Tony Schiavone's best moments

[Sephiroth]

Mentioning how Schiavone's blew Alex Wright's cover during his very first appearance got me thinking...Tony really wasn't they bright, was he? Based on Bobby the Brain's stories, he wasn't exactly a stellar human being either. Anyone else got so e memories if ol' Tony at his awful best?

[BlackoutCreature]

Didn't he have something bad to say about Mick Foley winning the WWF Title for the first time? I can't remember it too specifically, it was such a minor, inconsequential moment in pro wrestling history that I don't think anybody ever referred to it ever again.

[BrianZane]

Other than Foley-gate, I can't think of any particularly bad or cringe-worthy moment with Schiavone.

I don't know why, but the one hilarious memory I have of something he said was he was teasing to something later on in the show in a mile-a-minute style of talking, and in the middle of his sentence it cuts away to a locker room shot of Torrie Wilson stretching and getting ready for whatever the hell it was she was doing at the time, and Tony said, "...andcomingup toniiiiiiiiggght..." like he was some kind of cartoon character. Good stuff.

[Wolf Hawkfield no1 NZ poster]

Aug 6, 2013 17:34:00 GMT -5 Sephiroth said:

?Based on Bobby the Brain's stories, he wasn't exactly a stellar human being either.

Other than Heenan and Tenay everyone else has said Schiavone was an aright guy to work with.

[SOR]

Schiavone is a guy who gets a lot of crap from a lot of fans because Heenan is a fan favourite and Schiavone really wasn't.

He was one of the better announcers in the world of wrestling and even near the end of WCW he could still make a show sound very exciting when it really wasn't going to be. That's the sign of a good hype man and ultimately a good announcer.

As for the Foley thing, it's widely known that Eric Bischoff (Who was sitting next to him) told him to do that so he did. It was NOT Schiavones choice on the fly to say that.

[turkeysandwich]

I always like Schiavone, I thought he did a good job of making WCW seem "real" at least pre-1999 or so. I did think he was way out of his element during his brief stint in WWF.

[chazraps]

Schiavone's a victim of circumstance. Leading a three-man team of Dusty and Heenan (with the occasional assist from Tenay) he was great as the play-by-play straight man who found a balance to deliver the action in a palatable broadcasting manner.

However, you can tell WCW's dueling micromanaging and lack-of-management really affect him as the lead broadcaster because he didn't know what he was supposed to do. I never got the blame toward him for the Alex Wright thing. Given he's been such a company guy absolutely everywhere he's worked, do you think he would have really gone out of his way on his own accord to mess something up? I'm sure nobody told him about Berlyn and his first instinct when seeing Alex Wright on screen after such an absence was to hype him and his new look up as best he could.

And yes, he ran the "Greatest night..." hyperbole into the ground, but he did as he was told. In that regard you could say he was a company guy to a fault, but having not been in specifically that particular position I don't feel comfortable saying what he should and should not have said. He's a fine baseball announcer, and during the years he was actually interested in the wrestling on-screen he did the best that he could.

I also liked him as the host of Saturday Morning Main Event, throwing to various clips with Heenan a la the old Heenan-Monsoon days.

[2 Cold Scorkum]

I've never been a big fan of Tony. I'll admit he's entertaining with his excitability and hyperbole, but I'd never consider him a great commentator, especially in the last days of WCW.

However, the Twitter account, Faux Tony Schiavone(twitter.com/SchiavoneTony) is easily the funniest thing I've ever read on Twitter.

[mizerable]

Aug 6, 2013 18:11:12 GMT -5 SOR said:

Schiavone is a guy who gets a lot of crap from a lot of fans because Heenan is a fan favourite and Schiavone really wasn't.

He was one of the better announcers in the world of wrestling and even near the end of WCW he could still make a show sound very exciting when it really wasn't going to be. That's the sign of a good hype man and ultimately a good announcer.

As for the Foley thing, it's widely known that Eric Bischoff (Who was sitting next to him) told him to do that so he did. It was NOT Schiavones choice on the fly to say that.

Not only that, but Schiavone called Foley up afterwards and apologized for saying it, even admitting that he was proud Foley made it this far in his career. Foley doesn't hold it against him. And we should also keep in mind that Schiavone has nothing but good things to say about Heenan and has never really went to grind an axe on anyone else, so he can't be too bad.

Tony was great. I'd gladly take him over almost anyone that WWE has right now.

[Baldobomb-22-OH-MAN!!!]

"Hulk Hogan you can go straight to hell"

as much of a punchline as his phoned in commentary in late WCW was, he still gave one of the best calls in the history of the business.

[thegame415]

One of my favorite Tony moments was when he claimed Tank Abbott was trying to shave Big Al's bear when Tank put a knife to Al's throat.

[Super Weak Machine]

Up until a few years ago, I'd only seen the match when it aired; despite that, I could always recall, "HE'S FIGHTING OFF ALL OF 'EM!" and "HE'S GONNA RACK HIM!"

[laker8kiss]

What did Tenay say about him?

[Deleted]

Aug 6, 2013 22:20:06 GMT -5 Baldobomb-22-OH-MAN!!! said:

"Hulk Hogan you can go straight to hell"

as much of a punchline as his phoned in commentary in late WCW was, he still gave one of the best calls in the history of the business.

"LUGER WON THE TITLE! LUGER WON THE TITLE!"

[Futureraven: Beelzebruv]

He was good, but like everyone he had his moments.

Spring Stampede 1999 Bam Bam Bigelow v Hak, one of them uses a trashcan, and Tony says that's just a lot of noise. Tenay and Heenan spend pretty much the rest of the match ripping on him for that comment, while he's trying to clarify that he just meant a trash can wouldn't as bad as say, a ladder or some of the other weapons.

[Deleted]

I'm not gonna lie, that discussion he had with Heenan & Tenay after Chavito bit Eddie Guerrero on the butt was hilarious. (You never been bitten on the butt? Okay, have you ever bitten another man on the butt?) Tony kept trying to get away from it until Mike Tenay snuck in with "Come clean, Tony, it's pay-per-view."

Tony, believe it or not, was the credible voice back when he worked with David Crockett. How Schiavone managed to last as long as he did with that shrieking idiot, I'll never know.

[Ben Wyatt]

I think people forget just how great an announcer he was from the 80's up to about 94/95 when WCW turned him into a cartoon like shill.

[y4j1981]

Aug 6, 2013 21:15:55 GMT -5 mizerable said:

Aug 6, 2013 18:11:12 GMT -5 SOR said:

Schiavone is a guy who gets a lot of crap from a lot of fans because Heenan is a fan favourite and Schiavone really wasn't.

He was one of the better announcers in the world of wrestling and even near the end of WCW he could still make a show sound very exciting when it really wasn't going to be. That's the sign of a good hype man and ultimately a good announcer.

As for the Foley thing, it's widely known that Eric Bischoff (Who was sitting next to him) told him to do that so he did. It was NOT Schiavones choice on the fly to say that.

Not only that, but Schiavone called Foley up afterwards and apologized for saying it, even admitting that he was proud Foley made it this far in his career. Foley doesn't hold it against him. And we should also keep in mind that Schiavone has nothing but good things to say about Heenan and has never really went to grind an axe on anyone else, so he can't be too bad.

Tony was great. I'd gladly take him over almost anyone that WWE has right now.

["Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay]

Schiavone had one great call in WWF, when he was commentating the Rumble. I still love the line 'There is not a person sitting down.'

[MiLB Fan]

He pretty much gave away the identity of the Halloween Havoc Phantom.

"There are very few finishing moves like that in our sport and one of them is, if I may say this, Jim, the Rude Awakening."