Mike Chioda Reveals Why Vince McMahon Banned Referee Names

For those paying attention, WWE has stopped referring to many of their referees by name in recent years. As is the case with many things in WWE, there is a reason Vince McMahon made this decision. This one is very much Vince McMahon.

In a recent episode of Talk Is Jericho, former WWE referee Mike Chioda revealed that McMahon didn’t recognize a referee’s name. This resulted in McMahon banning the use of referee names going forward. Here is the full quote, courtesy of Fightful:

“I believe it was they were saying the referee’s names too much. It wasn’t with me, it was with another referee, and [Vince] didn’t recognize their name and he was like, ‘Who is this?’ They said, ‘Oh, it’s the referee.’ He goes, ‘Goddamnit, I’m done hearing the referee’s name. I don’t want to hear his name no more.’ They were putting him over too much and he didn’t recognize the name.”

Mike Chioda’s time with WWE recently came to an end as he was released on Black Wednesday. He had been WWE’s longest-tenured referee, having been with the company for 34 years.

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• wwe
• Vince McMahon
• Mike CHioda
• Referees

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