imported>Jevansen: Moving from Category:Professional wrestling referees to Category:American professional wrestling referees using Cat-a-lot

2025-03-23T04:01:01Z

Moving from Category:Professional wrestling referees to Category:American professional wrestling referees using Cat-a-lot

New page

{{short description|American senior referee|bot=PearBOT 5}}
{{BLP sources|date=August 2008}}
{{Infobox professional wrestler
|name=Mike Chioda
|birth_name=Michael Joseph Canzano<ref name="best stories" />
|image=Chioda-2012.jpg
|names=Mike Chioda
|height={{height|ft=6}}
|weight={{convert|175|lb|kg|abbr=on}}
|birth_date={{Birth date and age|1966|8|1|mf=yes}}
|birth_place=[[Willingboro Township, New Jersey|Willingboro Township]], New Jersey, U.S.<ref name=WWE/>
|trainer=[[Joey Marella]]
|debut=1989
|retired=2022
||image caption=Chioda in 2012}}

'''Michael Joseph Canzano'''<ref name="best stories">{{cite web |last1=Van Vliet |first1=Chris |title=Mike Chioda: The WWE Referee Of Our Childhood Has The BEST Stories! |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQxKm5_SvRk}}</ref> (born August 1, 1966) is an American retired professional wrestling [[Referee (professional wrestling)|senior referee]] who worked for [[World Wrestling Entertainment]] (WWE). Before his release on April 15, 2020, Chioda was the longest-tenured referee in [[WWE]] history, having been with the company for over three decades.

==Professional wrestling career==
===World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment WWF/WWE (1989–2020)===
As a young adult, Chioda lived close to the Marellas ([[Gorilla Monsoon]] and his son [[Joey Marella|Joey]]), who helped him break into the wrestling business.<ref name=WWE>{{cite web|url=https://www.wwe.com/superstars/wwereferees/mikechioda/profile/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060412124724/https://www.wwe.com/superstars/wwereferees/mikechioda/profile/|url-status=dead|title=Mike Chioda Profile|publisher=WWE|archive-date=April 12, 2006|access-date=March 18, 2007}}</ref> Being trained as a referee, Chioda first began to appear in WWE in 1989, when it was known as the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), most notably at [[Survivor Series (1989)|Survivor Series 1989]]. After taking a hiatus from refereeing following [[WrestleMania VII]], he began to reappear on camera around 1992.

He refereed the match where [[Sean Waltman|The 1-2-3 Kid]] (on that night he was simply known as "The Kid") as a [[job (professional wrestling)|job]]ber scored a huge upset over [[Scott Hall|Razor Ramon]]. In May 1996 Chioda was involved in a controversial ending of a WWF Championship match at [[In Your House 8: Beware of Dog]]. During the match between [[Shawn Michaels]] and [[Davey Boy Smith|the British Bulldog]], the referee for the match [[Earl Hebner]] got injured and knocked out of the ring during the match and Chioda came to the ring as a replacement, when Michaels performed a German suplex, Chioda counted Michaels's shoulders down and awarded the match to the Bulldog, but at the same time Chioda counted Michaels' down, Hebner came back in the ring and counted Bulldog's shoulders down and awarded the match to Shawn Michaels, then (on-screen) President [[Gorilla Monsoon]] came to ring and declared the match a draw. On January 18, 1998, at [[Royal Rumble (1998)|Royal Rumble]], Chioda was the referee for the [[WWE Intercontinental Championship|Intercontinental Championship]] match between [[Ken Shamrock]] and [[Dwayne Johnson|The Rock]]. During a match, Chioda was distracted by The Rock's team [[Nation of Domination]] when The Rock's teammate [[D'Lo Brown]]'s foot gets stuck with the ropes, before The Rock used [[brass knuckles]] to hit Shamrock and then disposed of the knuckleduster inside Shamrock's trunks behind of his back. By the time, Chioda looked back to the ring, he could only make a two count and Shamrock pulled off a [[Suplex#Belly to belly suplex|belly to belly suplex slam]], winning the match. However, as Shamrock celebrated, Rock appealed to him who, upon discovering the foreign object, reversed the decision and took the belt from a bemused Shamrock. Chioda gave it back to The Rock, making him the winner via disqualification. A furious Shamrock attacked him for stripping him of the title. On July 3, 1999, on ''[[WWF Shotgun Saturday Night|Shotgun]]'', Chioda got an [[DDT (professional wrestling)#Lifting DDT|Implant DDT]] from [[Gangrel (wrestler)|Gangrel]] following his loss against [[Test (wrestler)|Test]] which Chioda officiated.<ref>{{cite web|title=Gangrel vs Test WWF Shotgun July 3, 1999|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gku059M6uqM|access-date=September 4, 2012|publisher=[[YouTube]]}}{{cbignore}}{{Dead YouTube link|date=February 2022}}</ref>

