Legendary wrestling announcer Tony Schiavone has shared fascinating insights about his time working alongside British wrestling icons Davey Boy Smith and William Regal during WCW’s expansion into the United Kingdom market in 1993.
Speaking on his podcast “What Happened When,” current AEW announcer Tony Schiavone recalled the unique experience of working with both men as colour commentators exclusively for UK broadcasts of “WCW Worldwide,” which aired in a coveted Saturday afternoon time slot for British viewers.
I can tell you that Davey Boy Smith did not want to do commentary, but he did, It was very apparent as he said so to me, and I thought he did a great job for someone who didn’t want to do it. Sometimes when people don’t want to do that you can see it in their work, but he did a great job.
Schiavone worked with the “British Bulldog” in early 1993, ahead of WCW’s UK tour that March. The special commentary team was part of WCW’s strategy to connect with British audiences by featuring one of their homegrown heroes alongside the experienced American announcer.
In contrast to Smith’s reluctance, Tony Schiavone described a very different experience working with William Regal (then known as Lord Steven Regal) later that same year.
Lord Steven Regal on the other hand wanted to learn and wanted to get better, and learn how to become an announcer.
Their commentary partnership preceded WCW’s October 1993 UK tour and laid the groundwork for what would become a lasting friendship.
When Regal was in AEW when he said how much I meant to his career and what I did for him, he’s talking about that time he and I worked together. We also did a lot of on-cameras and worked together with it, so that began what is still a very good friendship today.
These commentary partnerships represented an important chapter in WCW’s international expansion efforts, as the company sought to challenge WWE’s dominance in the lucrative UK market. For British wrestling fans, hearing familiar accents and seeing their countrymen featured prominently on American wrestling programming created a special connection to WCW.
Both Smith and Regal would go on to have illustrious careers in wrestling. Smith became a WWE Intercontinental and European Champion, while Regal evolved into one of the industry’s most respected technical wrestlers before transitioning into management and training roles.
Tony Schiavone Reveals How WCW Would Discard Taped Matches Due To Changing Plans
On another recent edition of his podcast, Tony Schiavone discussed how WCW would film a lot of matches that would never make air because of how far in advance they would be taped. He revealed a lot of them would become irrelevant when storyline plans constantly changed once they began weekly live programming with WCW Monday Nitro in 1995.
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