Brock Lesnar Vs. Kurt Angle Among WWE Matches That Made Referee Mike Chioda Nervous

Mike Chioda officiated several high-profile matches in pro wrestling history during his three decades with the WWE. Be it The Rock vs. Hollywood Hogan at WrestleMania X8, The Rock vs. John Cena at WrestleMania XXVIII, or even Triple H vs. Batista at WrestleMania 21, Chioda was the man calling the action as the greats of all time headlined "The Showcase of the Immortals."

Answering fan questions on his "Monday Mailbag With Mike Chioda" podcast, Chioda was asked to single out one match that made him feel most "nervous" both before and after the match.

"Rock vs. Hogan," Chioda began. "Eddie Guerrero vs. Chris Benoit, Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit, and Shane McMahon going through the glass with Vince [McMahon] yelling in my f—ing ear."

While a lot of those moments got Chioda feeling nervous, the only time he was genuinely scared was watching Brock Lesnar botch a Shooting Star Press against Kurt Angle in the main event of WrestleMania 19. Upon watching Lesnar's head bounce off the mat, Chioda was admittedly contemplating calling an audible and having Angle win the match. Lesnar was the planned winner, per the script. 

"Oh my god," Chioda said, letting out a sigh as he recalled Lesnar's botch. "Let me tell you — nowadays, they would call a match [on the fly] but it wasn't so back then. Did I almost feel like calling that match? Brock's eyes were glazed, man. I've seen it firsthand, of course. I'm in the ring, and the way he landed, I was like, 'Woah!' I went up to him, and his eyes were already glassed and he was dazed. Thankfully, he got through it."

Chioda admitted he experienced "a lot of stressful moments" in his career, especially the matches where he had to take a bump or two.