During a recent episode of his ‘Monday Mailbag’ podcast, legendary WWF referee Mike Chioda was asked a simple, yet complicated question: “Hogan, Austin, or Cena?”.
The question is of course referring to finding out who could really be called ‘The Greatest Of All Time’ (G.O.A.T.) in World Wrestling Federation / WWE History.
Here’s what Chioda replied:
“I’m gonna have to say Austin, man. Even though Hogan was with the company for a lot longer, and the incredible match with The Rock, Icon vs. Icon and whatnot, and what Hogan went through with Andre.
I want to say, Hogan, probably. God damn, I hate to say not even Hogan, I mean Hogan drew for us for many years.
The Texas Rattlesnake. Austin drew, too, and he got the hell of the pops, he took WWE to another level. I mean, he came out with the beer trucks, the f—ing cars, and he’d be pouring concrete into cars. You wanted to see s–t like that back then.
I never got to drink one beer on live TV but at live events, he’d grab two cans and throw them to me real quick.”
Mike Chioda became an official World Wrestling Federation referee in 1989 and managed to stay employed with the promotion (later renamed WWE in May 2002) until he was released due to COVID-19 pandemic related budget cuts in 2020 after 31 years with the company.
He then refereed a few matches for Tony Khan’s AEW in 2020 and 2022, as well as ‘Ric Flair’s Last Match’, before he finally retired as a referee.
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