For the better part of the last four decades, Augusta County native Tony Schiavone has been one of the most recognizable voices in all of professional wrestling — synonymous with Jim Crockett Promotions and later WCW, as the lead play-by-play analyst for Monday “Nitro.”
Now, Schiavone has found a new lease on life in All Elite Wrestling, as the voice of Saturday Night “Collision.”
This Saturday, the legendary broadcaster will return to Virginia – when AEW makes its debut in the “Star City,” at the Berglund Civic Center in Roanoke for a live rendition of “Collision.”
ICYMI
- AEW ‘Collision’ travels to Roanoke for Saturday TV broadcast
- Tickets for Saturday’s live show: AllEliteWrestling.com
For Schiavone, returning to Roanoke presents an opportunity to reflect on his journey in professional wrestling, both as a Hall of Fame broadcaster and as a fan.
Schiavone was raised south of Staunton, in Craigsville, in the heart of Crockett Country. There, his love affair with professional wrestling began.
“I don’t even know if you could look this up,” Schiavone said, “but Craigsville had a cable system in the early ‘70s. These two guys put antennas on the highest point [in Craigsville], and we had cable. We didn’t have TBS, but we didn’t have to use our own antennas.”
Schiavone was spoiled for choice.
“WSLS TV 10 in Roanoke. Channel 13 out of Lynchburg. WTVR-TV6 out of Richmond. Those were the three channels I watched wrestling on.”
Schiavone was enamored with the stars of Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling.
“I liked Wahoo McDaniel growing up. Tim Woods, who was Mr. Wrestling, and his partner, Dino Bravo. I was a fan of Jimmy Snuka and Paul Orndorff. A couple of years later in the ‘70s, Blackjack Mulligan became my favorite wrestler ever. And, then there was Dusty Rhodes, who would show up in the Mid-Atlantic area on occasion, as a special attraction.
“Dusty was so entertaining. Dusty and Blackjack were my favorites. I liked Ric Flair, too, but everybody liked Ric Flair, just because of his personality.”
While Schiavone had ample opportunity to watch JCP’s flagship programs, “World Wide Wrestling” and self-titled “Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling,” on television, his love couldn’t be contained to the small screen. So, he began attending live shows.
“We would go to the Greensboro Coliseum to see wrestling. One time, Tom Miller, the ring announcer, said, ‘Fans, you will see the new world tag team champions, Dusty Rhodes and Dick Slater, defend the belts against Ric Flair and Greg Valentine.’ And we thought, well, Dusty’s coming, and we’ve never seen Dick Slater, so we’re coming back. When we got there, it was now the Anderson Brothers, who had defeated Slater and Dusty, either in Georgia or Florida, against Flair and Valentine. We were disappointed until the match started, and we saw one of the greatest tag team matches of all time.”
After Schiavone graduated from Buffalo Gap High School, he attended JMU, where he studied broadcasting. Schiavone intended to pursue his other passion, baseball, as a play-by-play analyst.
His journey led him to Charlotte, where he worked for the Charlotte Orioles, a Double-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. The team happened to be owned by the Crockett family, under the stewardship of Frances Crockett.
In 1983, Schiavone was offered an opportunity to interview Ric Flair, in preparation for his match at the inaugural “Starrcade” against Harley Race. The rest is history.
Schiavone’s background in communications and familiarity with Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling’s product made him a perfect addition to the Jim Crockett Promotions broadcast team. However, what began as supplemental income quickly became a full-time vocation.
“Well, I wanted to do it, but money was a big part of it,” Schiavone reminisced. “I started doing wrestling part-time, while I was still doing baseball, but I was making twice as much doing the wrestling as I was doing minor league baseball. We had our second child in ’84, and I was still doing baseball, so I thought if I could do more wrestling, then I could provide a much better life for these kids. I don’t know if they asked me if I wanted to do wrestling full-time or if they told me I was going to do wrestling full-time, I can’t remember. Whatever it was, I started working in wrestling full-time for Jim Crockett Promotions. And, then of course, we got on TBS, and that’s how I started being recognized on a national level.”
Schiavone credits his early success to the broadcasters around him.
“Well, Bob Caudle was the man in Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling,” said Schiavone.
“We were in Spartanburg, at the Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium. We were doing a show together, and we were standing there, on set with our microphones, and I just marked out. He was so humble that he just wrote it off.
“Rich Landrum was tremendous doing ‘World Wide.’ I think I learned a lot from David [Crockett] about making sure that you’re excited. David’s enthusiasm was real. It was his business, so when he was selling something, he was authentic.
