VIDEO: AEW announcers pay tribute to Kerwin Silfies on Dynamite
Image: WWE
The influence of the late Kerwin Silfies was felt on Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite as the late WWE director was recognized on air.
Silfies passed away at 75 years old on Tuesday after battling health issues, first reported Wednesday by PWInsider. Silfies was a longtime WWE director, joining the company in the mid-1980s after already having many years of television experience working at Channel 39 in his native Pennsylvania.
In the show’s first hour and seen below, the show cut to Excalibur, Bryan Danielson and Tony Schiavone at the desk to talk about Silfies who Schiavone said he first met in 1989. He called him “a great man and an even better director,” adding that he was calm under pressure which “in this business, is something else.”
Danielson then got emotional when talking about Silfies, saying that he was “very kind and very patient” and that when Danielson got to WWE, he didn’t know anything about TV production but Silfies was kind in teaching him.
Earlier in the day, AEW broadcaster Taz posted a short audio tribute to Silfies who he first worked with when he came to WWE, recalling the first night when ECW talent “invaded” Raw and how Silfies made them feel wanted.
Since 2011, Josh has been a contributing editor to Wrestling Observer/F4WOnline.com and also hosts the Punch-Out podcast. He has also written for Fight Magazine, Bloody Elbow, Bleacher Report, and other websites. He's a 2000 graduate of the University of Maine, worked in pro sports, and once was an indie ring announcer.