Tony Schiavone has addressed his new role as the play-by-play announcer for AEW Collision.
Schiavone joined the broadcast team of Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness on Saturday’s show in Toledo. He said on his What Happened When podcast recently that he asked Tony Khan “months ago” about potentially doing play-by-play for Rampage before the AEW president eventually offered him a role on Collision.
“I told Tony, I said, ‘I would like another chance at doing play-by-play.’ And I said, ‘I could probably do Rampage.’ He said, ‘Okay, well, let me think about it.’ And I thought I was going to end up doing play-by-play on Rampage.”
Prior to Schiavone joining the announce team on Saturdays, Kelly had been doing play-by-play with McGuiness providing color commentary.
“Kevin Kelly is a great announcer,” Schiavone continued. “He is so smooth and so good and I really, really enjoy working with him and Nigel. And I know we’ve only worked together like once, but we’ve been together backstage for a number of months now.”
As the debut of another teenager approaches in July, AEW has apparently signed another one as their youth movement continues.
According to AEW senior producer and special advisor to talent Tony Schiavone, the company has signed 18-year-old Billie Starkz.
As of this writing, there has been no announcement of the signing from either side or any details as to what type of contract.
Speaking on his What Happened When podcast with Conrad Thompson, Schiavone said, “Speaking of 18-year-olds, we just signed another 18-year-old. Billie Starkz, the girl that wrestled Jade.”
Starkz is coming off a loss to TBS Champion Jade Cargill on this past Friday’s AEW Battle of the Belts IV. She made her debut at a Universal Studios taping for AEW Dark last December and has wrestled seven matches, going winless in all of them. She has also wrestled twice for Ring of Honor, going 1-1.
The Starkz news came up when Schiavone was talking about the July Dynamite debut of 17-year-old phenom Nick Wayne who, after winning the DEFY title this past Saturday, learned he would face former champion Swerve Strickland in his AEW debut in Saskatoon, Canada.
Wayne was signed when he was 16 with his deal fully going into effect when he turns 18 years old — days before his AEW debut.
The son of Tony Schiavone has worked for Fox News, the MLB Network, and Starrcast. He was responsible for building all show formats for Starrcast II, III & IV.
Matt Schiavone started with AEW last Friday at the Rampage taping from Jacksonville.
Tony Schiavone revealed the news on an episode of AEW Unrestricted released on Friday.
“We have just hired a brand new producer to help us backstage and it’s a producer who has had 15 years of network TV experience, really knows what he’s doing, and I really wrestled with even wanting him to come to work for us, and it’s my son, Matt, who will start as a producer in Jacksonville and as this thing airs, it’s already happened. He had such a good job but he, just like us, absolutely loves pro wrestling and wanted to do it,” Tony Schiavone said on the show.
Tony Schiavone also revealed that his son will be working under Sonjay Dutt.
“I’m very proud of him and maybe we can get him on to talk to us sometimes. He worked for Fox News in New York City for 15 years, as a producer there. So, you go from Fox News and news to pro-wrestling, it’s two completely different things but it’s still TV.”
Tony Schiavone has opened up about his new responsibilities backstage in AEW.
Earlier this month, AEW announced that Sonjay Dutt, QT Marshall, Pat Buck and Schiavone had all received promotions. Madison Rayne was also brought in to work in a coaching role as well. Schiavone commented on his new responsibilities during an episode of AEW Unrestricted released on Thursday.
“My job is now Senior Producer and Special Advisor and Talent Relations. I love that special advisor role, it’s like, ‘Would you go advise him on something?’ I do a lot of running during the day, trying to talk to talent,” he said.
“Basically, what I do [is] walk around during the day and ask people how they are doing and ask them if they’re happy, if there’s anything we can do to make it better and that’s very, very important. I think we’re really making good strides, I really do but I can tell you this, it’s a slow process.”
“I really think that of all the things that I do for this company, talent relations is the most important.”
