Tony Schiavone on Why WCW Went Under and More

That’ll put some companies out of business. WCW went under over sixteen years ago and people still talk about it to this day. The company’s collapse is the stuff of legend in wrestling as they had the WWF in serious trouble even into 1998 and were out of business in early 2001. Tony Schiavone was there almost all the way through and has offered his insight into what went wrong.

Schiavone recently appeared on the “Wrestling Inc.” Podcast to discuss what finally did WCW in for good. Like many people, Schiavone thinks it was multiple issues that ended the company instead of a single one, though some factors were bigger than others. Schiavone also discussed a few other topics in wrestling today. You can see the full interview below but here are some highlights with transcription courtesy of Wrestlinginc.com:

WINC Podcast (6/21): Guest Tony Schiavone, SD Live Review, MITB Fallout

On the Difference Between WWF and WCW Ownership:

“When you look at it, the buck stopped with Vince McMahon; it was his company, it still is, and he called the shots. Every effort that he had with his company went into Professional Wrestling, but that was not the case with Turner Broadcasting. I really feel that is what eventually killed it. That is what eventually killed the company, by them owning it. They wanted to die and it did.”

On WCW Copying WWF

“People say it was Vince Russo’s booking, but I also think that there was a time back then where we were too much like the WWE. We were seen as a bastardized version of it; we couldn’t do the WWE as well as they did, but back when we were hot and the era where people want to talk to me about, we were different than the WWE back then. As we went through time, we became more and more like them.”

And on if he Thinks Anyone Will Ever Challenge WWE

“No, I don’t, only because he [Vince McMahon] is in the New York market. He has always been in the New York market. Number two because he has so much money in the bank—you have to go and see his production facility and see his offices. I don’t know how many of you guys have been there to see what he has behind him, to see why he is so successful. There’s more than what you just see on television; there’s production value; there’s people that know what they are doing in Marketing, and has a great crossover in this country when you think about it.”

“Even back then, we tried in vain for years and years, which finally happened with Eric Bischoff. We tried for years to be that one Wrestling company to be seemingly mainstream. We kind of became mainstream. He [Vince] has always been like that, so I don’t see anybody competing with him on that level. Listen, I didn’t think we were able to do it and was surprised at the run we had in the 90’s, but I don’t think anybody can do it. No.”

Opinion: As usual, this isn’t exactly anything groundbreaking but it’s always interesting to hear from someone with an insider’s experience. I agree with Schiavone that multiple things killed WCW and no one is ever going to realistically challenge WWE. There are just way too many built in advantages for WWE and it’s going to take a lot to top them. Fans can talk about how hot a single promotion is but the fact of the matter is nothing is in WWE’s league and won’t be for a very long time.

Who is your favorite non-WWE commentator? Were you a Schiavone fan? Let us know in the comments below.