AEW's Tony Schiavone Names The Best Wrestling Broadcast Teams Ever
Tony Schiavone has had a career renaissance in recent years, becoming one of the primary voices of AEW following his tenure with WCW in the 1990s. Commentary has always been a team duty, and Schiavone recently took some time on his podcast, "What Happened When," to reveal which commentary duos he regards the highest.
"I think [Jim Ross] and Jerry Lawler are number one," Schiavone said. "I would put Gorilla Monsoon working with Jesse Ventura in big events as number two, and Jesse with Bobby Heenan ... as number three, and Vince [McMahon] working with Jesse probably [as] number four."
The commentary duo of Ross and Lawler called "WWE Raw" together for most of the company's "Attitude Era," as well as at various points following it. In many ways, their partnership picked up the torch previously carried by Monsoon and Ventura, who were the most prominent commentary team during the early years of WWE WrestleMania.
Ventura and Heenan were more well-known apart than they were together, but the two men did work together occasionally, such as on "WWF Prime Time Wrestling" in the late 1980s. The combination of McMahon and Ventura was a more common pairing at that point, and the two were often featured together despite real-life tension.
Schiavone got his start in wrestling broadcasting with Jim Crockett Promotions, working there from 1983 until he took a job with Vince McMahon's WWF in 1989. That stint did not last long, however, and Schiavone wound up in WCW by the following year, spending the rest of that decade solidifying himself there before the company dissolved in the early 2000s. Schiavone later regretted his decision to leave the WWF for WCW, calling it a "gigantic mistake."
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "What Happened When" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.