Taz (wrestler)

In late-1995, following a severe neck injury, he shortened his ring name to "Taz" and adopted the persona of a belligerent shoot fighter who dismantled opponents with an array of suplexes before forcing them to submit with the "Tazmission".

He would also tour in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) Senerchia had his first World Wrestling Federation (WWF) match on August 19, 1991 as The Tazmaniac, when he was defeated by Ray Odyssey.

He then made his only appearance ever in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) when he defeated Joey Maggs in a dark match at a Saturday Night taping in Atlanta, Georgia on February 8, 1993.

[16] In August 1994, The Tazmaniac competed in a one-night eight-man tournament for the vacant NWA World Heavyweight Championship, losing to Shane Douglas in the quarter-finals.

On July 20, during a tag team match 2 Cold Scorpio and Dean Malenko delivered a spike piledriver to him, and though he knew it was about to be performed, he did not have time to properly protect himself.

[16] Following his neck injury, Taz made appearances with the Steiner Brothers, even standing in their corner during matches with The Eliminators and getting physical with Jason.

In his post-match promo, he claimed that no one was looking after him while he was injured and that no one cared (though Heyman was still paying him, the kayfabe story was that he had been forgotten and that Alfonso was the one helping him keep food on his family's table).

He also debuted his Tazmission/Katahajime finishing maneuver, causing opponents to tap out to signal their submission as in mixed martial arts instead of nodding their head or vocally saying "yes".

[16] At November to Remember, things seemed to come full circle, as Taz stormed to the ring and interrupted Styles and "stole Paul E.'s thunder" by announcing that there would be a "big show in the first quarter of the new year", basically telling the fans in attendance that ECW's first pay-per-view was on the horizon.

In the months leading to ECW's first pay-per-view, Taz would choke out low-level wrestlers with the Tazmission due to viewing his matches as secondary to his rivalry with Sabu.

[7] He defended the title against all comers, including Douglas, Lance Storm, John Kronus, Al Snow, Jerry Lynn and Chris Candido.

In May 1998, with Shane Douglas injured and unable to wrestle, Taz was given an old World Television Championship belt painted orange—his trademark color—and began cutting promos, declaring himself the FTW Heavyweight Champion at It Ain't Seinfeld.

Taz made his next successful title defense against Spike Dudley in a Falls Count Anywhere match on the June 25 episode of Hardcore TV.

Taz successfully defended the World Heavyweight Championship against Tajiri at Hostile City Showdown, the Heat Wave pay-per-view and the September 3 episode of ECW on TNN.

During that time, Taz signed with the World Wrestling Federation, before he losing the ECW title as the first man to be eliminated in a three-way dance by Mike Awesome and Masato Tanaka at Anarchy Rulz.

[25] Taz's final televised match in ECW aired on the November 13 episode of Hardcore TV, in which he received a rematch against Mike Awesome for the World Heavyweight Championship, which he lost.

Tazz made his in-ring debut in January 2000 at Madison Square Garden at the 2000 Royal Rumble as the surprise opponent of the previously undefeated Kurt Angle, who he defeated with the Tazzmission.

[27] Just a few months after Tazz arrived in the WWF, Mike Awesome, the man he had lost the ECW World Heavyweight Championship to at Anarchy Rulz, secretly signed with WCW.

He eventually left the stable after he finally stood up to Austin and attacked Paul Heyman in the weeks leading up to Survivor Series, where The Alliance lost to Team WWF.

[3] He was also the co-host, with Joey Styles, of History of Extreme Championship Wrestling on WWE 24/7 Classics, a show that re-aired archived episodes of the original ECW's weekly television programs.

He also hosted a talk show on 92.3 Free FM at sporadic intervals between late summer 2006 and early 2007, but it was not picked up and the station changed formats, replacing all post morning programming with music.

[40] During the recording of the April 29, 2008 episode of ECW, Tazz's broadcast partner Mike Adamle abruptly walked off set prior to the main event.

[44] In April 2020, Senercia further reflected his other reasons for his WWE departure stating "I didn't want to be around anybody named McMahon at that time, They were annoying, and it was the pompous, the arrogance.

As Ray and Brooke exchanged their vows, Taz interrupted the ceremony and proclaimed himself to be a member of Aces & Eights after revealing a kutte underneath his coat, turning heel again in the process.

Following his revelation, Aces & Eights ambushed the ceremony and attacked Ray, his groomsmen Tommy Dreamer and Brother Runt and Brooke's father Hulk Hogan.

[50] The following week on Impact Wrestling, Taz revealed that he joined Aces & Eights because of his desire to be a member of a group that adheres to a higher power.

[58] At Double or Nothing on May 20, 2020, Taz accompanied newcomer Brian Cage to the ring during the Casino Ladder Match and in what appeared to be the role of a manager, establishing himself as a heel in the process.

Senerchia is married to Teresa Smith, and together they have one son, Tyler Cole (born May 4, 1999), who is also a professional wrestler better known under the ring name Hook.

[73] Tyler has trained with Cody Rhodes and made several appearances in AEW as part of his father's stable Team Taz, debuting in action on December 10, 2021.

[citation needed] In September 1998, Senerchia was arrested on charges of indecent exposure and contributing to the delinquency of a child after allegedly exposing himself to a 15 year-old salon worker during a massage.

Taz signing autographs in 2006
Taz (left) with his commentary partner, Mike Tenay in July 2010
Taz with his son Tyler, who is currently wrestling as Hook in All Elite Wrestling (AEW)