The "war" between AEW and WWE may be raging on stronger than ever these days, though it continues to not really exist at a talent level, with many wrestlers on both sides of the aisle wishing the best for the others. Most recently, that was best articulated by AEW announcer Tony Schiavone in his attitude towards one of his WWE counterparts, Michael Cole.During last week's episode of "What Happened When," Schiavone relayed a story of hearing Cole call matches to Conrad Thompson, and was highly complimentary of Cole's ability, to the point he was worried he would start to emulate Cole if he listened to him for too long."The other day, I guess...on Saturday, we were in Dallas, right?" Schiavone said. "And somebody had the Royal Rumble on the phone, because it was early in the day, right? And I can hear Michael Cole call a match. And I remember thinking 'That f****r knows how to call a match, and he knows how to create excitement. But I've got to walk away from this, because I don't want to be [influenced] by Michael Cole.'"This is not the first time Schiavone has praised Cole, having previously done so during a 2024 episode of "What Happened When." Though the two have seemingly never crossed paths during their careers, with Schiavone's one year run in WWE ending seven years before Cole joined the promotion in 1997, Schiavone and Cole have often found themselves on opposite sides of the wrestling war. In addition to their duties now in WWE and AEW, the two were key commentary figures during late 90s, when Cole found himself as one of the top broadcasters in WWE, while Schiavone was the head commentator for "WCW Monday Nitro."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
