Tony Schiavone on AEW Surpassing WCW Nitro – Tonight’s episode of AEW Dynamite marks a major milestone in wrestling history as the show officially surpasses WCW Monday Nitro in total number of episodes.
Ahead of the broadcast, AEW commentator and senior producer Tony Schiavone took time to reflect on the accomplishment during a recent episode of the What Happened When podcast, offering candid insight into AEW’s growth and Tony Khan’s leadership.
Schiavone, who was the iconic voice of Monday Nitro throughout its run, didn’t hold back when discussing what this milestone means to him and the AEW team.
“It is pretty cool,” Schiavone said, acknowledging the significance of the moment. “I need to say something here, and most people are going to say, ‘Oh, you’re a suck up.’ Yeah, I am.”
He went on to admit that the AEW journey hasn’t always been smooth behind the scenes.
“It hasn’t always been a smooth road working with AEW. There’s been bumps, and I’m talking about bumps that you have not seen, bumps that have not been reported by 411 fck sheets and all the other stooges that pretend to be journalists.”*
Despite the obstacles, Schiavone emphasized the lasting impact AEW has had on those within the company, giving particular credit to Tony Khan.
“But when I think about what this company has done, and what Tony Khan has done for everybody who works backstage, he gave us new life. He completely changed our lives,” Schiavone said. “Everybody who works for him, he changed our lives, especially people in the front office. So that means a lot.”
He elaborated on Khan’s deep appreciation for pro wrestling and how that plays into AEW’s success.
“So when he talks about this being a special moment, he’s talking about it because he loves wrestling on a nostalgia level, like we do. Tony has done a lot for us.”
Schiavone also praised Khan’s creative input in the company’s evolution, crediting him with the concept behind one of AEW’s most talked-about characters.
“Right now, Timeless Toni Storm is probably the biggest woman’s star that we have. Well, not probably, is the biggest woman’s star we have, and that’s because it was a character that Tony Khan developed,” he explained. “Tony Khan came up with the idea. RJ City took the idea and, of course, wrote some scripts for it and everything, but it was Tony’s idea.”
Highlighting other creative milestones, Schiavone added: “And he’s come up with some very good ideas for us over the last six years. If you think about Stadium Stampede, if you think about the double cage, or going up on top of the double cage, he’s come up with some very, very good ideas for us, and it’s been and we are charged to implement them, which we have done the best of our ability.”
Looking forward to tonight’s record-setting episode, Schiavone concluded with optimism: “So, I really feel that this is going to be a very special night for many, many reasons.”
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Tony Schiavone on AEW Surpassing WCW Nitro
