10 Times Wrestling Announcers Really F*cked Up

1. Tony Schiavone Boosts Raw’s Ratings

Triple H Michael Cole Tom Phillips
WWE.com

Here it is, folks.

On the 4 January 1999 Nitro, WCW announcer Tony Schiavone quipped that nobody should change the channel over to WWF Raw. Why? Well, "Mick Foley, who wrestled here at one time as Cactus Jack, is going to win their World Title". Tony followed that up with, "Huh! That's gonna put some butts in seats!".

Instantly, an estimated 600,000 households switched over to see Mankind grab his first WWF Championship on a pre-taped Raw. WCW's dismissive remark had been counterproductive, and that swayed the night's ratings war in Vince McMahon favour.

Schiavone was only acting under instruction from Eric Bischoff, to be fair. What a f*ck up though - Tony's call teased that something major was happening elsewhere, and fans left Nitro to check it out. This was a huge mistake on WCW's part.

What other announcing mishaps and mistakes can you think of? For more wrestling, check out 19 Things You Probably Missed From WWE SmackDown (July 9) and 20 Things You Probably Missed From WWE Raw (July 12)!

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.