Chioda has also competed in an actual wrestling match, teaming with [[Chris Jericho]] and The Rock to take on the team of [[The Dudley Boyz]] and referee [[Nick Patrick (referee)|Nick Patrick]] on an episode of ''[[WWE SmackDown|SmackDown!]]'' in 2001. Chioda actually scored the pinfall victory after delivering his version of [[professional wrestling attacks#Elbow drop|"The People's Elbow"]] to Nick Patrick.

During the WWF tenure, he officiated matches such as Shawn Michaels vs. [[Stone Cold Steve Austin|Steve Austin]] at [[WrestleMania XIV]], [[Triple H]] vs. [[Vince McMahon]] at [[Armageddon (1999)|Armageddon 1999]], and The Rock vs. [[Hulk Hogan]] at [[WrestleMania X8]].

Following the [[September 11 attacks]], Chioda began to wear an American flag patch on his referee shirt.

During the [[WWE Brand Extension]], Chioda was sent to ''SmackDown!'' to become senior referee of that show. On an "All Referee" edition of the WWE.com show ''Byte This!'' in 2004, he told an inquiring [[Josh Mathews]] that he did not like the old-style "button-up and bow-tie" referee attire, preferring, at the time, the ''SmackDown!'' variant of referee shirt.

During his tenure on ''SmackDown!'', he officiated a WWE Championship match between [[Big Show]] and [[Brock Lesnar]] in which Lesnar performed a [[suplex#Superplex|superplex]] on Big Show and the ring collapsed. Chioda would rule the match a no contest.

In 2003, he was traded to ''[[WWE Raw|Raw]]''. Following the firing of Raw's senior referee Earl Hebner in 2005, Chioda was appointed as ''Raw''{{'}}s head referee.

At [[WrestleMania 23]], he refereed the WWE Championship match between [[John Cena]] and Shawn Michaels, but was taken out after being hit with [[professional wrestling attacks#Superkick|Sweet Chin Music]] by Michaels.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/results/wweppv/wrestlemania23.html|title=WWE WrestleMania 2007 (23)}}</ref>

During his time as ''Raw'' brand head referee he would officiate Raw matches such as Triple H vs. [[Dave Bautista|Batista]] at [[WrestleMania 21]],<ref name="WrestleMania Main events">{{cite web|url=http://www.wwe.com/shows/wrestlemania/history/wm21/mainevent/ |title=WrestleMania 21 main events |publisher=WWE |access-date=2008-01-14 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071226223443/http://www.wwe.com/shows/wrestlemania/history/wm21/mainevent/ |archive-date=2007-12-26 }}</ref> [[John Cena]] vs. Triple H at [[WrestleMania 22]],<ref name="WrestleMania 22 - Cena vs HHH">{{cite web|date=2006-04-02|url=http://www.wwe.com/shows/wrestlemania/history/wrestlemania22/matches/14160262/results|title=WWE Champion John Cena def. Triple H|publisher=WWE|access-date=2007-12-10}}</ref> Cena vs. Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 23 and Cena vs Batista at [[SummerSlam (2008)|SummerSlam 2008]], [[WrestleMania XXVI]], [[Extreme Rules (2010)|Extreme Rules 2010]], and [[Over the Limit (2010)|Over the Limit 2010]] (Batista's last match in WWE before he quit for the first time). He also appeared in an episode of ''[[WWE Tough Enough]]''{{'}}s second season.<ref name=WWE/>

