Taz is clearing up a long-running question fans have had about his WWE run, and it turns out the shirt-and-pants look was not something forced on him.
A fan asked Taz on X why he wore a shirt and pants during that part of his career. The question came after footage resurfaced from a 2002 WWE dark match where Brock Lesnar teamed with Batista against Taz and Spike Dudley.
Taz first added some context to the match itself, saying he was pretty sure he and Spike were tag team champions at that point.
“It was a dark match, I’m pretty sure Spike and I were Tag Team champions at this moment.”
Then another fan asked the bigger question about his gear. Taz responded by saying the change was his own call because he did not want his in-ring persona damaged any more than he felt he had already been damaged during that period.
“It was my idea. I’ve said this on my podcast years ago… I did not want my in ring persona tarnished anymore than they tarnished me.”
Taz explained that he wanted a completely different look before he retired from the ring. In his mind, keeping the old ECW version of Taz on WWE programming was not something he wanted anymore.
“Therefore, I wanted to change my complete look before I retired from the ring. I didn’t want them to have that ECW TAZ look on their programming anymore.”
That answer says a lot about how Taz viewed that stage of his career. Fans still remember him as one of ECW’s most intense stars, but his WWE run did not always present him the same way. By changing his look, Taz made it clear he was trying to separate that version of himself from what fans saw during his final stretch in the ring.
What do you think about Taz changing his look so WWE would not use the classic ECW Taz presentation anymore? Do you think he made the right call? Leave your thoughts and feedback below.