Taz Did Not Want to Return to ECW to Defeat Mike Awesome

Taz discussed his famous match with Mike Awesome for the ECW Championship while he was with WWE and Awesome had signed with WCW on Bill Apter’s podcast. Highlights are below, per Wrestling Inc:

On beating Mike Awesome for the ECW Championship while contracted with WWE: “It was awesome, it was a lot of fun, but I didn’t want to. I remember coming back from the road and I get a call on the phone from WWE, and Vince [McMahon] is one of the guys on the other phone, I was at the mall with my wife pushing my kid in a stroller. They’re like ‘Hey, uh, Paul Heyman needs a little help’, and I’m like ‘What do you mean?’ Vince was like ‘Hey look pal, they got a guy there who is holding the title hostage and I need you to go in there and help Paul and take the title from this Mike Awesome guy.’”

After ECW folded, Heyman went on to have a successful career with WWE. Taz said that he knew that all along that Heyman would be a great character.

On Paul Heyman’s success in WWE: “It doesn’t surprise me at all. [Heyman’s] ultra talented, but he’s always been. You go back when he first started managing guys many many moons ago, he’s always been amazing on the mic. I used to yell and scream at him during the prime of ECW, when he didn’t want to be on camera, I said ‘Paul, we need some star power, people know you, especially from what you did in the Dangerous Alliance, get your ass on camera. Get on the mic. Do something’, and every once in a while he would. But a lot of times he didn’t want the spotlight to me on him, he wanted it to be on the talent.”