Before his passing, Tony Schiavone was able to tell Jim Crockett Jr. just how much he meant to his career and ultimately, the Schiavone family.
On March 3, 2021, the wrestling world lost one of the most influential promoters of the modern era when Jim Crockett Jr passed away. Jim Crockett was the promoter of Jim Crockett Promotions, the home promotion for Superstars such as Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes, Magnum TA, Tully Blanchard, Barry Windham, and many of the great stars that are synonymous with the National Wrestling Alliance.
Tony Schiavone, who began his career in 1983 with Jim Crockett, recently shared on the Talk Is Jericho podcast that he was able to talk to Jim Crockett two days before his passing and shared that he was able to tell Jim Crockett how significant he was in his life.
“Well unfortunately two days before he died David called me and said Jimmy wants to talk to you so he put me on speakerphone. I talked to Jimmy and told him how much his family meant to me and how much he meant to my career and honestly, I said, 'I would be nothing without you because you're the one that gave me my shot, gave me my chance, and so everything that I've done, every success that I've had is really because of your confidence in me.’ I know there's a lot of other people that were on my side like Ric Flair and Dusty [Rhodes] wanted me to do well but Jimmy Crockett made the decision to let me work for them and made the decision to put me on TBS.”
Jim Crockett Jr. ultimately sold his territory to Ted Turner in 1988 and that territory eventually became WCW, the number one competition for Vince McMahon and the World Wrestling Federation until their closure in 2001.
Jim Crockett and David Crockett were able to share some of their memories of running Jim Crockett Promotions during Starrcast IV in 2019. Tony shared that he was able to see Jim Crockett for one of the first times in years.
You can see other reactions from major names in the wrestling world to Jim Crockett’s passing at this link.
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