Schiavone continued to talk about meeting with Tony Khan at an NFL Owners party in Palm Beach earlier this summer.
“He and I talked at the party and we talked flying back and I said, ‘Listen, I know your EVPs are the Young Bucks and Kenny Omega, they wrestle and they have the final say on a lot of things. I said, ‘But I’d like to work closely with them and help out in any way I can.’ He was very receptive to it.”
“Then he brought us all in at Universal during a taping at Universal Studios and he says, ‘Guys, I really need your help. This company is going gangbusters but I feel that I can use you in these ways.’ And we said, ‘sure’ and then the announcement was made.”
“A lot of times things can get crazy in a negative way, that’s the way it happens in wrestling, but now we have the tools in place, the staff in place, to try to remedy that before it breaks bad. We’re not going to be perfect at it but I think we’re going to make it a better place to work, which has already been a great place to work.”
“Throughout the years in pro-wrestling, there have been a lot of people treated like s**t and we want to change that dynamic, we really, really do. You can’t please everybody and everybody wants to know what their creative is and what their vision is and there is so much to gather up that sometimes you just cannot give each individual person the attention he or she needs.”
“Now, I’m put in the position to help Tony out with that and let them know, ‘Hey, we care about you, here’s where you are, you’re a big part of this or you know what? You’re not a big part of this right now and here’s your role and just communicate, that’s all, communicate.'”
The commentary team for Ric Flair’s “last match” has now been revealed.
Starrcast announced today that Tony Schiavone & David Crockett will return to the Jim Crockett Promotions broadcast booth to call Flair’s final match on Sunday, July 31. The match is being held at the Nashville Fairgrounds in conjunction with Starrcast V.
“Jim Crockett Promotions Presents: Ric Flair’s Last Match” is the name of the event. It’s being broadcast live as a pay-per-view on Fite TV.
This will be the first time that the 73-year-old Flair has wrestled since 2011.
Flair’s opponents for the match have yet to be officially announced. It was expected that Flair & FTR would face Ricky Steamboat & The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express in a six-man tag match, but Steamboat declined the offer to take part in the match.
“I thought about it for a week and just recently declined on it. I know when I wrestled [Chris] Jericho at WrestleMania 25 and then we had the return match at Backlash in a singles. At 69, and I know it’s a six-man tag and I can get a little this and that in, but with all due respect to our fans, I want them to remember me that last time I was in there with Jericho when they chanted, ‘You still got it!’ I don’t want to scar that phrase,” Steamboat said.
“I don’t have any aches or pains. I know I’ve had the health issues, but I asked 40 different doctors, and I decided I’m only gonna listen to one,” Flair said. “Not necessarily the one that was gonna give me the right answer, but that I felt the most comfortable with.”
The popular commentator and interviewer revealed on the latest What Happened When podcast that AEW picked up a two-year extension on his existing contract, keeping him in the company through mid-2024.
Schiavone signed his initial full-time contract in August 2019 to both commentate and take on a senior producer role for AEW events. He can currently be heard and seen on AEW Dynamite on TBS and AEW Dark: Elevation on YouTube.
He has also been involved in some storylines, including his friendship with AEW Women’s Champion Britt Baker and with Elevation broadcast partner Paul Wight last August when QT Marshall attacked Schiavone’s son, Chris, leading to a match between Wight and Marshall at All Out.
At the time of his initial signing, Schiavone planned to keep his role as a producer for the University of Georgia football and baseball networks, a play-by-play man for the Gwinnett Stripers minor league baseball team, and to continue working for MLW.
A Friendsgiving celebration has been announced for tonight’s AEW Dynamite.
The company announced this afternoon that the celebration will be hosted by Britt Baker and Tony Schiavone.
