-

Tony Schiavone shares the story behind his call to spoil Foley’s WWE title victory on Nitro

During the latest episode of Busted Open on SiriusXM, former WCW announcer Tony Schiavone went over the story of when Mick Foley won the WWE title for the first time and he spoiled it on Nitro before it aired.

After replaying his call on the show, Schiavone said that it was the first time he heard it since then because he doesn’t go back to watch or listen to his work. “The story behind that…people think that Eric [Bischoff] told me to say that, which he did not,” Schiavone said.

He recounted how one of the assistant producers came over during one of the breaks with “eyes big as saucers” and told him that Cactus Jack was going to win the world title and Bischoff wants him to “really crap on it” and say something bad about it.

“I remember thinking to myself, if I’m a wrestling fan, which I am, I’m going to tune in to see somebody win a world title,” Schiavone said, adding that he always thought that they should have ignored it and not mention it at all on television.

“I’m the one who came up with ‘butts in the seats,’ but I was told to crap on it. It was my line,” he continued.

Schiavone said that fans always say that his line “turned the tide” in the Monday night war and that’s when people started watching Raw over Nitro. He played down the importance or the influence he had at the time and said it was much more than just that call.

Listening back to the call, he thought he sounded like “an arrogant jerk announcer” and noted that it was the wrong thing to do.

He clarified that he called Mick Foley the next day and Foley told him that he was hurt for what he said but Schiavone told him that he didn’t really mean any of it and he was just doing his job.


Discover more from Wrestling-Online.com

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Colin Vassallo
Colin Vassallohttps://www.wrestling-online.com
Colin Vassallo has been editor of Wrestling-Online since 1996. He is born and raised in Malta, follows professional wrestling and MMA, loves to travel, and is a big Apple fan!

Stories you might also likeRELATED
Recommended to you

LATEST NEWS

Raw preview for 08/17/2026

Monday Night Raw is live from the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York with over 9,500 fans expected to...

WWE adds second live event in Honolulu, Hawaii

WWE added a second non-televised live event in Honolulu, Hawaii after the first advertised show filled up pretty quick. The...

TNA Wrestling launches TNA+ VIP Membership premium program

TNA Wrestling today launched the TNA+ VIP Membership, a new premium membership program expanding TNA+ beyond streaming access to...