Before the fifth-anniversary episode of Dynamite, fans on social media were notified that Taz had been attacked in the car park and that Nigel McGuinness would be taking his place behind the announce table. And while the speculation at the time was this was done to create a future storyline for Taz’s son Hook, Dave Meltzer has now reported in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter that it was actually done so Taz could get knee replacement surgery.
56-year-old Taz wrestled between 1987 and 2002, although he did have a one-off match with Jerry Lawler in 2006 that lasted less than a minute at ECW One Night Stand. Subsequently, due to wear and tear on his body, he became a color commentator for WWE and then TNA before taking a short break from the business and hosting a nationally syndicated morning radio show. Still, with pro wrestling as his true passion, he signed with AEW in 2019 and resumed announcer duties, in addition to leading his own stable known as Team Taz between 2020 and 2022.
