Tony Schiavone

Noah Anthony Schiavone (/ʃəˈvɒni/ shə-VON-ee; born November 7, 1957)[3][4] is an American sports announcer, professional wrestling commentator and podcaster.

[8] He graduated from Buffalo Gap High School and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in communications from James Madison University in 1980.

[9][3] Schiavone began his broadcasting career calling high school football games for WTON in Staunton, Virginia.

[9] From 1985 to 1989, Schiavone and David Crockett hosted NWA's World Championship Wrestling live in front of a small in-studio audience in Atlanta.

[11] During his time with the company, he was most notable for being the main play-by-play announcer for their SummerSlam 1989 and Royal Rumble 1990 pay-per-views alongside Jesse "The Body" Ventura.

Other than Ventura (whom he would also frequently partner later in WCW), Schiavone commentated alongside others including Lord Alfred Hayes, Gorilla Monsoon, Hillbilly Jim, Rod Trongard, and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan.

Schiavone's family did not like living in Connecticut, so he accepted an offer from media mogul Ted Turner to work for World Championship Wrestling.

Years after leaving the WWF he admitted that doing so was his biggest career mistake, and that he asked McMahon for his job back as soon as he realized what the Turner Broadcasting System had done to the former Jim Crockett Promotions upon acquiring it.

He also served as the lead announcer of Thunder, typically working alongside Mike Tenay, Bobby Heenan, Larry Zbyszko, and later with Mark Madden and Scott Hudson.

podcast with co-host Conrad Thompson on MLW Radio discussing stories from Schiavone's time with Jim Crockett Promotions, his stint in the WWF and his WCW tenure.

[18] Schiavone noted on the November 20, 2019 Clash of the Champions XIII episode of What Happened When with Conrad Thompson that he would no longer be appearing for Major League Wrestling (MLW).

Nitro was airing live against the pre-taped WWF Raw is War on USA Network and was to feature a rematch between WCW World Heavyweight Champion Kevin Nash and former champion Goldberg from Starrcade, where Nash had ended Goldberg's undefeated streak and taken his title under controversial circumstances.

The Nitro episode was also the first appearance of "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan since he announced his "retirement" from professional wrestling on the Thanksgiving 1998 edition of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

Meanwhile, Raw was to feature Mick Foley, who was wrestling as Mankind at the time and who had previously worked for WCW as Cactus Jack, winning his first WWF Championship in a match against The Rock.

[23] During the show Schiavone spoiled the result of Raw's main event by saying that Foley, the former Cactus Jack, would win, sarcastically remarking "That's gonna put some butts in the seats".

A color photograph of two men and a cameraman in a professional wrestling ring
Schiavone interviewing Bryan Danielson during a 2021 taping of AEW Dynamite