Tony Schiavone Reacts To Hulk Hogan’s Passing, Talks Speech On Collision

On the latest episode of What Happened When with Tony Schiavone, the AEW broadcaster reacted to the news of Hulk Hogan’s passing. You can check out some highlights below:

On Hogan’s passing: “Well, I first got the news from you Conrad, when you sent me a text. And then of course I immediately go online, look around, and you know, a couple of the sites had it. TMZ had it. I let some people in our company know exactly what had happened, some of the guys I work with. And it just absolutely floored me. Because well, I knew he had some back and neck problems. I think anybody that knows him knew that he was really struggling to get around. But to have the heart attack and just — when something like that happens, somebody that you work with, you kind of think about your own mortality. And you think about how fragile life is. And you think about, ‘My God, it did not seem that long ago when I was calling some of his matches.’ And even in the WWE that one year I was there. But then I thought about what he meant to pro wrestling, and it’s undeniable what he meant to pro wrestling

“So I put together a thing to say I and Tony Khan helped me with the verbiage of what to say. He wanted me to make sure I talk about the family, and make sure I talk about you know, how he made an impact in wrestling on TNT. And so I put it together. And I remember telling Tony, I said, ‘Do you want me to read it to you?’ He said, ‘No, I trust you.’ I said, ‘Okay.’ And then I told the guys in the truck, I said, ‘Please, do not wrap me up. Do not say you got 10, nine, eight.’ And they said, ‘Okay.[‘ I think they gave me a minute and 30 to do it. I think I did it like a minute and 10, a minute and 15.

On his feelings behind the speech: “It was from the heart as a wrestling fan. And it was from the heart as a guy that was fortunate enough to be a part of a company where Hulkamania was as they say, running wild. And to be a part of the company where Hulk Hogan turned things around. And again, like I said, ignited the Monday Night Wars. I was there for all of it, and that’s not lost on me. So it was truly from the heart.”

On critics of the speech: “You know, you can’t please everybody. And there’s going to be people on both sides saying bad things about what I said. I did have a lot of fun, I think the day after he died maybe, on Twitter or X responding to all these f**king idiots. And then somebody said, ‘Tony, log off. You’ve had enough fun.’ And even Matt got in touch with me. He said, ‘Stop.’ I said, ‘Okay, I’ll stop.’ I still think about it. I still think right now about Hulk Hogan’s passing, and it’s weird, isn’t it? It’s like, ‘No, there’s no way that happened. So it was a very, very sad day.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit What Happened When with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.