Powell's Blog: Tazz leaves WWE - What's next for him and the WWE broadcast team?

Wednesday, April 1 – 12:00 P.M. (CT)

-The surprising news of Tazz's departure from WWE leads to some obvious questions. First, what's next for Tazz? As I mentioned yesterday, he would be a great addition to the TNA broadcast team. The current storyline with Don West could be the company's way of eventually pulling him from the team or setting up a three-man team with Mike Tenay.

I'm not a fan of three-man broadcast teams, but I think a motivated Tazz would be a tremendous addition to TNA. I'd love to see Tazz wrestle full-time again, but I don't think that's in the cards given his injury history. If nothing else, he would provide some much needed credibility to the TNA broadcast team, which has really taken a turn for the worse ever since West's heel turn.

I've always thought that West would be better off as the backstage pitch man. He might see it as a demotion, but who better to sell the company's pay-per-views, house show events, and merchandise than someone with his background?

Meanwhile, Ring of Honor desperately needs someone like Tazz on their new HDNet show. Rookie-to-wrestling play-by-play man Mike Hogewood brings an old school vibe to the broadcast. Color commentator Dave Prazak knows his stuff and does a solid job, but he lacks credibility with new viewers.

I'd be surprised if Tazz gave up his WWE career for a stint with Ring of Honor, so this is admittedly wishful thinking on my part. Nevertheless, ROH officials must know that new viewers are subconsciously asking themselves, "Who is the guy with the bad dye job and why should I care what he has to say?" I'm not saying that Prazak won't make a name for himself in time, but ROH needs to make a splash and company officials would be wise to consider the idea of adding a former wrestler to their broadcast team that fans recognize and respect.

-What's next for WWE? The obvious answer seems to be JBL, who was a fantastic color commentator in the past. He is expected to hang up the boots soon and I'm sure he'd be welcomed back to the broadcast team with open arms, but the question is whether he wants the gig.

It's no secret that JBL also received the Vince McMahon treatment while working as a color commentator. They've established a good friendship since then, but JBL has plenty of options outside the wrestling industry and only he knows whether he enjoys the business enough to include weekly WWE tapings in his schedule if he opts to end his in-ring career.

Even if JBL takes his old job back, WWE may still need to add a new commentator to the mix. After all, they have the new WGN show debuting later this month. They could have the team of Todd Grisham and Matt Striker do double duty since they're only doing an hour of ECW each week, but there's no telling what the broadcast teams will be once the WWE Draft unfolds a week from Monday.

The company has reportedly auditioned several people who work for the company for a color commentator position, and they could always reach out to former color commentator Paul Heyman again (although I don't know if he or the company are in a hurry to work together again).

Regardless of the long-term plan, it will be interesting to see how the situation is handled at WrestleMania 25. The company could have worked out a deal to keep Tazz around through the pay-per-view, so the fact that he finished up on Monday night is a good indication that they already have a plan in place.

My guess is the big WrestleMania moment that JBL has been teasing will be that he wrestles his match, retires, and joins the broadcast team again all in the same night, but that's purely speculation on my part. No matter what happens, it will be an interesting story to follow in the days leading up to WrestleMania 25.