Talk is Jericho Recap w/ Tony Schiavone – Leaving Vince McMahon for WCW, Working with Bobby Heenan, “What Happened When” Podcast, More!

McMahon actually told Schiavone at one point that he was the chosen one to replace McMahon as the lead commentator on certain shows. Schiavone worked a couple big shows as lead commentator alongside Gorilla Monsoon, and that was a huge thrill for him. He calls Monsoon one of the best commentators of all time, and he learned a lot from him.
He mentions that at a certain point McMahon lost faith in him as a lead guy on PPVs, but at the 1990 Royal Rumble McMahon showed up to the production meeting tired from a vacation weekend, and asked if Schiavone had his tuxedo. Schiavone confirmed that he was ready, so McMahon told him he was doing commentary that night alongside Jesse Ventura.

Schiavone says he was making pretty good money but was still struggling to make ends meat. His wife wasn’t happy in Connecticut and they couldn’t afford to buy a house there. When he was offered nearly double his salary to go to work for WCW he simply couldn’t turn it down. McMahon was not happy when Schiavone told him he was leaving, but after a week McMahon had calmed down and they actually parted on good terms, with McMahon telling him the door was always open for a return.
Schiavone informs that after arriving in WCW there was actually some talk of him taking over the company alongside Eric Bischoff. He’s didn’t really see a future for the company at that time, but once Bischoff took over he made a future for the company. He notes that a big difference in WCW was that Bischoff was dealing with Ted Turner’s money, whereas in WWE McMahon was dealing with his own money.