Tony Schiavone addressed his absence from the January 17 episode of AEW Dynamite, explaining that he was dealing with a health issue at the time.
Speaking on What Happened When, Schiavone revealed that he had a stye in his right eye, and at one point, his eye was swollen shut. Initially, he thought it might be conjunctivitis (pinkeye), prompting precautions to stay away from others. However, the diagnosis later clarified that it was a stye.
“I had a little eye problem, a little stye in the right eye. Actually it was more than one, and eye was swollen shut last week. Thought I had conjunctivitis, which meant pinkeye and to stay away from everybody, but on Wednesday, I got a diagnosis that it was a stye. So yeah, I’m okay. I hate missing TV, but I was obviously back for Saturday. I’m really having a good time on Saturday. So I’ll be back this Wednesday, and [that was] just a part of being an old fucker,” Tony Schiavone said.