AEW commentator Tony Schiavone was recently interviewed by Lucha Libre Online about his one-year stint with WWE back in 1989, where Schiavone admits that leaving the company was something he would come to regret as he returned to WCW. Hear his thoughts on the subject below.
Looks back on his one year with WWE (WWF) from 1989-1990:
“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 loved working there and I got along with Vince McMahon. His children were very young at that time and weren’t in the business. I got to know Vince and Linda McMahon very well. They treated me really well.”
Says he regretted leaving WWE:
“I had grown up in Virginia and later moved to North Carolina. That’s where I was working with Jim Crockett Promotions. Once they were purchased by Turner Broadcasting in 1989, I decided I didn’t want to work for them. 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.”
Says returning to WCW was hard at first but things eventually became okay:
“Finally, after many years of being with WCW, things got okay. But in the beginning, when I came back, it was very tough and I regretted the decision to leaving because I really liked working with the WWF. But it was basically just a decision based on family needs, cost of living, and was because we had five young children. So it was very difficult for us to live in Connecticut and close to New York.”