Recent TNA announcer Todd Keneley, who was relieved of his broadcasting duties earlier this month, talked exclusively to PWTorch about his verbal exchanges with Taz on Impact and PPV broadcasts.

"I don't think there was ever any legitimate heat there. I don't think they (Taz and Mike Tenay) hated me. I think they tested me early on," Keneley exclusively told PWTorch columnist Pat McNeill on the June 19 PWTorch Livecast.

"In terms of chemistry, a lot of it was off-the-cuff. Taz would fire at me and I would fire back trying to brush it off. It was very real in that sense, but I think part of that is they're veteran announcers and I was stepping into that spot and they were going to not necessarily make it easy on me. And, I think it was to my benefit. Overall, both of them were great to work with and taught me a lot."

Keneley added that he expected a tough reception joining an established announcing team, which made it easier to absorb Taz's "tests."

"I knew coming into that position that I was going to have earn their respect, and when you're on live TV, if they chose to, they definitely could have ganged up and really given it to me. But, I kind of figured that," Keneley said.

"If you listen to Taz throughout his commentary career, he would take jabs at (Michael) Cole back in the day. That's just something that he's always done. Yeah, at times it was like a constant wave hitting me over the head, but I learned to kind of roll with it and have fun with it and fire back. And, Taz behind-the-scenes is very different than he was out there at the booth. He did really help and teach me and coach me up. I was never offended, but it did make it challenging."

Overall, Keneley says the experience helped him in his career and he complimented Tenay and Taz for teaching him about the position in an on-the-job training situation.

"When I was first brought in, I called the first hour with JB (Jeremy Borash), but I think after three weeks, they threw the first three-man team together. There was definitely some friction at first," Keneley said. "I'm sure part of it was them wondering, 'What is this guy - they're putting him on our team now?' There was definitely some tough love initially, but they were both really helpful and they helped me get rid of some bad habits I had coming in."

[ FYI: Keneley can now be heard on Championship Wrestling from Hollywood's weekly TV show. More info HERE at HollywoodWrestling.com ]

[ AUDIO: Keneley's full 60-minute interview going in-depth on his TNA run and wrestling announcing career can be heard HERE at PWTorchLivecast.com ]

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