In November 2008, referees were made no longer exclusive to certain brands. Chioda refereed his first match on SmackDown in three years on November 28, 2008, when he refereed the Beat The Clock Match between [[Shelton Benjamin]] and Triple H; during the match, Chioda was knocked down and the match ended in controversy when it was decided that [[Jeff Hardy]] and Triple H finished their matches in the same amount of time. To settle this, the [[WWE Championship]] Match at [[Armageddon (2008)|Armageddon 2008]] was made a Triple Threat Match.

At the pay-per-view event [[Over the Limit (2011)|WWE Over The Limit 2011]], [[The Miz]] initially defeated John Cena after a cell phone recording of Cena's voice saying "I Quit" was played into the microphone, although when the referee Mike Chioda heard it, he immediately reversed the decision and ordered the match to restart. This led to Cena defeating The Miz and retaining the WWE Championship.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/WWE_News_3/article_50260.shtml|title=PWTorch.com - WWE News: Over the Limit PPV results - Cena vs. The Miz for the WWE Title in an I Quit "handicap" match|website=www.pwtorch.com}}</ref> On August 15, 2011, Chioda was suspended for 30 days due to his first violation of the WWE's [[WWE#Drug testing and wellness program|Talent Wellness Program]].<ref name="suspended">{{ref|url=http://www.wwe.com/inside/mike-chioda-suspended|title=Referee Mike Chioda suspended|publisher=[[WWE]]}}</ref>

On April 1, 2012, Chioda refereed the main event match of [[WrestleMania XXVIII]] between John Cena and [[Dwayne Johnson|The Rock]]. Chioda was featured as the referee in the 2012 iOS game, ''[[WWF Wrestlefest|WWE Wrestlefest]]''.

He refereed the main event of [[WrestleMania 31]] between Brock Lesnar and [[Roman Reigns]], turning the scheduled singles match into a [[professional wrestling match types#Basic non-elimination matches|triple threat match]] midway through after [[Seth Rollins]] cashed in his [[Money in the Bank ladder match|Money in the Bank contract]] mid-match, in which he won the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. The next year at [[Money in the Bank (2016)|Money in the Bank 2016]], Chioda was the referee for the matches on the night when all three members of [[The Shield (professional wrestling)|The Shield]] were WWE World Heavyweight Champion. Chioda refereed the WWE World Championship match between [[Jon Moxley|Dean Ambrose]] and [[A.J. Styles]] at [[Backlash (2016)|Backlash]].

On April 15, 2020, WWE announced that Chioda had been released from his WWE contract after 31 years with the company.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wwe.com/article/wwe-talent-releases-kurt-angle-drake-maverick-karl-anderson|title=Kurt Angle, Karl Anderson, Luke Gallows and other Superstars released|author=WWE.com Staff|work=WWE|date=April 15, 2020|access-date=April 15, 2020}}</ref>

