10 Times Wrestling Announcers Really F*cked Up
1. Tony Schiavone Boosts Raw’s Ratings
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)!