Mike Chioda Reveals Cody Rhodes Pushed For Him To Sign With AEW

AEW

Veteran referee Mike Chioda has revealed that Cody Rhodes attempted to get him signed with AEW prior to his departure.

Chioda was released from his WWE contract in April 2020, after over 30 years with the company. He went on to make his AEW debut that August as the referee for a TNT Championship bout between Cody Rhodes and Scorpio Sky.

Chioda has since been the referee for a number of AEW bouts, notably officiating the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament final at Double or Nothing in May.

Speaking on René Duprée’s Café De René podcast, Chioda noted that Cody Rhodes had backed him in AEW from day one.

Revealing that Rhodes had told him that AEW needed his experience, Chioda said:

“Cody (Rhodes) called me up after my months of the severance pay with the company (WWE). He said, ‘Hey, I want you to come down here’ and this was like two-and-a-half-years ago, two years ago and he was like, ‘Come down here man. We wanna –” you know.

“I worked down there (AEW) about three or four times and he wanted to get me signed and signed and signed and then knowing now what happened and him going back to WWE, I heard he was losing some kind of stroke at that point maybe or something and I know he was trying to get me in, backing me.

“He was like, ‘Man, it’s exactly what we need. We need your experience. Train the referees, help out here or do matches, whatever.’ I’m like, ‘Fine bro. Whatever you need,’ you know? And I just get called back every once in a while but I don’t get signed so, I don’t know what’s going on with AEW so, we’ll see.

Cody Rhodes notably left his role as AEW Executive Vice President and returned to WWE in April. He is currently out of action, recovering from surgery after tearing his pectoral muscle.

He last wrestled in the main event of WWE Hell in a Cell in June, defeating Seth Rollins inside the structure.

You can keep track of all WWE injuries and expected return dates at this link.

Transcription via POST Wrestling. 

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• Referee
• Cody Rhodes
• Mike CHioda
• AEW

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