During a recent appearance on Chris Jericho’s “Talk Is Jericho” podcast, Tony Schiavone commented on his phone call with Jim Crockett Jr. prior to his passing, and more. You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On his phone call with Jim Crockett Jr. before his passing: “Well, unfortunately, two days before he died, David called me and said Jimmy wants to talk to you. So, he put me on speakerphone. I talked to Jimmy and told him how much his family meant to me and how much he meant to my career. I said, ‘Honestly, I would be nothing without you because you’re the one that gave me my shot, gave me my chance, and so everything that I’ve done, every success that I’ve had, is really because of your confidence in me.’ I know there’s a lot of other people that were on my side – Ric Flair and Dusty [Rhodes] wanted me to do well – but Jimmy Crockett made the decision to let me work for them and thus made the decision to put me on TBS. That’s kind of all how it started.”
On meeting Crockett for the first time when he joined Jim Crockett Promotions: “They take me down to Jim Crockett Promotions office, and I’m thinking this is a big deal. I sat in his office, and he didn’t smile and say hey how you doing and wasn’t overly friendly. He just said, ‘We’re gonna take you into the back of the studio, and you’re gonna do interviews for us. You’re gonna see some things here that nobody should hear about. Not even your wife. Everything you see, you keep it right here.’ I said yes sir. It was very intimidating, it really was. Then the Anderson brothers walk in, and I’m really marking out now. He said, ‘Gene, take him in the back and get him started.’ So, I walk in the back, and they open these two wooden doors. Boom, my life completely changes from being a fan to seeing Ric Flair, Wahoo McDaniel, and it’s like holy shit, man. Jimmy periodically checked on me. He and I got to be very friendly, but he was very, very serious about the business.”
(h/t – 411 Wrestling)
