs, no matter their abilities.

H/T: WrestlingNews.co