Current TNA color analyst Taz was the guest on the excellent "Between The Ropes" radio show in Orlando, Florida last night, and the outspoken native of Brooklyn, New York did not disappoint.

Taz has been very honest and open about WWE and WWE Chairman Vince McMahon's handling of the decision to discontinue the ECW brand. In a Facebook blog, Taz praised McMahon's love for the history of pro wrestling, and wrote about how confused he was that McMahon would simply discard the three letters "ECW" with so little fanfare.

In the interview with Brian Fritz on "Between The Ropes," Taz elaborated about the demise of the brand letters that brought him to prominence in the 1990's, commenting that it was a passionate group of individuals who had been recruited by and developed by a genius named Paul Heyman who carried the banner "ECW" for several years.

Taz says it better than I ever could recap. Here's the words from the man himself:

"Most true pro wrestling fans or purists will not remember ECW for being on Syfy, but ECW from the gritty days. That's what ECW is going to be remembered for. That's no disrespect for the ECW that are in WWE. It's no disrespect to WWE. ECW was re-created in WWE's vision and now that it's dead and buried, people will remember ECW as a bunch of guys that nobody really wanted and Paul Heyman was a genius for using that as a motivation. There were times when our checks wouldn't clear and we'd still go out there and give 150 percent. That's good leadership, or we were a bunch of marks ... one or the other. I like to go with it was good motivation."

While praising Heyman's leadership, which many have compared to that of a brilliant cult leader, Taz offered his take on working as a commentator for Vince McMahon.

"It's his show. I get that. It's cool," Taz said. "But why pay me all the money you pay me when you can get anyone who can understand English and speak it - which you can argue I'm not really speaking English either. I've even said it to Vince McMahon, 'You're getting all over me about something, but you can hire anyone to sit there and repeat what you say.' It's very hard to be creative and it's hard to be a performer and entertainer and have your own instincts in WWE."

The entire program, which is broadcast on 1080 AM - ESPN Radio Orlando, is available here: http://www.betweentheropes.com/content/view/1423/ and is highly recommended. Taz made a fantastic guest, and offered a rare look behind the scenes at the different motivations performers have been exposed to while working for McMahon and Heyman. From the perspective of the former ECW headliner who went on to become the best color commentator in WWE, it's a fascinating opinion from a person who worked closely with both men.