Mike Chioda Says WWE Thunderdome Matches Took Hours To Film

During the latest episode of the Monday Mailbag with Mike Chioda on AdFreeShows.com, the former WWE referee spoke about his time working in WWE and his experiences working taped shows.

Chioda revealed conversations he's had with current referees in WWE who had to work during the pandemic era and explained their experiences working taped shows.

"Oh my god that was the shits," Chioda said, about taped shows. "During covid, why I actually worked a little bit, they said the tapings at WWE were taking like one match would take three hours. Cut, do this, cut. Charles Robinson and some of the guys I met from a dinner at WrestleMania, we met up one night and Chad Patton and them guys were telling me it was taking two, three, four hours to do one match because they had to cut so many times. It was a mess.

"Going back out there, especially in front of the crowd, we used to re-tape it and re-do the spot or match. That was the shit."

The former WWE referee was at AEW Revolution a few weeks ago and sat ringside to watch the action. Throughout the night, Mike Chioda admitted that several wrestlers noticed him, including CM Punk and Adam Cole. He recalled speaking to Adam Cole after his match with Adam Page and noted what he said to Cole as well as where their relationship started.

"I told him what a great f*cking match he had," Chioda said. "I said 'excellent f*cking match brother, good to see ya.' He looked at me and winked, kind of said something, and said 'thanks brother, good to see you,' or something. Then the referee [Bryce Remsburg] came over, shook my hand, and said 'I hope I made you proud,' and he did.

"He did a great job that night, the referees did, they all worked hard that night. I know one ref had back-to-back matches, they all had a couple matches, Aubrey started the show off with Jericho's match, and did a great job. It was a good night man and really cool.

"Adam Cole really impressed me [when] I got a call one day, I was off in Houston a few years ago and I got a call from Matt Bloom and he goes 'hey, I need you, we're in Houston tonight, Drake Wuertz got bit by a bomb dog.' He was sleeping in the locker room and then a police officer came with a dog, sniffing all the rooms, making sure all the backstage area was clean and he went up to Drake and he fricken bit him.

"So we're getting ready to go to dinner, me and my wife, and next thing you know I get a call from Matt Bloom and he says 'hey can you make this show? It starts in an hour and 15 minutes.' I said 'shit bro, I'm about 35, 45 minutes from downtown. Yeah, I can go home, get my bag and I'll make the show.'

"I get down there, make the show on time and I do about three or four matches. The main event was Adam Cole and Keith Lee and they tore that f*cking house down. I enjoyed that match so much with the big guy, small guy. The way they sold and had it all laid out with big guy, small guy, they tore the house down that night. I told him, I said 'f*ck, I wish I was reffing for NXT. You guys got some energy,' there was so much more energy in NXT at that time. I just won't forget that match, at least I got to do a match with Adam Cole and Keith Lee."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Monday Mailbag with Mike Chioda with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.