Mike Chioda confirms his retirement as a full-time wrestling referee

Mike Chioda, one of the most well-known referees in the professional wrestling business, has decided to end his career in the ring after more than three decades of dedication. The veteran official, who has worked most of his career in WWE, believes that the time has come to continue contributing to this sports entertainment in other ways. This was explained in a recent interview with Chris Van Vliet when he was asked if he considered himself a retired referee full-time.

"Well, yes, more or less. I mean, if there's a fight or two, or something like that, I do a few here and there. I refereed Ric Flair's Last Match, I also refereed a fight in Jersey Shore for Fight Factory and for New Jersey. So it was good to go there, and those people from Fight Factory are great. So I'm really choosing, but I'm giving seminars, training referees in Orlando, doing a lot of signings and things like that. And the podcast, yes, Monday Mailbag with Mike Chioda, with Conrad Thompson, on Ad-Free Shows. They have been very good to me for four and a half years, almost five," Chioda replied.

Mike Chioda made his professional debut in 1989 with WWF/WWE, remaining with the company continuously until 2020, when he was released, along with other workers, after a round of layoffs due to the COVID-19 health crisis. Since then, Chioda has worked sporadically as a referee, highlighting his participation in Ric Flair's retirement match in 2022.

Over these three decades, Chioda has shared the ring with countless wrestlers, and there are many iconic matches in which he has participated, such as The Rock vs. "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania X8 (2002), The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 25 (2009), and the historic John Cena vs. CM Punk at Money in the Bank 2011, among others.