Tony Schiavone is making one thing clear — Vince McMahon’s headset style would’ve been a nightmare for him, and he doesn’t think he would’ve handled it well at all.
Speaking on his What Happens When podcast, Schiavone was asked what Khan tells him through the headset during major matches. Tony said Khan will sometimes give him lines to set up the action, but most of the time, it’s encouragement and reminders to keep the energy high.
“Well, coach, I don’t know if he would tell me things other than giving me lines to say. ‘This is an incredible match. We’ve got so-and-so coming up.’”
Tony Schiavone said Tony Khan also pumps up the announcers when they’re doing well, even telling him and Nigel McGuinness during one broadcast that they were killing it.
“A lot of times, he’ll coach me up. He’ll say, ‘Doing a great job. Keep it up. Both of you are doing a great job.’ One time, he told Nigel, ‘You guys are just doing sensational. Just keep it up.’”
That doesn’t mean Khan just sits back and lets everything ride. Schiavone said Khan will still tell him when the energy needs to come back up, but Tony has no issue with that at all.
“Sometimes, he’ll say, ‘Get the excitement back up. Get the excitement back up,’ because he wants you to be exciting. I always think I like to keep the excitement up, but you know what? I don’t mind if he feels I’ve dropped down a little bit and coaches me back up. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
Then came the Vince McMahon comparison. Schiavone said he’s heard the stories about Vince producing announcers through the headset, and he made it clear that getting chewed out while calling a match would not have worked for him.
“I’ve heard, and I know you have, Conrad, I guess it’s well known that when Vince would produce you, he would actually get on your ass. That wouldn’t work for me. I would not do well with that. I would not do well with that.”
That’s a pretty telling line from Tony, especially since he has already said he believes Vince only wanted to hire him in 2019 to keep him away from AEW and then fire him later. So, Schiavone doesn’t exactly sound like he regrets where he ended up.
Tony has been with AEW since the company’s early days, working as a commentator, announcer, Senior Producer, and Special Advisor to Talent. At this point in his career, he seems perfectly fine with Khan’s headset style — a little coaching, a little encouragement, and no verbal beatdown while he’s trying to call the action. Schiavone has been around long enough to know what works for him, and from the sound of it, Tony Khan’s approach is the one that keeps him comfortable behind the desk.
Do you think Tony Khan’s approach is better for AEW commentary, or would a tougher Vince McMahon-style producer get more out of announcers? Sound off in the comments.
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