10 Things Fans Should Know About Tony Schiavone

Every week, fans of All Elite Wrestling hear the voice of Tony Schiavone calling matches behind the commentary table on AEW programming alongside Excalibur and Jim Ross on Dynamite as well as alongside Paul Wight and others on AEW Dark: Elevation. No newcomer to the scene, Schiavone is a legend of the business, whose work as a broadcaster in pro wrestling goes all the way back to the early 1980s.

RELATED: 10 Announcers That Belong On A Wrestling Mount Rushmore

Because of that, modern fans might not even be aware of his work for World Championship Wrestling, much less what he was up to in decades prior. Let’s go over Tony Schiavone’s career, and what fans need to know about him.

10 Started With Jim Crockett Promotions

While Tony Schiavone is known for calling WCW shows, his work for the company predates the name. He got his start in the early 1980s with the NWA-affiliated Jim Crockett Promotions, where he would conduct backstage interviews and deliver play-by-play commentary for JCP’s weekly show, World Championship Wrestling, as well as big shows like Starrcade. He even worked with future AEW broadcasting partner Jim Ross during this era. Eventually JCP would be purchased by Turner Broadcasting, where it would be rebranded into WCW.

9 Briefly Worked For WWE

JCP’s purchase by a big media company like Turner led Tony Schiavone to sign with WWE in 1989. In addition to calling matches for Wrestling Challenge and Primetime Wrestling, Schiavone also did commentary for SummerSlam 1989 and Royal Rumble 1990. However, the job required a move to Connecticut, which Schiavone didn’t like due to the cost of living there as well as having to uproot his entire family to move there. Eventuntually, this led to him leaving WWE in 1990.

8 The Voice of WCW

Schiavone quickly moved back to WCW later in 1990, where he started calling minor shows like Main Event, Worldwide, and Pro. Soon enough, he would move on to hosting Saturday Night, but things would change for Tony Schiavone in the mid-1990s with the premiere of Monday Nitro.

RELATED: Every Year Of WCW Nitro, Ranked From Worst To Best

On Nitro, Schiavone found himself calling what was now WCW’s flagship show, making him a staple of the company during the Monday Night Wars when the biggest number of viewers were tuning in. He’d also lead the team on Thunder, but would continue to call Nitro pretty much until the company folded in 2001.

7 The “Butts In Seats” Incident

Schiavone’s run on Nitro would lead to one of the most infamous moments of the Monday Night Wars as well as his entire career. As part of the company’s rivalry with WWE, WCW had a tendency to give away match results of pre-taped episodes of Monday Night Raw, which backfired spectacularly on the 1/4/1999 episode of Nitro. Schiavone dismissively spoiled Mankind defeating The Rock for the WWE Championship, saying, “Yeah, that’ll put butts in seats,” but viewers changed the channel in droves to see it happen. In the years since, the incident was considered a turning point in the Monday Night Wars.

6 Made An Appearance In Impact Wrestling

WWE would acquire WCW in 2001, but Tony Schiavone did not go over like much of the talent did. Instead, he largely stepped away from wrestling, although he had a brief but forgotten stint with TNA (now known as Impact Wrestling) in 2003. On one of its weekly pay-per-views, Schiavone interrupted a segment to deliver an angry, heelish “shoot” promo, during which Vince Russo intervened to offer him a spot on his Sports Entertainment eXtreme stable. However, the one-off appearance never led to anything.

5 Sports Broadcasting

Tony Schiavone may have stepped away from the wrestling world in 2003, but that doesn’t mean that he stopped calling sports. In the intervening years, Schiavone continued to be a broadcaster in Georgia, working as a sports anchor for a couple different radio stations in the state. Additionally, Schiavone did broadcasting work with the Atlanta Braves’ minor league affiliate as well as the University of Georgia’s Georgia Bulldogs, working for the team’s radio programming.

4 Has A Podcast

Like pretty much any wrestling personality one could name, Tony Schiavone has a podcast. And, like many veterans of the business, Schiavone has a podcast with Conrad Thompson, a mortgage broker who runs an entire network of podcasts with legends like Kurt Angle, Jeff Jarrett, Jim Ross, and Eric Bischoff.

RELATED: 10 Wrestlers You Didn't Know Have Their Own Podcast

On his podcast, What Happened When, Thompson grills Schiavone about his entire career, going from the NWA days to WCW, and even touched on the aforementioned TNA run at one point.

3 Major League Wrestling & NWA Return

In 2017, promoter Court Bauer relaunched his dormant promotion Major League Wrestling, kicking off a weekly show called MLW Fusion. As part of that, Tony Schiavone signed on to do color commentary for Fusion, ending a 14 year exodus from the pro wrestling business. In addition, Schiavone also had a one-off gig calling the NWA’s 70th Anniversary Show, where Cody Rhodes dethroned Nick Aldis as NWA World Heavyweight Champion. Schiavone stuck around with MLW until September of 2019, when a new commentary job came calling.

2 All Elite Wrestling

AEW started up in early 2019, but didn’t establish a weekly show until October with its flagship show, Dynamite. With the first episode, Tony Schiavone started calling matches for Dynamite while also working as a producer on the show. Since then, Schiavone has been a weekly presence on the show, doing commentary as well as being an in-ring interviewer. During the early tumultuous pandemic shows, Schiavone also stepped up to be the main play-by-play commentary while the company had to deal with myriad travel issues.

1 Britt Baker’s Punching Bag

In 2020, babyface AEW women’s division star turned heel, and as part of her new attitude bullied and belittled Tony Schiavone during promos and interviews. Before long, Schiavone became a regular punching bag during Baker’s entertaining skits and backstage segments, doing things like waxing Tony’s chest or having a “Friendsgiving” celebration. Over time, Tony has gradually grown to become a part of Britt’s entourage, much to the kayfabe chagrin of her IRL boyfriend Adam Cole. On top of that, they also became great friends in real life.