Tony Schiavone has a message for wrestling fans who spend their time hoping AEW goes out of business, and he didn’t dress it up.
Speaking on his “What Happened When” podcast alongside Conrad Thompson, the AEW commentator addressed the corner of wrestling Twitter that roots against the company at every turn. Schiavone argued that fans pushing for a WWE monopoly are working against their own interests as viewers.
“Say what you want, and I don’t know all you [WWE] fanboys out there that want to see AEW disintegrate,” Schiavone said. “Why you would want to see a company do that, I don’t know. What you don’t realize and what you don’t get is how good competition is for the product.”
Schiavone didn’t stop at questioning the logic. He made clear he wants WWE to keep succeeding even though AEW signs his checks, and he had a blunt label for anyone who can’t understand why.
“I don’t want the demise of WWE, and I’m employed by AEW,” Schiavone said. “It’s good for the product. You don’t get that because you’re a f**king idiot, but it’s good for the f**king product. So, there I said it and I’ll say it again.”
Schiavone’s larger point was that a two-promotion landscape keeps both companies sharper, a dynamic that has played out in Schiavone’s own commentary on the current state of the business. He called this stretch of pro wrestling a boom period on the same episode, adding that the real test for AEW will be maintaining momentum once things inevitably cool off.
AEW Dynamite has backed that assessment up recently, posting some of its best ratings of the year, and guests continue to use Schiavone’s podcast to make news of their own.
