Tony Schiavone Doesn't Trust The Indies, Says Wrestlers Need Coaches These Days

Up until recently, AEW rarely ran house shows, meaning that if signed AEW wrestlers wanted to work more than once a week, they would have to take indie bookings outside of the company. Stars such as Jon Moxley, Wheeler Yuta, and Eddie Kingston have wrestled at various indie shows during their tenure with AEW, with Moxley even becoming the GCW World Champion in 2021.

While many AEW talents are up for working with indies such as Warrior Wrestling, DEFY Wrestling, and GCW, AEW commentator Tony Schiavone has personal reservations when it comes to certain unnamed indie promoters. "Tony Khan lets guys work independently," Schiavone said on "What Happened When." "There's a lot of cons to it if you ask me. The pros are the guys and girls get to work more, they get to learn. The cons are, are they really learning to work because ... a lot of independent promoters I don't trust ... Do they have medical staff on hand? No. I don't think, I may be wrong. Do they have coaches to help them along? No. Wrestlers these days need coaches, back then they didn't. These days they need coaches."

Schiavone expanded on what he believes a wrestler is doing by competing on indie shows. "He is putting his career in jeopardy because, you know, they do crazy things," Schiavone continued. "Is he getting the guidance he needs to put together a good match?" With AEW running more non-televised shows going forward — known as House Rules — this may leave room for more stars to get reps in what Schiavone would likely consider a safer environment.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "What Happened When" with a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.