So many wrestlers, announcers and producers have had their names linked to AEW and Tony Schiavone is the latest. It doesn’t hurt that he hosts a podcast with Conrad Thompson who is good friends with AEW owner Tony Khan, and Schiavone talked about the promotion’s launch when he spoke to Wrestling Inc. on the WINCLY podcast recently.
“I think it’s come out of the love of independent wrestling and the love that people want from something other than just the WWE,” stated Schiavone.
“I think what happened with Starrcast and how well it was received, it opened everyone’s eyes to a niche for something that has great talent, can be promoted and doesn’t have a boss that’s an idiot.
“It opened everyone’s eyes that we can do something big.”
The next big step for AEW is to land a television deal and Schiavone says that MLW ending up on BeIN Sports is a positive and shows that there’s a want out there. He also says that a lot of people who grew up pro wrestling fans are now television executives and that’s only helping the business.
From Schiavone’s history with Dusty Rhodes in WCW, he’s known Cody since he was a kid and he praised Cody for his business mind.
“Cody is…I’m not going to use the word “brilliant” because I haven’t worked with him that long and I think brilliant is an overused term. But Cody is a smart kid and has a great business head on his shoulders,” said Schiavone.
“[AEW has] a pretty good list of talent that is going to be very good. I just hope they can put it together and put together a TV show.”
Schiavone then went into detail about his memories of Cody has a kid growing up in Georgia.
“I had a son who wrestled in Cobb County [Georgia]…and he wrestled about five miles away from where Cody wrestled and Cody was state champion. Amongst parents and kids in Georgia, Cody was kinda like the big guy,” revealed Schiavone.
Schiavone said that Cody’s parents would always help out at the wrestling meets just like any other parents and Dusty often served as a voluntary usher.
“Dusty was helping people find their seats. He was just another parent,” stated Schiavone.
As for him working with AEW, Schiavone says he’s not currently involved but had an opportunity to get in AEW’s inner circle. However, he “Schiavonied” himself at an AEW mingling event by declining an invitation to go to Cody’s house for a party in which he could have met AEW president Tony Shan.
“Conrad Thompson said, ‘I set it up where you can meet Tony Khan and you did a no-show. You Schiavonied,'” stated Schiavone before mentioning that Schiavonied is now in Urban Dictionary and is defined as “To squander opportunity by putting in minimal effort.”
AEW has reached out to lots of people, but to date Tony Schiavone is not yet one of them.
“I have not talked to them,” revealed Schiavone. “I signed a three-year deal with MLW. I know they’re not using me right now but I do intend to honor my contract.
“I know [Jim Ross’] contract is coming up to an end at the end of the month. The feeling is that he’ll end up there, but I don’t know if that’s the case.”
Schiavone doesn’t know if he’ll ever end up in AEW as he is staying busy with all of his other projects.
“I have a lot on my plate. This podcast is taking up a lot of time and now I’m making appearances.…There’s a lot going on and we’ll just see. The older I get, the busier I get and it’s a great way to end your life,” said Schiavone.
The full audio from Wrestling Inc.‘s exclusive interview with Tony was included in a recent episode of their WINCLY podcast. It can be heard by clicking on this link. During the full interview Tony discusses working with Eric Bischoff, Bruce Prichard re-signing with WWE, his memories of Cody Rhodes as a child, how WrestleMania compares to Starrcade and more.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
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