WWE legend Mike Chioda has claimed The Miz ‘got his bell rung’ and forgot parts of his only WrestleMania main event.
The veteran referee, who will be part of the For The Love of Wrestling convention at the BEC in Manchester on February 15 and 16, has reflected on how he helped guide the A-Lister through the bout.
Back in 2011, Miz took on John Cena at the top of the bill for that year’s Showcase of the Immortals in a No Disqualification match, but after taking a nasty knock, he couldn’t remember everything that went down.
‘I did a WrestleMania match with Miz, and I was calling him spots, calling him spots, calling him spots. And I knew he got his bell rung, but I didn’t know he didn’t remember the whole match,’ he exclusively told Metro.
‘He remembered a little bit here, a little bit there, a little bit there. When I got back, I was like, “Congratulations, man, congratulations”. I was like, “You okay, brother?”
‘He’s like, “I don’t remember anything, really. I remember you telling me some spots”. And then I was like, he was listening to everything I was doing.’
Chioda explained that despite the scary situation, Miz was glad to have made it through the match in such a special position,
He said: ‘He was just very thankful for getting him through that, because if he doesn’t get through that, you never know if there’s another moment like that for Miz down the road, you know?’
The 58-year-old legend – who has refereed matches with the biggest stars in wrestling history – also noted how the industry has changed, with regulations stopping them from continuing in the event of a head injury.
‘In the 80s and 90s and 2000s it was a different vibe,’ he said. ‘Nowadays, it’s concussion protocol and, and it’s a serious thing.’
Chioda suffered a concussion of his own at WrestleMania 15 in 1999, when The Rock and ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin faced off in the main event, and the Texas Rattlesnake cracked him in the head with a steel chair.
‘I was happy to take the shot,’ the official recalled, pointing out that the event in Philadelphia was effectively a hometown show after he grew up in South Jersey.
He also pointed to the punishment the likes of Rock, Mick Foley and others put themselves through in the ring, and it felt like a no-brainer.
‘When you’re called upon to bump as a ref, what are you going to do, say no? You can’t sit there and go, “Oh no, I’m worried about getting a scar here in my head.” Every wrestler’s got scars like every which way all over his forehead, right, and so many injuries,’ he said.
Chioda felt ‘psyched’, and even insisted on the spot despite Stone Cold telling him to put his hand up to protect himself from the chair shot.
‘I was like, “no, just bring it, Steve, bring it. Just make it look good, because I don’t want it to look like, if you miss, if it doesn’t sound good, if it doesn’t look good, it’s going to it’s going to be the s**ts,”‘ he recalled.
For The Love of Wrestling
- Where? For The Love Of Wrestling returns to Bowlers Exhibition Centre in Manchester
- When? February 15 and 16, 2025
- Who? Guests from WWE, WCW, AEW and more including Sting, Ric Flair, Mick Foley and Lex Luger
- Head here for more details
‘Man, my neck was killing me for like a week or two, stiff, and my ears were ringing for like two or three days. I had a concussion, but I just said, “I got my bell rung” back then. No, I had a concussion, that’s for sure.
‘But, yeah, it was awesome. I mean, I felt great about it. It was awesome. You know, we executed the spot right, and we were happy about it. And then I got a [$2,500] bonus from Jim Ross, that was even better.’
Chioda will be back in the UK at For The Love of Wrestling this month, and he has fond memories from his time on these shores, including referee a 56-minute match on Raw between Cena and Shawn Michaels at The O2 in London.
‘I remember we were partying so hard for like, 10 days in a row, we’re in the UK, and then we’re finishing off at London,’ he said, admitting he was ready to get on the flight back home.
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‘Cena goes, “Hey, Chioda, you ready for tonight?” I said, “For what? What do you mean?” He’s like, me and Shawn Michaels have a one hour marathon match,’ he laughed.
‘I’m like, get the f**k outta here!” I was thinking, “Let’s get this TV with we got a long flight back home. I got a few days off.”
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‘But we had a blast. No matter how tired you are, and you entertain the people. Because in England, the fans in the UK, they had so much f**king energy!’
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