Mike Chioda is a legend in the world of professional wrestling, having worked in the business for over 30years. He worked for WWE for the majority of his career but was released by the company during the April 15th mass exodus. He recently revealed how he still felt heartbroken over his firing.
Following his WWE release, he made a couple of appearances in AEW.
He recently spoke on Wrestling Inc Daily. During the podcast, a variety of topics were discussed. He talked about the main difference between AEW and WWE when it came to producing referees.
It’s very different to be honest with you. Similar in certain ways but very different. There’s only about six referees I believe over there right now. WWE has 17 referees, but they go by the rules. They try to stick by the rules and stuff like that, and I hear some some things from fans, from feedback that wish they had a little more rules in AEW with referees. And 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.
Chioda then discussed how AEW referred have more freedom compared to WWE. He said how AEW referees have their own merchandise, mentioning Aubrey Edwards.
I was amazed about that. I was like, ‘You can sell shirts, 8 x 10’s, do a podcast and do that?’ I felt like I was in this bubble for so many years. I’m not gonna knock Vince, Linda, Shane and Stephanie, they gave me a hell of a run, 35 years. Had a hell of a run with them and I appreciate all they’ve done for me. Talking about from the referee standpoint, they let the referees have their own character. They let them do other shows, do other things, have their own shirts, video games [and] all that.
We will have to see what is next in store for Mike Chioda.
