Tony Schiavone says he was 'relieved' when WWE purchased WCW
Tony Schiavone is famously known for being the voice of WCW. He was a part of the announce team calling matches and conducting interviews both inside the ring and backstage.
Tony Schiavone stayed with WCW until the very end and even played a role in WCW's defeat in the Monday Night Wars, at the hands of WWE, after he spoiled the results for a taped episode of RAW on Eric Bischoff's commands.
In a recent interview with Lucha Libre Online, Schiavone talked about his time in WCW and what the whole environment was like towards the end of the promotion.
"I'm going to say probably 1999 or 2000, until the end, it was a very stressful atmosphere to work. So at the end it was not a good place to work. But we had a lot of fun. We did a lot of things. We sold-out a lot of arenas. The ratings were good on TV. But it became a very stressful atmosphere to work and they were near the end. It really wasn't a good place to work"
During the Monday Night Wars, WCW and WWE were both doing as much as they could to get higher ratings, which involved a lot of pettiness from both sides. Tony Schiavone was one of those who suffered with WCW putting a burden on him.
He went on to state how he felt when WCW was bought out by WWE and what he went through towards the end of the ratings war.
"When the company was purchased by the WWF in 2001, I was very relieved. I was very relieved it was over with because it was putting a strain on my marriage. It was putting a strain on me emotionally and finally when it was sold, it made me feel better. I felt at ease."
Tony worked multiple different commentary jobs over the next number of years, with various promotions. He is currently a regular face on AEW.
Tony Schiavone has found himself in yet another ratings war against WWE
In August of 2019, Tony Schiavone signed with All Elite Wrestling and has been a part of their announce team ever since.
Tony Schiavone has once again become the voice of wrestling on TNT after almost twenty years. He regularly commentates for AEW on their special events and their weekly show AEW: Dynamite. He works alongside his former rival from the Monday Night Wars, Jim Ross, and the "wrestling encyclopedia" Excalibur.
AEW is currently in a Wednesday night ratings war with WWE NXT and Tony Schiavone is again on the opposing side to WWE. Schiavone is going strong as an announcer and is one of the highlights of the AEW product.