Former TNA announcer Taz spoke about his departure from the company on the latest episode of his Human Podcast Machine podcast.
Taz said he asked for his release and it was granted. They parted ways mutually and professionally, wishing TNA nothing but success.
“My contract was ending in the summer of this year. I was looking to do other things and move on. I felt like I accomplished a lot in TNA, and TNA accomplished a lot with me. In defense to them, they wanted me to stay.”
Taz said he was happy with the money he was making in TNA an wouldn’t have stuck around so long if they weren’t taking care of him. He “absolutely” felt like he should have been making more, but everybody feels that way.
Taz has had a rocky relationship with Josh Matthews over the years, but said that had nothing to do with why he left.
“Did we have a fallout? Yes we had a fallout. Did it have anything to do with me leaving TNA? No. Why can’t two guys have an argument, or disagree, or end a friendship and people gotta speculate that’s why they left?”
“I’ve wrestled guys that hated me, personally. And I’ve hated some of them. And we went out and had magic, and wrestled and drew money, and busted our ass and took care of each other. I’ve wrestled many guys that didn’t like me. It’s called business. While I was working with Josh I had zero problems with him.”
As for the reports of TNA not paying talent and employees on time, Taz confirmed that TNA was in fact behind on paying his salary, which was one of the main reasons that led him to cut ties with them.
“My check was late, and I had to do what I had to do. The company was understanding in that. They understood my position. They were very professional, very kind, very understanding – business is business. This is how I pay my bills and I feed my family, for over 20 years.”
“It’s well documented – and it seems like they’re fixing that now – that my funds were not arriving to the house, and were very late. I did a service, I wasn’t paid for that service. I gave them a notice – they knew ahead of time that I wasn’t going to come, and they were awesome about it. They were apologetic about it.”