By James Caldwell, Torch assistant editor

New TNA announcer Taz says he anticipates working at a higher level in TNA because it's an environment where he can flourish in front of the camera as a color commentator.

At the end of his WWE run, Taz was generally viewed as being uninspired on commentary while "playing out the string" before his WWE contract expired just before WrestleMania 25. Taz partly blames WWE for having too many voices in his ears that were distracting him from doing his job.

"At times, it's a little obnoxious to have so many people in your ear," Taz told Alex Marvez for his weekly column. "You have to listen to your announcing partner, the executive producer and the company owner while trying to follow the talent in the ring and tell a story. I only have two ears, not six."

Taz is wearing many hats in TNA as an on-air commentator, a backstage agent working with wrestlers, and a TV production consultant. He says TNA reminds him of the Original ECW, but with money and a legit TV deal.

"TNA reminds me of the original ECW, but with a real TV contract, real money, and a lot of big names," Taz said. "We're not at the level of WWE yet. We're still young. There will be some growing pains. But the work ethic and passion are there to give our audience the best product possible."

Caldwell's Analysis: I'm glad Taz put a "but" after TNA reminding him of the Original ECW. Taz should know better than anyone that what helped make ECW stand out was NOT having the big name stars that WCW was gobbling up from WWE to build their brand. ECW had homegrown talent like RVD, Sabu, Taz, Shane Douglas, Justin Credible, Raven, Saturn, Mikey Whipwreck, underutilized Steve Austin and Cactus Jack, etc. that helped develop the anti-establishment cult following. TNA is more following the WCW approach of building up their brand with old faces from old places and just now getting around to building up young talent like Styles, Joe, Daniels, Sabin, and Shelley that helped put TNA on national TV. That's partly why TNA has been stuck at the same 1.0-1.2 ratings level for two years because the audience doesn't have a sense they're part of something new or explosive that is constantly expanding or growing or on the verge of breaking through using new stars and new concepts when TNA's product mix mainly comes across like WWE Lite or a rehash of the Original ECW, but with older, slower, more banged up wrestlers trying to recreate 1997.

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