On a recent episode of The Wrestling Inc. Daily podcast, former WWE referee Mike Chioda, the longest-tenured referee in WWF/WWE history, who worked with the promotion from 1989 to 2020, opened up about his new deal with AEW.
Chioda revealed that although his current deal with AEW is part-time, he is happy with the agreement. “I love the vibe there. AEW has a fantastic vibe with Cody Rhodes, and Chris Jericho and a lot of guys, Jake Hager over there and stuff. You got some good old school talent, FTR, and you got some young talent that is amazing there.”
The 54-year-old referee, who officiated such classic matches as Shawn Michaels vs. Steve Austin at WrestleMania XIV in 1998, Triple H vs. Vince McMahon at Armageddon 1999, and The Rock vs. Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania X8 in 2002, said that he’s grateful for the welcome he’s received from fans at WWE. “It was awesome to get that response and even doing the last PPV match with the little bit of fans in there, gave me much love on that, much respect. I really do appreciate that," he addded.
Chioda also shared his thoughts on how each promotion trains its referees in light of criticism from some fans who don’t believe AEW enforces the rules as strictly. “I think the the kids over there and the referees at AEW are doing a fine job. I think they probably get treated a little bit better in AEW than WWE referees," he said.
He also mentioned how he was overlooked by WWE when it came to royalties from video games. “I was talking to Johnny [Ace] about it, and he's like, 'Nah just not doing the referees.' And I said, 'Wow.' It's a little uncomfortable because when you hear all the boys are making a lot of money off the royalties, which so be -- I mean, I own my own name,” he said.
"You got to think about guys that don't own their own name [and] what they go through if they leave the company. I think the referees get really locked down at the WWE. There's enough to go around everywhere, especially with the WWE. Take care of the referees. If you have 60 talents, 17 refs, take care of the refs too," he added.
Source: Wrestling Inc