Mike Chioda may have spent much of his career officiating in-ring action, but there were plenty of times when the former WWE official was forced to get physical. Whether it was standing up to cheating wrestlers or taking bumps in the ring, Chioda wasn’t immune to pain despite not being a wrestler.
Speaking on the Insight podcast, Chioda took a stroll down memory lane and recounted some of his more painful moments. One such moment came during the Mick Foley Vs. Randy Orton match at WWE Backlash 2004, when Chioda’s count resulted in thumbtacks being embedded 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.”
Like countless other referess, Chioda would take ref bumps throughout his career. It was one of these bumps that scored him a tidy bonus on WWE’s grandest stage in 1999.
“$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.
“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.”
Chioda was WWE’s longest-serving referee before his release, and shared on the podcast that he is retired for the most part. His story goes to show how its not just the wrestlers who put their bodies on the line any time a bell rings.