Tony Schiavone Felt ‘A Sense Of Relief’ Upon Leaving Wrestling After WCW Closure

Although he’s been a regular presence in AEW since 2019, there was a lengthy period of time when Tony Schiavone had stepped away from the pro wrestling industry entirely. The sabbatical began when WCW was shut down in 2001, and speaking on “What Happened When,” Schiavone recalled how he felt after the last “WCW Monday Nitro” broadcast.

“I was glad to leave that day,” Schiavone said. “Very honestly, I don’t know if it was anger, or relief, or excitement about what was ahead of me, but I knew that I had to reinvent myself, because I knew the WWE would not want me, though I did check with them a couple of times about going to work with them.”

Immediately after leaving WCW, Schiavone began working at a radio station and later became a sports broadcaster before his eventual return to wrestling. Looking back at the final “Nitro,” Schiavone recalled leaving the arena without saying goodbye to anyone.

“Got in my car and drove to Atlanta that night,” Schiavone continued. “There was a sense of relief from that.”

Schiavone had already seen the writing on the wall before the actual end, and had started looking for another job outside of wrestling despite it being against his WCW contract to do so. The broadcaster got an interview with a radio station and wound up being hired immediately after WCW’s closure.

“I hit the ground running and that’s why, when I look back on it, f**t it,” Schiavone said. “It didn’t really bother me at all.”

He then clarified that he was bothered by the way the company’s final days were handled by some executives, but by the time the actual closure came around, Schiavone was simply happy to go.

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

AEW’s Maya World Reflects On ‘Hard Work Paying Off’

Following a series of tag team matches in late 2025, All Elite Wrestling announced Hyan and Maya World as the newest members of the company. For World, it marked a full-circle moment as she’d be joining Athena, her former coach, in the AEW-ROH women’s locker room. According to World herself, it also served as validation of the efforts she’s put forth in her career so far.

“I remember I was driving back from Houston to Austin where I was at the time. It was like 2am, and we were asked to be back the next week,” World told Denise Salcedo, reflecting on the contract offer. “We were like, ‘Yeah,’ and then five minutes later they were like ‘Oh, by the way [you’re being offered a contract]’. That happened and I immediately pulled over to the side of the road.”

Filled with a rush of emotions in that moment, World firstly attempted to call Athena to inform her of the news. With it being late at night, the call went unanswered. Still, World then rang Billie Starkz, Athena’s on-screen protege, to potentially get in touch with her.

“I just cried,” World said. “I called my coach first, Athena, of course, because she’s been with me through everything, my first match on Ring of Honor ever back in 2023 was with her. I called her first and I cried and I told her. She was just giving me all this advice business-wise. It felt like all my hard work paying off. I didn’t think it’d be this soon, but thank God it was.”

As an official member of the AEW-ROH family, World has continued to compete alongside Hyan, a veteran of the squared circle. Additionally, she’s challenged Athena for the ROH Women’s Championship in a singles match.

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

Candice Michelle Reflects On Two Very Different WWE Title Wins

Babes Of Wrath Go Their Separate Ways As Divine Dominion Retain Titles On AEW Collision

After defeating The Babes of Wrath at on the Zero Hour portion of AEW Revolution to become the new AEW Women’s World Tag Team Champions, Divine Dominion, the team of Megan Bayne and Lena Kross, had to give the former champions a fair fight, given how their initial bout went down. This led to a title rematch on the March 28 episode of “AEW Collision,” which saw Divine Dominion retain their titles, and The Babes of Wrath decided to put their alliance on ice.

Willow Nightingale and Harley Cameron were still feeling the effects of what happened at Revolution, but wanted to get things going early as the action began before the bell had even rang. The champions used their environment to their advantage by taking Nightingale out of the ring and isolating her on the outside, amplifying the pain she was still feeling after pulling double duty at Revolution.

Despite still selling the punishment of 13 days ago, Nightingale was able to hold her own, as did Cameron, and the two ladies even came close to getting their titles back with some close near falls, including Cameron hitting Bayne with a big Powerbomb. Nightingale was able to hit Kross with a Spinebuster, and the champions ended up in dueling Single-Legged Boston Crabs. However, Bayne was able to reach the ropes to break things up. In the end, Kross was able to throw Nightingale to the outside to single out Cameron, and with the odds stacked against her, Cameron was hit with the Divine Intervention, and Bayne secured the victory with the high stack pin. 

Backstage after the match, Cameron apologized to Nightingale for costing her team the win, which led to both women appreciating what they had done for each other. However, with Nightingale still reigning as the AEW TBS Champion, Cameron told her to focus on herself, and for now, at least, The Babes of Wrath are no more.

Match Spotlight: Ultimate Warrior Vs. Randy Savage, WWE WrestleMania VII

Everyone knows that The Ultimate Warrior wasn’t the best wrestler in between the ropes. He could get the people hyped up, hit a couple of power moves, and leg it out of the arena before he or the crowd could have the time to catch their breath. When matches went longer than just a few minutes, that’s when he was exposed to be, well, not that good. However, there were a few occasions that Warrior rose up to, and during his entire career, he never reached the lofty heights of his performance at WrestleMania 7.

What helped right from the off was the fact that for the first time in his WWE career, Warrior walked to the ring rather than running, meaning that he only got blown up about halfway through rather than the first few minutes. Realistically, all of the heavy lifting in this match is done by the “Macho King.” This is an all-time classic performance from Randy Savage who manages to squeeze more out of the Warrior in 20 minutes than anyone else in wrestling. He basically positions himself as the dastardly heel who has to resort to underhanded tactics in order to gain the advantage. After all, Warrior was able to catch Savage, who wasn’t a small man by any stretch, place him down gently, and slap him across the face as a way of saying “You’re not going to get me that easily.”

Savage also had the help of one Sensational Queen Sherri at ringside, who appeared to be wearing a see-through chandelier. But that didn’t stop “The Queen” from dishing out some punishment of her own, repeatedly getting Warrior’s business until Savage could make a comeback. As time went on, it looked as if there was no hope for Warrior as Savage wore him down, avoided all of his big power moves like the Running Splash, and proceeded to go to the top for his patented Elbow Drop. Savage hit five Elbow Drops, but to the amazement and some annoyance of the fans, Warrior kicked out. Savage was able to return the favor on the kickout front, being hit by a pair of Lariats, a Press Slam, and a Running Splash, only to fire his shoulder up at the count of two.

Warrior’s answer to this was to talk to his hands and the sky, probably asking “What more do I have to do to beat this man?” but with more words that only exist in The Ultimate Warrior dictionary and thesaurus. Savage was able to get back into it by knocking Warrior to the floor, but Warrior wasn’t pleased about his conversation with the sky being interrupted, and avoided Savage who was coming down off the top for a Chop Block to the outside. Warrior received word from whoever he was speaking to, and that word was to finish the job. Warrior hit three shoulder tackles, which Gorilla Monsoon called “A Spear Job” at one point, but the main thing was that it did the job, and Warrior put his foot on an exhausted Savage to get the win and his hand raised in victory.