Tony Schiavone was one of the most important commentary voices in pro wrestling throughout the ’80s and ’90s, and you definitely remember exactly what he sounded like if you ever watched WCW Monday Nitro, or NWA World Championship Wrestling, or SummerSlam 1989, strangely enough. Although he spent a year in WWF as the ’80s became the ’90s, he was primarily associated with NWA and then WCW, and in fact he was the one (although it wasn’t his idea) who famously spoiled on Nitro that Mick Foley was about to win the WWF Championship on Raw, a key incident in the Monday Night Wars. In more recent years, Schiavone has mostly commentated on Baseball, although he was hired as a color commentator by Major League Wrestling in 2017.
Now PWInsider is reporting that Tony Schiavone has signed with AEW, although what his role will be within the company is currently unknown. The current AEW commentary team is Jim Ross, Excalibur and Alex Marvez, with Alicia Atout and Chris Van Vliet serving as backstage interviewers. It’s possible he’ll have a backstage role, but featuring the voice of Monday Nitro as part of wrestling’s return to TNT is probably too much to resist.
There were rumors in the run-up to this news that WWE was also trying to sign Schiavone, even though he thought for years that Vince wanted nothing to do with him. Tony’s also still under contract with Major League Wrestling, and PWInsider says he’ll keep working for them as well.
