Mike Chioda On Refereeing WWE's Biggest Matches, Taking Ref Bumps, When Fans Attack Wrestlers, Rock vs. Austin
Mike Chioda (@MjcChioda) is a professional wrestling referee best known for his time in WWE. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet in Tampa, FL to discuss being the official for some of the biggest matches in WWE history, Shane McMahon's scary bumps in his match with Kurt Angle, the Brock Lesnar shooting star press, saving Triple H and Steve Austin from a fan attack, the worst ref bump he took, advice for aspiring referees, and more!
Quote I'm thinking about: Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it. - Lou Holtz
On whether he has retired:
"Pretty much, yeah. I mean, if there's a match or two, or something like that, I'll do here and there. Ric Flair’s Last Match I did, I had done a match in the Jersey Shore for Fight Factory and for New Jersey. So it was nice to get down there, and those guys are great at Fight Factory. So it's really pick and choose, but I'm doing seminars, training refs in Orlando, doing a bunch of and signings and stuff. And the podcast, yeah, Monday Mailbag with Mike Chioda, with Conrad Thompson, on ad-free shows. They've been great to me for four and a half years, five years almost."
On the biggest advice he tells aspiring referees:
"It's to definitely make sure you apply all the rules and regulations. To me, I've been learning a lot of referees on the Indies that just don't get respect, they don't. You just gotta apply the rules and regulations and make it seem like you're there to do your job, not just to count the three. There's so much to tell these referees, and it's stuff I've been training them and teaching them is how to implement stuff, working with a heel and trying to have a heel outsmart you instead of just burying you. Because a heel doesn't want the heat on a referee. He wants the heat on himself. So there's just different ways where I always tell referees to make sure you go to the babyface, 'How do you want me to work with you?' Go to the heel and say, 'Hey, how do you want me to work with you?' And if you can implement some of the things that you're learning in this class, they will want to use you again. I've had several students come here,. I'll say, 'Okay, what kind of bump do you guys take on the Indies?' I've never worked in these before in all these years. So they would tell me, 'Oh, we take the old squash in a corner.' It's like, oh my god, it's the oldest bump ever, right? And that doesn't look really that good, it's a weak bump, depending how long you have to sell. So I said, Okay, we're taking Spears today. And I have workers there, wrestlers that work the matches, and we do things. Are you taking a spear today? You're going to do this. You're taking this super kick, you're taking this bump. They're like, 'You don’t take that on the Indies.' I'm like, Yeah, but if you're called upon to take that bump, would you want to tell them, No, I don't know how to do it, or I can't do it. Or you just really screw that bump up, and then maybe they'll never want to use you again? They're like, oh, okay, yeah, that makes sense. So we're going over drills like spears and how to walk into something like a spear, how to do a super kick, make sure, because to be in position as a referee is so important, man, because if you're not in position, it could really look screwed up. A couple of guys were like, 'I took the spear the other night. I was called upon to do the spear. Oh, I was called upon to do the Super Kick.' And I'm like, Oh, you were? How did it go? And he sent me the video."
On referees being named again in WWE:
"I like that. I've been seeing that lately on TV and stuff. So that's awesome. I think the referee should be recognized. I mean, come on, everybody has a name, and there's, there's nothing wrong with that. If you don't want to say all the referees' name, at least say the major players, Charles Robinson, Chad Patton, Shawn Bennett and certain guys, or whatever they've been around for quite a minute. I don't know. I mean, I think all referees, you know, women and men, should be mentioned or recognized."
On the worst bump he took:
"I'd have to say in Tampa, Florida. It was Triple H and Ahmed Johnson. Ahmed had to throw me over the top rope, and he was blown up, man. He was in the center of the ring. When he lifted me up, I looked how far I was, and he started going towards the rope. He couldn't really get me over the top, and I remember hitting the top rope, boom, boom, hitting the end of the apron, the hardest part, and hitting the floor. I couldn't feel anything from the neck down. It was a stinger. I remember Triple H in my face. He was like, 'Oh, my God, we're going to get the paramedics here right away. Hang tight Chioda, Hang tight.' We're getting some help. And it was I want to say, about an hour or so later, 30 minutes later, it started coming back, and everything, some kind of stinger I took, so kind of just numb me out for a little while."
On becoming the referee for Shane McMahon matches:
"Me and Shane, I guess it was just from ring crew. Shane used to tour with us. When he first came out of college, he was on the road with me and Tony Chimmel for almost a year straight. He'd drive the ring truck. We would teach him. Shane wanted to know everything from the bottom up. What was it like to be on the ring crew? What was it like to set that ring up? He set the ring up, he did everything. He wanted to know everything from the bottom up, not just come out of the office and go, Okay, I'm Shane McMahon. He wanted to learn how things were done."
