AEW Talent Reveals He Regrets Quitting WWE

An AEW talent has opened up about his time in WWE, and how he regretted quitting the company.

Tony Schiavone is the current voice of AEW TV. The commentator is an announcing veteran, working in the wrestling business for over 35 years..

Schiavone had a short stay in WWE, working for the company from 1989 to 1990. Leaving the promotion after only a year, Schiavone has revealed that he regretted moving on from WWE for a long time.

Speaking with Lucha Libre Online, Schiavone opened up about his reasons for leaving WWE. Noting he didn’t think Connecticut was a good place to raise his family, it was made clear that Schiavone made his decision to move on based on his family rather than career prospects.

Here is the full quote, courtesy of Ringside News:

“I had a great year with them. Before I started working with AEW, I would consider the WWF my best year in pro wrestling. I love working there and I got along with Vince McMahon. His children were very young at that time. They weren’t in the business. It was 1989. I got to know Vince. I got to know Linda McMahon very well. They treated me very well. I had grown up in the South. I had grown up in Virginia. I had moved to North Carolina. That’s where I was working with Jim Crockett Promotions. They were purchased by Turner Broadcasting in 1989 and I decided I didn’t want to work for Turner Broadcasting.

“Vince McMahon and the WWF offered me a substantial amount of money. So I packed up my family and moved to Connecticut. After about a year there… we just didn’t like living up there. We didn’t think it was a good place to raise a family. It was the cost of living. It was very expensive. So my decision to leave the WWF was based purely on what was best for my family. Not what was best for my career professionally. It was a move that I regretted for many many years.”

Schiavone had only positive things to say about the McMahons, who had originally offered him a significant sum of money to move to Connecticut in the first place.

After his time in WWE, Schiavone became the lead WCW announcer, becoming the voice of Monday Nitro and WCW Thunder. When WWE took over in 2001, Schiavone was not retained as part of the deal.

A mainstay of AEW Dynamite, Schiavone’s voice has been associated with WWE’s rivals for generations.

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• Tony Schiavone
• announcer
• AEW
• wwe

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