Tony Schiavone Recalls Hulk Hogan Turning Heel at WCW Bash at the Beach, Ad-Libbing His Call

During a recent edition of his What Happened When podcast, AEW broadcaster and former WCW announcer Tony Schiavone recalled Hulk Hogan turning heel at WCW Bash at the Beach and forming the nWo with Kevin Nash and Scott Hall. The moment took place thirty years ago this month in July 1996.

Schiavone revealed that he ad-libbed his famous line, “Hulk Hogan can go to hell. Straight to hell.” Below are some highlights (via WrestlingInc.com):

Tony Schiavone on Ad-Libbing His Famous Line

“The line, and we’ve talked about it so many times on this podcast, the line was completely ad-libbed. Nobody fed me the line, I didn’t write down the line. And the reason is because, unlike what most people think, we had no idea what was going to happen. We had heard so many different things during the course of the day. ‘It’s going to be Hogan. Maybe Bret Hart. Maybe somebody else will come in and incredibly be the third man. Who knows? Shawn Michaels? Who knows?’ And so, when it happened I’m like f*****g stunned in a way, because his name was bantered about as well. I’m stunned because I never thought Hogan would turn heel.”

On Being Unsure Anything Else Comes Close in His Career

“It was, as far as big moments I’ve been a part of, as far as impact on pro wrestling, the biggest, by far. It was something to be a part of that. And of course, it led to, you know, the Monday Night Wars being what they were from 96, 97, 98.”