On Shane McMahon vs. Kurt Angle at King of the Ring:
"I knew Shane was a tough cookie. He's always been a tough kid, always a tough guy. I know he was gonna be all right, beside the cuts, the glass and all that. I wasn't calling that match. Vince was screaming in the background, cussing. Jerry Briscoe, everybody was cussing, but I wasn't going to stop the match, that's for sure. They're like, 'Don't throw him through the glass.' I'm yelling at Kurt. I'm screaming at Kurt, 'Don't do it again. Don't do it again.' And later on, I said, 'Kurt, I was screaming at you.' He goes, 'Was it on this side?' I said, yeah, it was on the right side. He goes, 'Oh, I'm sorry. I'm kind of Deaf in that ear.' I'm like, so the other ear didn't hear me?
"That glass was not breaking that easy I tell you that. I mean, Vince was so hot. I remember Vince left Shane. Shane had to take his own ride back to Connecticut. I remember Linda coming up because I held that board up top when he gives Shane the angle Slam, he had this little piece of board and was slipping off the rope with both of them up there. And I'm over there holding it like this as much as I can, just so they can get that spot off. And I remember Linda pointing that out to me, and she goes, Great job, Mike. Thank you for holding that board, because I seen that. She was you didn't hold that board. They were collapsing. And I'm like, no problem. And that's it's my job to be out there and do what I got to do, you know, to help out Shane and the match itself."
On the Shane McMahon body check bump:
"Shane rocked me, man, I remember maybe I was like a foot away from the steps. And same with Charles. I was like, holy sh*t. I'm like, you know, they bought that bump back. So that was awesome."
On his favourite matches he has wrestled [not counting Rock vs. Hogan]:
"There's a lot of them. There's matches with Triple H, Batista WrestleMania. I did that one as well. Taker Shane, Brock Lesnar Kurt Angle, Seattle WrestleMania. Shawn Michaels John Cena."
On the Brock Lesnar shooting star press:
"Kurt was far out. I was like, Holy sh*t, but Brock's a hell of an athlete, right? There's no way you could say Kurt, move over like a fish out of water, that would look so stupid. I remember being in the corner with Brock up top, and I'm like, hit that MF, hit it. And it's just he was just a tad short. I mean, as big as Brock is too, I've seen him do some stuff off that top, man, it's just amazing. Hell of an athlete, but it just didn't pan out that night. But yeah, that was an amazing match for them two guys to finish that off the way they did, and going in banged up. I mean, Kurt Angle was banged up going into that match. I think Brock had a couple of issues going into that match too, being banged up, and they finished strong."
On refereeing Mick Foley vs. Randy Orton at Backlash:
"So that match, hardcore match all the way. Randy's kind of been in the business for a while, so he's got this big match with Mick Foley. I don't think Randy, at that time, has never done those type of matches, like those straight out hardcore matches. So we're just full blown I remember, and I remember all the thumbtacks and Randy's back. It was like, 50 or 75 maybe 100 thumbtacks in his back."
On Chioda getting tacks in his hand:
"I had one or two thumbtacks and it stung like a son of a, because I count really hard, right? I remember, boom. I was like, oh sh*t. I'm thinking Orton got like 75 of these things in his back, I can't be complaining here."
On the fan storming the ring during a match between Triple H and Stone Cold:
"I remember when the guy in Germany came into the ring and Triple H got him Stone Cold selling. Triple H is like, bang, bang, bang. He was kind of a husky German guy, we were in Germany. Security didn't do their job at all because they thought it was part of the show, it was weird. I remember, I'm trying to kick the guy in the head and everything, and Hunter is like, Yo Chidoa, you're kicking me. I'm like, oh sh*t, sorry, Trip. I'm trying to try to get him Triple H is giving welts on the head. Just, boom, boom, boom. And then I remember they get him backstage. We're carrying him, security has got him finally, we're yelling at security, get in here and get this guy. So I remember bringing him backstage, and then he's got juice, a little bit and everything, he's got some welts on his face and his head from Trip. And if Trip had one on his head, that was for me, kicking him. Stupid ass me, I'm trying to help, but I'm kicking Trip. So they were carrying this guy in backstage and then next thing you know, Chyna is pissed, and boom, she kicks him straight in the nuts. He drops down. He goes, Chyna, I only tried to protect you. And I'm like, oh, then I kind of felt bad for the guy as he is selling the nut shot.
I really didn't know. I kind of knew he was a little bit, but not the whole match where he says he doesn't really remember most of it. I was calling spots, and Cena was calling spots. I'm calling spots to him and I remember him thanking me so much for helping him out. But I was just like, holy sh*t. All the spots we called, how did you execute it if you were so concussed. He executed everything, which was amazing to me."
On receiving a bonus for taking a ref bump.
"[The biggest was] $2500. Yeah, it was a chair shot that Stone Cold gave me [at WrestleMania 15]. Because I started the match for the first 5-10 minutes, and I take the chair shot and I get knocked out. Yeah, my head rang for like three days, ears were ringing, it was pretty cool. He [Jim Ross] goes, 'You're getting a bonus for that Mike.' I was like, oh my god, thanks, JR. Got that bonus on top of the WrestleMania pay."
What is Mike Chioda grateful for?
"My health, my family and the fans."
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