Taz, along with Tommy Dreamer had been at ECW since the very early days. Managed by Bill Alfonzo, otherwise known as Fonzy - Taz had success early on in ECW's history. Almost immediately popular with the fans, Taz won his first title belt on 6 March 1994 - He had beaten Sabu for The ECW World Television Title. He was the 6th person to have the belt and immediately joined the ranks of great TV champions such as Terry Funk and ‘Super Fly’ Jimmy Snuka. Back then, he was known as the Tazmaniac – he had a second Dan in Judo and was already perfecting the Tazplex. Taz actually had a team behind him – Team Taz, who wore a special Team Taz gear which was red and black. Unfortunately, Taz lost the TV title to JT Smith, but found success in tag-team competition. His partner was Sabu – the homicidal, genicidal and suicidal maniac who complemented Taz’s skills with his own brand of heavyweight high-flying. They became the ECW Tag-team Champions of the world, but things soon fell apart. It was at ECW’s first pay-per-view, Barely Legal 1997, and in a match between Taz and Sabu, Bill Alfonzo stabbed Taz in the back and sided with Sabu, even though Taz had won. Fonzy soon became Sabu and Rob Van Dam’s manager, and Taz left that part of his life in the past. On the 7th of June 1997, Taz beat Shane Douglas for the ECW TV title and Taz got a second stint, defending it on 3 PPVs, before finally losing the belt to Bam Bam Bigalo – who abruptly lost it to Rob Van Dam. As far as Taz was concerned, he was cheated out of his belt, due to the dubious nature of the way that Bam Bam had won, and his old opponent Shane Douglas, the person he had beat for the belt was now the ECW World Heavyweight Champion. FTW Around this time, Shane Douglas was injured and retired from competition until September, meaning that Taz could not get a title shot – and so, like a spoiled baby, Taz created his own World Heavyweight Title and presented himself with it. The FTW World Heavyweight Title was born and Taz saw himself as ECW’s new champion. Shane Douglas however - did not, and was very vocal on the fact that Taz’s belt was fake and his was real, but it didn’t matter. The FTW title was defended by Taz, as if it were a real ECW title, and in December 1998, Sabu became the FTW World Champion. The following month was the Pay-per-view Guilty as Charged, and Taz had his shot at Shane Douglas. During the match, Sabu ran in and attacked both men, injuring them both, then ran off, leaving the bewildered men to finish it, and then Chris Candido – Shane Douglas’s tag partner appeared and double crossed the Franchise, allowing Taz to lock on the Tazmission. Taz was the new ECW World Heavyweight Champion. 2 months later, Taz defeated Sabu to regain the FTW belt, and so he was the unified ECW/FTW (FTW = F!#k The World) champion. Taz had a good run as champion until he thought he could take on two people at once. He was pinned jointly by Mike Awsome and Masato Tanaka at Anarchy Rulz 99 – Mike Awsome was the new champion and Taz had fulfilled his dreams.

When Taz began wrestling, he promised himself that he would become famous as a wrestler, and that he would become a Heavyweight Champion. He had now fulfilled both, and so signed with the WWF, where he could do something different – commentate? Although signed to elsewhere, he wouldn’t make his debut in the WWF until March, and so he continued in ECW, even regaining the ECW World Heavyweight Title, which he would take into the WWF arena when he walked in – but he lost the belt to a well deserved Tommy Dreamer. In the past, Taz and Perry Saturn had been teachers of Wrestling at the ECW House of Hardcore – training people such as Danny Doring, Roadkill and Taz’s own cousin – Chris Chetti. In late December 2000, Taz returned to ECW to congratulate his old students Danny Doring and Roadkill on becoming the Tag Team Champions. Taz photo gallery PPV HISTORY Barely Legal 1997 Taz VS Sabu Hardcore Heaven 1997 Taz VS Chris Candido November to Remember 1997 Taz VS Pitbull #2 Living Dangerously 1998 Taz VS Bam Bam Bigalo Heatwave 1998 Taz Vs Bam Bam Bigalo November to Remember 1998 Taz, Sabu and Rob Van Dam VS the Triple Threat Guilty as Charged 1999 Taz Vs Champion Shane Douglas Living Dangerously 1999 Taz Vs Sabu Hardcore Heaven 1999 Taz VS Chris Candido Taz VS Bubba Ray Dudley Heatwave 1999 Taz VS Tajiri Anarchy Rules 1999 Taz VS Masato Tanaka VS Mike Awsome November to Remember 1999 Taz VS Rob Van Dam