“Thanksgiving can bring family + friends together, so celebrate Thanksgiving Eve on #AEWDynamite TONIGHT with a “Friendsgiving” hosted by #AEW Women’s World Champion @RealBrittBaker & @Tonyschiavone24! Dynamite is LIVE everywhere @ 8pm ET/7pm CT/6pm MT/5pm PT TONIGHT on @tntdrama!” AEW’s tweet reads.
Britt Baker last wrestled at Full Gear, where she successfully defended the AEW Women’s Championship against Tay Conti. She told Schiavone last week that she would turn the attention to Jamie Hayter, who will face Thunder Rosa in a TBS title tournament quarterfinal match on tonight’s show
Matches announced for Dynamite include:
Bryan Danielson vs. Colt Cabana
CM Punk vs. QT Marshall
TBS title tournament quarterfinal match: Thunder Rosa vs. Jamie Hayter
AEW Tag Team Champions The Lucha Bros. (Fenix and Penta El 0 M), Cody Rhodes, and PAC vs. AAA Tag Team Champions FTR, Andrade El Idolo, and Malakai Black
AEW announced today that they are introducing a secondary women’s title, The TBS Championship. The first champion will be crowned in a tournament, with the tournament finals being held on the first Dynamite on TBS on January 5, 2022.
No further details as to the number of participants in the tournament were released, but referee Aubrey Edwards stated that the tournament will be held between now and January 5.
Edwards and Tony Schiavone revealed the new title on tonight’s Dynamite. The announcement was teased as a major announcement from Tony Khan, but Schiavone made the announcement in Khan’s place.
A video package played later in the show with comments from Thunder Rosa, Ruby Soho, Jade Cargill and Skye Blue, all vowing to win the title.
When the TNT Championship was introduced, it was decided in an eight-person tournament. The finals of the inaugural TNT Championship tournament took place at the Double or Nothing pay-per-view on May 23, 2020.
On the most recent What Happened When podcast with Conrad Thompson, AEW announcer Tony Schiavone gave some behind-the-scenes details on CM Punk’s arrival last Friday on Rampage including a scrapped plan that would have seen him be the first person to introduce him.
Schiavone said Tony Khan texted him after their run-through for the show and said he was considering having him introduce Punk. Schiavone said he would be honored, but wanted whatever he said to be minimal. After Punk arrived, they discussed it and determined it would be best for Punk to do it alone.
However, Punk said he wanted to have Schiavone conduct his interview with him on Wednesday’s Dynamite in traditional style and not jerk the microphone out of his hand like others have done.
In the lead-up for Rampage, including when the team was going over the rundown, Punk was only referred to as “special guest.” Punk’s locker room that night also only said “special guest.”
When Punk arrived, he had several people with him including Lou D’Angeli (Sign Guy Dudley in ECW) and another person Thompson suggested Schiavone not say as he might get in trouble for it. Schiavone said Punk was a great guy backstage to which Thompson agreed, recapping their experience at Starrcast.
Punk told Schiavone said he wasn’t sure what he was going to say or how, but that he had a lot of things on his mind. The only thing he was asked to say or set up was the Darby Allin match for All Out.
Schiavone said he was next to Khan in the go position when Punk went out and that everyone from the back came out to watch the promo unfold including Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks so they could feel it from behind the curtain. Afterward, everyone was excited including Women’s Champion Britt Baker who was thrilled that Punk mentioned her name during the promo.
Later, a group of people including Khan and his girlfriend, Punk and his entourage, Britt Baker, Rebel, Schiavone, Orange Cassidy and Jeff Jones went to get dinner around midnight. Schiavone said he stayed up all night because he got back to his hotel so late and had a 5:30 AM flight, but it was such a big moment that he was so excited.
Schiavone said it was a top five moment for him and joked with Khan about sending out the tweet that this was the biggest night in the history of the sport which Khan wholeheartedly supported.
Five segments have been announced for this Friday’s Dynamite.
