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Tony Schiavone Reveals Vince McMahon’s Reaction to His WWF Exit

December 22, 2017 | Posted by Joseph Lee
Tony Schiavone AEW

In an interview with the Duke Loves Rassin Podcast (via Wrestling Inc), Tony Schiavone reveals what Vince McMahon’s reaction was when he announced he would be leaving WWF to go to Turner and Jim Crockett Promotions. Here are highlights:

On his WHW Mondays podcast: “It was around the time of New Years when Conrad got in touch with me. He said, ‘hey I have a great idea for you… let’s do a Wrestling Podcast. I said, ‘hell no!’ But then he convinced me to do it, ya know my daughter is getting married. He convinced me to do it and man, it’s been wonderful. It’s been wonderful to do a podcast with Conrad even though he’s a redneck from Alabama. I don’t get along with rednecks from Alabama because I have to check his family tree to make sure he didn’t marry his cousin.”

On the prevalence of nostalgia: “I’m blown away by the reception we’ve had. A lot of people who grew up in the early 90’s are into nostalgia. Nostalgia is really big right now with that age group. Another reason it’s been so good is the fact that I’m trying to be a pretty honest person on the show and I’m talking the way Tony Schiavone would have talked had he been able to all those years.”

On why he cusses so much: “There have been a number of people on social media that say ‘Ya know what? You need to cut down on the cussing.’ Let me tell you this; I grew up in the mountains of Virginia, been married 36 years and I have 5 kids. That trio will make you cuss! I played the straight man for so many years but anyone who really knew me backstage knew that wasn’t me.”

On why WWE won the Monday Night War: “With WWE, wrestling is what they do and they are a big time business. Jim Crockett Promotions was a mom-and-pop business. It’s like a mom-and-pop trying to compete with a big chain. Just can’t do it. Can anyone compete with WWE? No! His television show looks better than everyone else’s. That’s why he got so many TV clearances in the 80’s. His show looked better than Jim Crockett promotions, it looked better than Bob Geigel’s out of Kansas City, it looked better than Championship Wrestling from Florida. You can’t tell me now that anything that Ring Of Honor puts out or Impact Wrestling puts out looks better than what Vince and WWE is putting out. When I went to work for WWE in 1989 I went, “holy smokes! This is how it’s done.” We had post production and edits; this is how it’s supposed to be done!”

On his WWF exit: “When I went to Vince and told him I was leaving WWE he asked, “do you think Turner Broadcasting is going to care about your family and take care of your family like we do?” And I said, “no I don’t.” I was right because WWE was very much a family atmosphere. When it comes to Vince McMahon, I’ve always liked the guy and still have a fond place in my heart for him. I still say of all the years, and I love the Crocketts because they meant so much to me, I had some great years financially in WCW, but one year in the WWF back then was my finest year in pro wrestling. The one where I learned more about wrestling, television production and one where I enjoyed working more than any time ever!”

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Tony Schiavone, Joseph Lee