In a recent episode of his “What Happened When” podcast, Tony Schiavone, the announcer for AEW, reflected on the circumstances leading to his fallout with Bobby Heenan after Heenan was fired from WCW.
Discussing Bobby Heenan’s departure from WCW, Schiavone shared, “When Bobby Heenan was dismissed around maybe 1999 or 2000, I received a call from Craig Leathers informing me. I was away from work and Craig told me that Bobby was dismissed and there were threats of a lawsuit towards WCW. He suggested I avoid contact with Bobby, which I regretfully followed. I now realize that I should have reached out to him, despite the warning. This led to Bobby becoming furious with me, and although he was right to be angry, it didn’t justify him spreading falsehoods about me. We managed to patch things up during a video game commentary session in 2003 but I’ll always take the blame for our rift.”
Speaking about the contribution of cruiserweights like Dean Malenko and Ultimo Dragon to WCW’s popularity, Schiavone said, “These talents, along with stars like Hogan and the NWO, were instrumental in attracting attention to our show. What really set our show apart was the exceptional wrestling exhibited by the cruiserweights. Looking back on it, I appreciate wrestlers like Dean, who despite his serious on-screen persona, is actually a very funny and important figure backstage. Watching his matches always entertains me.”
He shared these and more insights on his podcast, of which you can catch a few highlights below. [embedded video]