Mike Chioda Got His Biggest Bonus for Taking Steve Austin Chair Shot At WrestleMania 15

Legendary WWE referee Mike Chioda reveals the biggest bonus he ever got for a bump he took during a match. Appropriately, it was for one of the biggest Wrestlemania matches of all time.

Mike Chioda is one of the most storied WWE referees in history. His career spans decades, and he has worked with everyone from The Undertaker and Hulk Hogan to Steve Austin and The Rock. In fact, it was the first WrestleMania match featuring The Rock against “Stone Cold” Steve Austin that earned him the most significant bonus he has received.

The match between the Rock and Steve Austin at WWE WrestleMania 15 featured several referee bumps as the finish called for Mick Foley to be the one to count the three. Mike Chioda was one of the referees who would be knocked out during the match. He recently told Chris Van Vliet that he received a $2,500 bonus for the bump he took during that match.

“[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.”

Chioda recently stated that he’s all but retired. However, he’d be open to referring the occasional match. Learn more here.