Mike Chioda criticizes AEW referee standards

[Kidd Dibiase]

Mike Chioda Criticises AEW's Standard Of Refereeing
“I Wish I Was In AEW Right Now Training These Guys”

• By Jack Atkins
  
• 25 August, 2021 1:00 PM
  AEW are doing may things right in the eyes of the fans, but the standard of refereeing has come up for criticism on many occasions.
  
  Especially with regards to tag team matches, there has been somewhat of a lax approach to traditional rules, and veteran referee Mike Chioda isn’t the biggest fan of AEW's approach.
  
  Speaking to the Such Good Shoot podcast, Chioda said this about AEW:
  
  “AEW’s rules with the refs - I can’t, it's hard for me to watch it” started Chioda “AEW I think is starting to boom, and they're starting to build a roster where with AEW you got the referees are just not doing s***. I want to go back to referees because, you know, I watch it. I watch the show. And it's just hard to watch as a referee when they're just acknowledging the tag in, but not acknowledging the five count out of the corner, or the five count off the ropes, and not even acknowledging the ten counts pretty much. It's basically count a false finish or count the finish.”
  
  Chioda was WWE’s chief referee for many years, and said while WWE had set rules, he didn’t like the way they handled referee’s identities:
  
  “[In WWE] we made it where you know, you had rules,” said Chioda “The only thing I didn't like is when Vince cut our f****** names off you know, and he like he heard some referee’s name years ago just being announced on commentary and he said ‘Who the f*** is this guy?’ They said it's the referee Vince ‘Well why the f*** am I hearing a referee’s f****** name God dammit. I don't wanna hear any more f****** referee’s names’ and I'm like what?”
  
  After being released by WWE in 2020, Chioda made a handful of appearances for AEW, and has revealed that he’d like to go back and help out:
  
  “They're building Aubrey [Edwards] and doing a great job and she’s Chris Jericho’s referee you know, and I wish I was in AEW right now training these guys you know. I know I can help."
  
  Chioda continued:
  
  “Cody wanted me [in AEW] and there was a lot of guys that pushing for me like Taz, Jim Ross… a ton of guys,” Chioda continued “Tony Khan’s not high on referees, bro. I mean, he didn't want me there to train them, and like Cody wanted me to do a lot of their PPVS, but they axed me after like three shows. That was it.”
  

 

[THE 101]

AKA gimme a job

 

[Brad Piff]

Every wrestler with a podcast has said pretty much the same thing. Their refs suck. Hasn’t JR criticized them on air?

 

[Peter Parker]

Lol who was the one that would kick the wrestlers and shyt when they were grabbing the ropes or doing some heel shyt?

I always thought that was OD

 

[Kidd Dibiase]

Lol who was the one that would kick the wrestlers and shyt when they were grabbing the ropes or doing some heel shyt?

I always thought that was OD

Earl Hebner

 

[TRIPLE M]

It’s true
Watch any match reffed by Rick Knox
It’s the shyts, worst referee in wrestling. Every time he refs , jr is the only one who calls him out the bullshyt. The spot a few weeks ago when the bucks and Kenny with the basketball dunking, he was literally looking at them, did nothing, and they were out for more than 20 seconds
He’s the same ref who didn’t do anything when Alex Reynolds got concussed and knocked out during a match. The guy was laying there and he didn’t even
Check on him.

 

[The Rainmaker]

He's not wrong, some matches are ECW levels of wildin', especially tag matches. Basically all are tornado tags

 

[TRIPLE M]

He's not wrong, some matches are ECW levels of wildin', especially tag matches. Basically all are tornado tags

ECW had better reffing, and their matches were no dqs

 

[TheGreatShowtime]

No Aubrey slander allowed

The other refs are pretty trash though.

 

[Jello Biafra]

I understand criticism of refs who aren't doing all they can to protect the wrestlers when there are real injuries occurring but I really don't get whining about refs not following the letter of the law in these matches...this shyt is all fake so a ref not enforcing the 5 count in a tag match or allowing double teams without DQing everyone is just what wrestling is. If that bothers you then you need to take the stick out your ass and relax a bit.

 

[BrehWyatt]

Aubrey is their best ref by far, and all she does is ref the match.

I like the idea of each ref having their own individual style, boundaries, personality, etc. But somehow Aubrey's "straight-laced/by the book" method of officiating stands above all else.

Also, fukk Rick Knox.

 

[Riley Escobar]

I understand criticism of refs who aren't doing all they can to protect the wrestlers when there are real injuries occurring but I really don't get whining about refs not following the letter of the law in these matches...this shyt is all fake so a ref not enforcing the 5 count in a tag match or allowing double teams without DQing everyone is just what wrestling is. If that bothers you then you need to take the stick out your ass and relax a bit.

It’s supposed to give you suspension of disbelief and if a ref is being fukking inept and not doing the absolute basics then it’s gonna piss people off

fukk outta here with your ol’ decrepit ass high horse “it’s fake so it doesn’t matter” bullshyt

 

[TrueEpic08]

I'd say Chioda's pretty much on the money here, and I was pretty shocked that AEW didn't retain him when he was released and did those few shows with the company. He'd be a great coach/advisor, if nothing else. Despite having the best ref in the business, reffing is still the worst thing they do by quite a margin.

As it pertains to tag matches specifically, I've been begging for AEW to just adopt lucha tag rules literally since their inception. Not only is it an exciting, fast-paced format, it would also solve half of these issues immediately.

 

[Mr. Manhattan]

• “[In WWE] we made it where you know, you had rules,” said Chioda “The only thing I didn't like is when Vince cut our f****** names off you know, and he like he heard some referee’s name years ago just being announced on commentary and he said ‘Who the f*** is this guy?’ They said it's the referee Vince ‘Well why the f*** am I hearing a referee’s f****** name God dammit. I don't wanna hear any more f****** referee’s names’ and I'm like what?”
  

 

[KFBF]

Why do we need to hear the refs name?