Ex-WWE wrestler Taz (real name Peter Senercia) criticized his former employer for how Liv Morgan’s head injury was treated during a match on Monday’s “Raw.”
Morgan, member of faction The Riott Squad, was knocked out by an errant “Yes!” kick from opponent Brie Bella, which you can see happen here.
“First off, Bella didn’t– this is not intentional,” Taz, who went by Tazz during his WWE days, said Wednesday on his podcast. “I watched it many times from a couple of different angles. It’s not intentional what happened here. It happens. Their timing — both girls, their timing was off, it’s really that simple. It happens … it’s not ballet. It’s that simple. So, it’s not Liv’s fault, it’s not Bella’s fault, it just happens.”
“Liv got caught on what you call the ‘button’ — on a part of her chin, and that’s basically what ended up knocking her out,” he continued. “It was scary seeing that happen to her. I have to say, I do think that WWE, I think that their intentions — I always talk about that they’re big into safety. I think that this was a bang-bang situation, and I think that things could’ve been handled a little bit better, in my professional opinion. Just as an observer watching it, and someone who has been knocked out in the ring, someone who’s knocked people out in the ring — I just have to be honest in these comments.”
“You might not hear [this from] a lot people who work for WWE, or looking to go back to WWE, but I’m just going to say it,” the ECW legend and former heavyweight champion went on. “That match has to stop, and that girl needs to be taken out of that match ASAP. Once she’s knocked out, she should not have tried to get up, no one should have touched her neck. Brie Bella was concerned about her, so she was checking on her — everything needs to stop. She should not be involved in a spot later on, she should not have to lock up and push — you can see she’s falling down … once Brie kicks her with that button-shot on the jaw and goes for a cover, you could see Brie is concerned.”
After Morgan collapsed, Bella tried to pin her. Morgan instinctively — and weakly — kicked out. Bella then pulled Morgan up and kind of dragged her to the opposing corner in an effort to get the clearly injured wrestler out of the match.
Though Morgan’s teammates pulled her out of the ring, she jumped back in later to take a triple-suplex with all of the other five women in the three-on-three tag-team match. The referee (somewhat) tried to prevent her from re-entering, but he did not stop the match. Morgan was then taken to the trainer in the back during a commercial break and did not return.
“Brie knows something’s not right, and somehow instinctual, Liv just kicked out — it was such a weak kick out,” Taz, who also did commentary for WWE, added. “And then because Brie’s nervous, and she’s picking her up by the head. And the referee, he don’t know what to do. OK? And then Brie’s trying to hold her up, and Liv can’t even stand up! And she’s trying– she’s got to be taken out of the ring, and it’s gotta end. It’s gotta completely just end. It’s gotta be done, the match She’s gotta be taken out of the match. Nothing, nothing else shoulda happened. I just have to say that. I had to get that off my chest, and I gotta be honest with you. I’m a little surprised at what went down.”
Morgan suffered a concussion, a WWE spokesman told TheWrap on Tuesday. She is currently in the pro-wrestling company’s concussion protocol. WWE did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment on Taz’s critique.