Taz Out at TNA

Taz done at TNA Photo Credit: Lee South/ImpactWrestling.com

Taz revealed on Twitter yesterday that he was leaving TNA. While his farewells publicly were gracious, he was miffed over late or missing paychecks, according to F4WOnline. He refused to hitch a ride to Nashville to do voiceover announcing over tapings, leaving Josh Mathews to do this week's show all by his lonesome. Taz had been with TNA since 2009, first as Samoa Joe's manager and then as the color commentator for Impact, where he had remained until his departure from the company.

Taz's payment woes speak to a bigger problem in TNA right now with regards to its finances. While Dixie Carter and the wrestlers are doing their best to attempt to dispel rumors of financial turbulence, Taz's semi-public woes over not getting paid do nothing to alleviate concerns that the company is having trouble with the books. Additional reports of Destination America having too much input in the creative direction and the network only allegedly taking on the company as a "ratings experiment" don't bode well for the company either. In short, I don't think TNA's in much better shape now than when it was on the rocks with Spike TV. Conversely, TNA is the cockroach of wrestling companies, and will probably survive all this turmoil as well.

As for Taz, his future is unwritten. I can't see him going back to WWE, but stranger things have happened. Tommy Dreamer's House of Hardcore promotion seems to be growing, and Taz might have an in there. However, for all intents and purposes, I doubt he has anything left in the tank in terms of announcing. He also seems pretty happy with his podcast, which also does decent numbers. I wouldn't be shocked if he does a soft retirement and concentrates on casting pods.