AEW’s social media confirmed that Rhodes will meet with Tony Schiavone for an interview this Friday. The announcement comes as Rhodes lost a tag match this past week, where he teamed with Lee Johnson against QT Marshall and Anthony Ogogo. Marshall ended up pinning Rhodes after Ogogo nailed Rhodes with a punch. Rhodes and Ogogo also met at Double or Nothing last month, where Rhodes picked up the win.
A match was added following AEW Dark: Elevation. In storyline, Matt Hardy has hired Angelico to take out Christian Cage. Christian and Matt Hardy have been feuding since Christian eliminated Hardy from the Casino Battle Royal at Double or Nothing.
Darby Allin and Sting has are also set to make an announcement. This comes after Ethan Page and Scorpio Sky made a challenge to Allin, saying he could find any tag team partner of his choosing except for Sting.
Additionally, The Pinnacle is scheduled to speak following their Stadium Stampede loss at Double or Nothing last month. Lance Archer, who lost to Miro at the same event, is also scheduled for action.
In all, the current card for Dynamite this Friday includes:
Miro vs. Evil Uno of the Dark Order for the TNT title
The Young Bucks and Brandon Cutler vs. Eddie Kingston, PAC, and Penta El Zero Miedo
Hangman Page and 10 of The Dark Order vs. Brian Cage and Powerhouse Hobbs
Christian Cage vs. Angelico
Cody Rhodes to make an announcement
Darby Allin and Sting to make an announcement
The Pinnacle to speak following Stadium Stampede loss
Lance Archer in action
Don Callis also mentioned on last week’s Dynamite that he would expose a “conspiracy” between AEW World Champion Kenny Omega on the next episode of Dynamite.
According to the press release, the show will “showcase AEW’s established and rising stars, as well as the top independent wrestlers within the industry, competing against each other in the ring in pursuit of wins. AEW Dark: Elevation will also maintain continuity with AEW DYNAMITE, AEW Dark, AEW pay-per-view shows and streaming events, with wins and losses factoring into each wrestler’s ranking in the company.”
The new show is not the one that has been proposed for WarnerMedia which is still scheduled to debut sometime in 2021.
In their latest video that aired on tonight’s Impact Wrestling, Tony Khan invited the company to send people to AEW Dynamite.
After Khan mentioned his business investments in Nashville, he said he could stop the Kenny Omega & Good Brothers (Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows) vs. Rich Swann and Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley) match at Impact’s Hard to Kill PPV event at any time with an injunction. However, he said that if Impact wanted Omega to wrestle their guys, he’s fine with that. He invited Impact to send wrestlers to AEW Dynamite ‘this week or any week’.
Following a rundown of tomorrow’s card, Khan mentioned Impact Wrestling’s tag team scene and said he would be looking at them and seeing what their contract status was.
Dynamite, which airs their Holiday Bash special tomorrow following the Bucks-Celtics NBA game, will feature the following:
The Young Bucks vs. The Acclaimed for the AEW Tag Team titles
Tony Schiavone interviews Sting
Chris Jericho & MJF vs. Top Flight
Hikaru Shida in action
Kip Sabian and Penelope Ford will announce their wedding date
Jurassic Express vs. Colt Cabana, and 5, and 10 of the Dark Order
AEW’s Tony Khan and Tony Schiavone once again appeared on this week’s Impact.
It was another vignette designed as a ‘paid ad’, with Khan taking shots at AXS and their programming. He said he wouldn’t slap an injunction on Kenny Omega appearing on Impact as he sees it as free advertisement. He said that he is going to see Kenny tomorrow, then he will start teaching Impact Executive Vice President Don Callis his lesson.
Schiavone, after taking another crack at AXS, ran down the card for AEW’s Wednesday card.
This was the second week in a row that Tony Khan and Tony Schiavone appeared on the show. They did another paid ad last week, with both Khan and Schiavone taking shots at Impact while advertising Dynamite.
