Tony Schiavone Says Recent AEW Moment Was One Of The Only Times He's Felt Butterflies

The feeling of nervousness is one mostly foreign to veteran broadcaster Tony Schiavone. There have been a couple of instances, however, where it's welled up inside him.

"I've only had butterflies twice in my life," Schiavone told "3NT Wrestling." "It was the first time I did a show at Madison Square Garden. Me and Lord Alfred Hayes, 1989. I think I mentioned Hulk Hogan and the Big Boss Man on the main event. That day I flew to Boston to do an event on the New England Sports Network, that was a big day for me, but doing Madison Square Garden. The second time I got butterflies was, and it was just recently, going in the ring and honoring Ted Turner. I wrote that script and I studied my ass off. I'm thinking this is a big deal. This is Ted Turner and this is Turner Broadcasting Systems that I'm talking on. I'm going to bring out Sting and we're going to talk about Ted."

Former World Championship Wrestling owner Ted Turner died on May 6, the same day that AEW hosted "AEW Dynamite" from North Charleston, South Carolina. Schiavone and "The Icon" Sting opened the "Dynamite" broadcast with a heartfelt tribute to Turner, whom they both previously worked with in WCW. Schiavone highlighted Turner's love and dedication to the professional wrestling business, which Sting then reiterated in his own words.

As Schiavone alluded to, butterflies first emerged in his stomach in 1989, when he and Lord Alfred Hayes called the action for a WWE (then known as WWF) event inside New York City's Madison Square Garden. Schiavone worked for WWE for only one year before returning to the then-Turner-owned WCW.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "3NT Wrestling" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.