“I learned a lot in ‘87 from Jim Ross. I still call him my mentor. He taught me how to call a match, how to sell a match, what’s important, what’s not. JR always had supreme confidence in his ability. It was unbelievable. To the point where I admired him for it. He used to say, ‘When the show is on, you have to believe that you’re the greatest wrestling announcer in the world. If you don’t, then you don’t have any business out there.’”
ICYMI
In 1988, the Crockett family sold their interests in Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling to Ted Turner. In Jim Crockett Promotions’ wake, WCW was born.
The acquisition proved to be a true inflection point in the history of professional wrestling. And, while WCW experienced unprecedented success in the mid-1990s at the height of the “Monday Night Wars,” Schiavone believes that it was the greatest contributing factor to WCW’s demise.
“Here’s the complete difference between WCW and AEW: WCW was owned by Turner. We’re not owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. They’re the ones, and Tony Khan will tell you this, who suggested we add another show on Saturday. We’ve signed a great deal, and they’re very supportive of what we do, but they don’t own the company. I always believed that was important. Have wrestling people run the company, not television people, because back then, [WCW] was just another product, like CNN or their station, TBS. And that’s what killed us. Now, it’s Tony’s company. It’s a wrestling company, not a television company, that is on two great networks and a tremendous streaming service.”
After WCW closed its doors in early 2001, Schiavone spent 18 years away from pro wrestling.
He returned to his first love.
“I got a job the same day the office closed with WSB Atlanta. I got hired on a part-time basis, but it eventually became full-time in ‘03. Which led me to work with the Atlanta Braves and Georgia Bulldogs. But I still wanted to make more money, so I contacted Vince, and they never really returned my call. So, I got the message.
“I signed with WSB full-time in ‘03 and started working with the Georgia Bulldogs network. I also worked with the Braves, pre-game and post-game, for two years, until they lost the rights and went to another station. Then, I was an official scorer for the Braves from ‘04 to 2009.”
In 2017, Schiavone joined forces with entrepreneur and podcaster Conrad Thompson to launch “What Happened When,” giving the former voice of Monday “Nitro” an opportunity to relive his experiences in professional wrestling.
The venture rekindled Schiavone’s love for professional wrestling and gave him an opportunity to return to the booth, signing with Court Bauer’s promotion, Major League Wrestling. There, he met future AEW stars like Darby Allin, Maxwell Jacob Friedman and Swerve Strickland.
Then, Tony Khan came calling.
In August 2019, Schiavone announced that he signed his first multi-year deal with the fledgling promotion. He made his debut on the inaugural episode of Wednesday Night “Dynamite,” in Washington, D.C. The show was broadcast on TNT, bridging the gap between WCW and AEW for the network.
“Dynamite is easy, because Excalibur, who is tremendous at his job, does all the heavy lifting. He’s doing all of the pitches, he’s doing all of the B-Rolls, he’s doing all of the mentions.”
Schiavone continued, “Dave Meltzer said my voice on ‘Dynamite’ means a lot, because it brings fans back from the ‘90s. So, I realized what my job is. It’s to make you feel good, nostalgia, etc. And, of course, my dynamic with Taz, I just love working with him.”
While Schiavone continued to provide color commentary on Wednesday nights, he was still determined to be a play-by-play analyst.
“I told Tony, I would like a chance to do play-by-play again. If it doesn’t work out, I don’t care, I have a great job here, working in talent relations.”
ICYMI
While Schiavone was initially interested in Friday Night “Rampage,” an opportunity ultimately presented itself on Saturday nights.
For the first time in more than 20 years, Schiavone was providing play-by-play analysis alongside Nigel McGuinness. And, on TNT, no less.
“There’s a lot of pressure during ‘Collision.’ You have to go to the breaks. You got Tony talking to you in your ear. You got Mike Mansury, our producer, in my ear. You’ve got to stay focused on the action, while listening to them. A lot of times, I’ll get texts. I keep my format on the iPad, because it’s constantly changing. I’ve got this great kid, Tommy Carlucci, who helps me out at ringside. I’ve got Nigel McGuinness, who’s been a delight to work with.”
Schiavone gleefully sang his broadcasting partners’ praises.
“Here’s what Nigel does best: I don’t have to set the table and tell the story. He does a lot of that. He takes a lot of pressure off of me, and I appreciate the effort he puts forth. He always has notes. It’s really easy to do a show with Nigel.”
After spending the past three weeks in Chicago at the Aragon Ballroom, the next stop for “Collision” is in the “Star City.”
The significance isn’t lost on Schiavone.
“It’s really special for me to do it here. It means I’m going back to the Valley. This is a place where I saw many, many wrestling matches. And, now here I am, calling wrestling matches again.”
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