Matches and segments announced for Dynamite this week includes:
Hangman Page, Alex Reynolds, and John Silver vs. Private Party and Matt Hardy
Cody Rhodes vs. Angelico
The Acclaimed vs. SCU
Inner Circle (Chris Jericho, MJF, Samm Guevara, Jake Hager, Wardlow, Santana, and Ortiz vs. Best Friends, Top Flight, Varsity Blonds, and Brandon Cutler
AEW president Tony Khan and broadcaster Tony Schiavone appeared on Tuesday’s Impact Wrestling via a “paid announcement” in conjunction with AEW World Champion Kenny Omega’s interview later in the show.
Khan said he could have prevented Omega from appearing on if he wanted by filing an injunction or but said he wanted to help fund Impact because he thought it would help their budget and bottom line.
He said it was a joke and disgraceful how Omega won the belt last Wednesday and then ran down the card for Dynamite. He said he knew Omega would be there too and invited Callis to come along. He said he was looking forward to Omega being there.
Khan said he has some investments in Nashville and that there’s rumors he might even buy Impact. He then asked Schiavone if he worked in Impact to which Schiavone deadpanned, “Once. Then, I quit the business for 18 years.” (He appeared on one of the weekly TNA pay-per-views in 2003, doing a worked shoot promo that involved Percy Pringle, Goldy Locks, Mike Tenay and Vince Russo.)
Khan’s tone was mainly dismissive to Impact with most of his compliments and comments being that of the backhanded variety.
AEW has announced that NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal will appear on this Wednesday’s episode of Dynamite: “BREAKING NEWS @Shaq addresses #AEW with @tonyschiavone24! Watch #AEWDynamite this Wednesday night on @TNTDrama 8e/7c or AEWPlus.com by @FiteTV for our International fans. #AEWonTNT”
Shaq appearing for AEW was teased when the debuting Jade Cargill interrupted Cody Rhodes on Dynamite last month. Cargill mentioned that Cody had called himself a giant killer and asked him what he knows about giants. Cargill said there’s nothing giant about Cody. Cargill said she knows a real giant — and slick statements like Cody’s are an echo loud enough to wake him.
Cargill congratulated Cody on now being able to use his full name, but she said he must not have the balls to go by one name. Cargill said the giant she was talking about is the real star — and his name is Shaq. Brandi Rhodes then confronted Cargill on the stage.
It was mentioned on commentary during the segment with Cody, Cargill, and Brandi that Shaq had been backstage at AEW’s Full Gear pay-per-view on November 7.
AEW announced after Cargill’s debut that she’s signed a multi-year deal with the promotion. The following week on Dynamite, there was a backstage segment where Cargill attacked Brandi.
Shaq is a panelist on Inside the NBA on TNT. When he re-signed with WarnerMedia this August, the press release announcing his new deal teased that Shaq could make a cameo at a future AEW event. Shaq also sent a message to Cody: “I’d love to fight Cody. Write it. Print it. Text it to him. Call AEW up and tell them.”
After Sting made his AEW debut last week, this Wednesday’s Dynamite will also feature Schiavone conducting Sting’s first interview in the promotion.
Here’s the updated lineup for this week’s Dynamite:
Tony Schiavone interviews Sting
The Inner Circle ultimatum (The Inner Circle will either decide to unite as one or break up forever)
Shaq addresses AEW with Tony Schiavone
Orange Cassidy vs. MJF for the Dynamite Diamond Ring
Non-title match: AEW Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks vs. Jack Evans & Angelico (if Evans & Angelico win, they’ll get a future AEW Tag Team title shot)
Lance Archer, Penta El Zero Miedo & Rey Fenix vs. Eddie Kingston, The Butcher & The Blade
FTR vs. Griff Garrison & Brian Pillman Jr.
Dustin Rhodes vs. Preston “10” Vance
Abadon in action
Dynamite will also feature the fallout from Kenny Omega’s AEW World Championship win and his appearance on this Tuesday’s episode of Impact Wrestling.
