Tony Chimel Details Working With AEW On House Shows

Former WWE SmackDown ring announcer Tony Chimel has started working for All Elite Wrestling on the promotion's 'House Rules' live events in recent months and the longtime WWE employee has detailed how he came to work for AEW. 

"They started running some live events, so I was at one of those just the other day, on Saturday. But I'll help out, I'll do numerous things. [AEW Vice President of Live Events & Touring] Rafael Morffi's the one that got my foot in the door there, and he does 20 different things. I kind of help him out. It's kind of like I do a little bit of Rubin, I'll do a little bit of [Mark Carrano], a little bit of market rep stuff, a little bit of production stuff. I was helping this other girl, Lexy [Nair], who was ring announcing her first show the other day in Tupelo, Mississippi. She did a great job. But you know, [I was] giving her pointers with announcing and stuff like that. So [I] do a little bit of everything, which is nice. I'm not on the road 20 days a month, so that's a good thing as well. It still keeps me active and doing a little bit of that and working here at home. It's a nice little mix right now," Chimel said on Refin' it Up. 

"It's very nice, it's a lot less stressful than things were at WWE, and it's a very good product. Can they make improvements here and there? Sure, just like every company can. But I will say this, it's a much happier area and a much happier place to be. Everybody seems to be very happy. Tony seems very nice, he's very approachable. I love it there, at AEW, and doing things there."

Chimel worked for WWE for decades and was full-time in the organisation from 1991 until his release in 2020. He served as the ring announcer of SmackDown from 1999 until 2007 and he also introduced talent on their way to the ring on WWE ECW, NXT, Superstars, and Main Event. 

Beyond ring announcing, Chimel worked backstage as a production manager and helped oversee the ring crew.

H/T to Fightful