AEW's Tony Schiavone Praises Skills Of Road Dogg & Tommy Dreamer

Ahead of TNA Slammiversary 2026, the company made wrestling news headlines for multiple shakeups, including the departure of creative head Tommy Dreamer, in addition to multiple stars like Tessa Blanchard being granted their releases. Former "WWE SmackDown" writer, "Road Dogg" Brian James reportedly started his work in TNA at the event, after departing WWE in March.

On an episode of "What Happened When," Tony Schiavone commented on the reworkings within TNA. The commentator praised both creative minds.

"I have a lot of love for Tommy Dreamer," he said. "Don Callis knows Tommy very well, and Don was the one that told me that Tommy's no longer with TNA. I'm sorry to hear that. I'm always sad to hear that somebody who's been in the business for quite awhile, and who's been part of the business and basically given his life to the business, so to speak, has to move on or has to look for another job. As far as Road Dogg's concerned, one of my favorite guys. Brian was tremendous, obviously, back during the Attitude Era... Glad to see that he's moving on because I know that he is very good at what he does."

Schiavone praised Road Dogg's involvement with Ric Flair's final match and told a story about the production meeting ahead of the event. He said he positioned behind Road Dogg and had no idea it was him running the meeting, but thought to himself, "this f***** knows what he's talking about."

"He obviously has a good handle on what it takes to run things, so good for him," Schiavone said. "I'm sad for Tommy and hopefully he'll be able to move on in wrestling."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "What Happened When " and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.