Who is Taz, the current AEW personality whom John Cena mentioned on SmackDown? Know all about his connection to WWE

Let's take a look back at Human Suplex Machine Taz's celebrated wrestling career, who was most recently referenced by John Cena on SmackDown this week.

Who is Taz, the current AEW personality whom John Cena mentioned on SmackDown? Know all about his connection to WWE

Taz (via 411Mania)

Peter Senerchia, better known by the ring name Taz, is one of the most respected veterans in the sphere of professional wrestling. In the last 24 hours, the AEW personality unexpectedly became the most talked about name in the wrestling community. And that brings us to the question of who Taz is and what legacy the wrestling veteran has left behind us.

The 56-year-old made his professional wrestling debut at the very young age of 20 back in 1987. In the initial phase of his career, Taz wrestled in several independent circuits under the ring name “The Tazmaniac.” He would eventually go on to use variations of the said name for the rest of his career, even during his stint with WWE.

YouTube video

Taz is fondly remembered for his brief but memorable tenure with ECW, where he left an indelible mark. He joined ECW in late 1993 and rapidly rose to prominence. Two years later in 1995, he sustained a major neck injury, which affected his wrestling career in the long run. Moreover, he earned the famous moniker “Human Suplex Machine” owing to his exceptional mat work and suplex variations.

FS Video

The wrestling legend is an ECW Triple Crown Champion. Taz has captured the coveted ECW World and World Television Championships twice. He has also won the tag team title three times in ECW. After his retirement in 2002, Taz transitioned to a full-time broadcaster and color commentator.

In 1999 Taz jumped ship to WWE. During his tenure with WWE, he handed Kurt Angle his first singles loss at Madison Square Garden. Following his in-ring retirement, he worked as a commentator on the rebranded ECW and SmackDown. He later worked for Impact Wrestling as a color commentator. Currently, he is signed with All Elite Wrestling, where he is a part of the commentary team.

Taz reacts to John Cena name-dropping him on SmackDown

WWE and AEW might be business rivals, with both companies vying for brand supremacy. However, the competitiveness between the two promotions hasn’t stopped fellow talents from name-dropping one another during promo segments. In the recent edition of SmackDown, WWE legend John Cena mentioned AEW commentator Taz during his heated exchange with Solo Sikoa.

John Cena and Taz
John Cena and Taz (via Metro UK)

Taking to X, the 56-year-old dropped a one-liner tweet in response to Cena referring to the former in his latest promo. During the most recent episode of SmackDown, Cena confronted Solo Sikoa face-to-face ahead of their big clash at WWE Crown Jewel. The two went back and forth on the mic. It was when Cena took a jibe at Sikoa and called him a “bargain basement Taz rip-off.”

https://twitter.com/OfficialTAZ/status/1720612353945764008?s=20

The Cenation Leader annihilated the young gun on the microphone. Since then, Taz’s name has been trending on social media. Moreover, the Human Suplex Machine had a simple yet effective reaction to the promo. He simply tweeted John Cena’s signature catchphrase on his X handle.

In case you missed it: