Legendary WWE Referee Received Big Bonus For Taking Steve Austin Chair Shot

A veteran referee who has called some of the biggest matches in WWE history has revealed the bonus they received after being nailed with a steel chair by Steve Austin at WrestleMania.

Over the course of his career, Austin had multiple career highlights on The Grandest Stage. Along with his critically acclaimed match with Bret Hart at WrestleMania 13 and winning his first WWE Championship one year later, The Texas Rattlesnake also had a trilogy of Mania matches with his greatest in-ring rival, The Rock.

Austin and Rock’s first meeting came at WrestleMania 15 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1999. With the match being no DQ, Rock brought in a chair to try and gain the advantage over his rival. However, as Austin grabbed the chair and attempted to strike The People’s Champion, he instead connected with referee Mike Chioda. Following the chair shot, Chiada was no longer a factor in the match and seen being checked on by officials after rolling to the outside.

While speaking with Chris Van Vliet in a new interview, Chioda stated that when he was working for the company referees would receive a bonus for taking bumps in matches. When asked which bonus was the biggest, the official responded that the aforementioned chair shot netted him a $2,500 bonus from Jim Ross:

“[The biggest was] $2500. Yeah, it was a chair shot that Stone Cold gave me [at WrestleMania 15]. Because I started the match for the first 5-10 minutes, and I take the chair shot and I get knocked out. Yeah, my head rang for like three days, ears were ringing, it was pretty cool. He [Jim Ross] goes, ‘You’re getting a bonus for that Mike.’ I was like, oh my god, thanks, JR. Got that bonus on top of the WrestleMania pay.”

Former WWE Referee Mike Chioda Recalls Bump Worse Than Steve Austin Chiar Shot

Also in the interview, Chioda was asked about the worst bump he ever took in the ring, to which the legendary referee admitted that Ahmed Johnson was the one responsible:

“I’d have to say in Tampa, Florida. It was Triple H and Ahmed Johnson. Ahmed had to throw me over the top rope, and he was blown up, man. He was in the center of the ring. When he lifted me up, I looked how far I was, and he started going towards the rope. He couldn’t really get me over the top, and I remember hitting the top rope, boom, boom, hitting the end of the apron, the hardest part, and hitting the floor. I couldn’t feel anything from the neck down. It was a stinger. I remember Triple H in my face. He was like, ‘Oh, my God, we’re going to get the paramedics here right away. Hang tight Chioda, Hang tight.’ We’re getting some help. And it was I want to say, about an hour or so later, 30 minutes later, it started coming back, and everything, some kind of stinger I took, so kind of just numb me out for a little while.”