===All Elite Wrestling (2020, 2022)===
On the August 12, 2020, episode of ''[[AEW Dynamite]]'', Chioda made his [[All Elite Wrestling]] debut as the referee for the [[AEW TNT Championship]] match between [[Cody Rhodes]] and [[Scorpio Sky]].<ref>{{cite tweet|user=AEWrestling|number=1293709323466674181|title=The legendary referee Mike Chioda will be calling the action! Watch #AEWDynamite NOW on @TNTDrama or http://AEWPlus.com for our International fans. #AEWonTNT @AEWonTNT|author=All Elite Wrestling|date=August 12, 2020|access-date=August 12, 2020}}</ref> Later in the night, he officiated the rematch between [[Orange Cassidy]] and [[Chris Jericho]]. On November 7, 2020, Chioda returned to referee the TNT Championship match between [[Cody Rhodes]] and [[Darby Allin]] at [[Full Gear (2020)|Full Gear]]. On May 29, 2022, Chioda officiated the finals of the Men's [[Owen Hart]] [[Owen Hart Cup|Foundation Tournament]] between [[Samoa Joe]] and [[Adam Cole]] at [[Double or Nothing (2022)|Double or Nothing]], which Cole won.

===Retirement===
On July 31, 2022, Chioda would referee the main event at [[Ric Flair's Last Match]] between [[Ric Flair]] and [[Andrade El Idolo]] against [[Jay Lethal]] and [[Jeff Jarrett]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Powell|first=Jason|title=Ric Flair's Last Match event: Powell's review of Ric Flair and Andrade El Idolo vs. Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal, Josh Alexander vs. Jacob Fatu for the Impact World Championship, Motor City Machine Guns vs. The Wolves, Killer Kross vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr., Jordynne Grace vs. Rachael Ellering vs. Deonna Purrazzo for the Knockouts Championship, The Briscoes vs. The Von Erichs|url=https://prowrestling.net/site/2022/07/31/ric-flairs-last-match-event-powells-review-of-ric-flair-and-andrade-el-idolo-vs-jeff-jarrett-and-jay-lethal-josh-alexander-vs-jacob-fatu-for-the-impact-world-championship-motor-city-machine-g/|work=Pro Wrestling Dot Net|date=July 31, 2022|access-date=August 1, 2022}}</ref> The day before the match took place, Chioda stated in an interview with the ''Battlefield Podcast'' that this match would be the "final chapter in my book" with regards to his career with professional wrestling.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.fightful.com/wrestling/mike-chioda-says-reffing-ric-flair-s-last-match-will-be-last-chapter-his-book|title=Mike Chioda Says Reffing Ric Flair's Last Match Will Be The Last Chapter Of His Book|first=Jeremy|last=Lambert|publisher=Fightful.com|date=July 30, 2022|accessdate=August 1, 2022}}</ref> However, he later recanted his position and stated he is not retired and still has “a few good years left” in his career and expressed interest in a return officiating for WWE.<ref name="best stories" />

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons}}
*{{IMDb name|1056834}}
*{{web archive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181130130409/https://www.wwe.com/superstars/wwe-referee-bios/page-5|title=WWE bio|date=November 30, 2018}}
*{{Professional wrestling profiles|cagematch=1127|wrestlingdata=9710|iwd=mike-chioda-3587}}

{{S-start}}
{{S-sports}}
{{Succession box
| title=[[WWE SmackDown]] Senior Referee
| before=First
| after=[[Nick Patrick (referee)|Nick Patrick]]
| years=2002-2003
}}
{{Succession box
| title=[[WWE Raw]] Senior Referee
| before=[[Earl Hebner]]
|after=None
| years=2005-2008
}}
{{Succession box
| title=WWE Senior Referee
| before=none
| after=Replaced with [[WWE Raw]] Senior Referee and [[WWE Smackdown]] Senior Referee
| years=2008–2016
}}
{{Succession box
| title=[[WWE SmackDown]] Senior Referee
| before=First
| after=[[Charles Robinson (referee)|Charles Robinson]]
| years=2016–2020
}}
{{S-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chioda, Mike}}
[[Category:1966 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Willingboro Township, New Jersey]]
[[Category:American professional wrestling referees]]

Mike Chioda - Revision history

imported>Jevansen: Moving from Category:Professional wrestling referees to Category:American professional wrestling referees using Cat-a-lot