Mike Chioda Reveals Order Razon Ramon Gave Him Before Infamous 1-2-3 Kid Match

Former long-time WWE referee Mike Chioda was on today's episode of The Wrestling Inc. Daily podcast where he discussed his new role as one of the hosts on AdFreeShows.com's "Mailbag Mondays" with Wrestling Inc. Managing Editor Nick Hausman. Chioda has been the referee for many iconic WWE matches including The Lightning Kid (Sean "X-Pac" Waltman) vs. Razor Ramon (Scott Hall) in 1995 that gave rise to the 1-2-3 Kid. Chioda revealed what Ramon told him before the match.

"That was great. There was probably, I want to say, maybe 500 – 1,000 people in that arena but what a wrestling vibe that was," Chioda remarked. "That was an amazing match being from a perspective of some young kid coming in, which became X-Pac, and he was the 1-2-3 Kid. Razor came up to me all day long because he loved how I counted. A lot of false-count finishes. One, two, kick out. Not today, you'd be on the same page as almost counting three and kicking out.

"He says, 'Man, I want you to make this the fastest count ever.' He really didn't want to do the job because I don't think they were that great of friends at that point yet. They became good friends. He was like, 'I want you to count as fast as you can. It's your ass if you don't count fast. You'll make me look stupid sitting there for a long three.' That's when it was old school man. They cared about their character and cared about who they were doing a job to. We'll be talking about that someday on AdFreeShows, a watch-along, hopefully coming up someday."

One match that Chioda will discuss on AdFreeShows as part of a watch-along tomorrow morning is The Rock vs. Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania 18. Chioda talked about what it was like for him to be in the ring as the official for that huge match.

"It took us way off guard. It took everybody off guard," Chioda admitted. "In my career at that time, almost 20 years ago and being in the business that long for 15 years at that point, it was phenomenal to see where Hogan in the early '80s when I started in this business to where he got the company into what he did is as an entertainer in the professional wrestling business, in the industry.

"He was an icon throughout so many years in the business and still is one of the icons in the history of the business today. When Rock came up, and he was another icon, it was just icon against icon. It was something that was great to be a part of. It was unbelievable. It is one of the most memorable matches in my history and my career."

Hausman asked Chioda what it was like to put a match together with two legends of the business. Chioda noted that both The Rock and Hogan are old school guys and expressed how grateful he was to be chosen by everyone involved to be the ref of that match.

"Well, you had two old school wrestlers at the time," Chioda pointed out. "Hogan being from where he came from, he's just being old school, and then you had a third generation [star]. You had two old-school two icons. A lot will be told on Saturday, what was going on backstage [and] where that match was supposed to be. It was just something I'll never forget. It was great to be a part of that.

"That was one match that took place, and unfortunately, I was the referee for that match. Fortunately, at that time, being in the business 15+ years, I was glad to be a part of it. I was kind of picked for that match by the talent and all the way coming from the top guys in the business as far as Vince, and the writers and everything."

Chioda then discussed how he got involved with Conrad Thompson and AdFreeShows.com. He noted that referees rarely get to tell their stories from their time in the business and expressed his excitement for the opportunity to do so.

"Conrad Thompson got a hold of me, and we touched base. We had a little bit of a conversation and just thought this would be a fantastic thing with 35 years of experience and telling my stories," Chioda said. "The referees, basically, really don't tell their stories, and aren't able to tell their stories and don't even have a character anymore in the business, but it's great that AdFree and Conrad reached out to me.

"And I think things are going phenomenal. I love to continue everything every week, every couple weeks. Them guys are great putting me on the charts. I mean AEW's keeping me alive a little bit, and AdFreeShows is definitely keeping me alive. I appreciate that."

Mike Chioda answers questions every other Monday as one of the hosts of "Mailbag Mondays" on AdFreeShows.com. He will also be doing a live, watch-along for Hulk Hogan vs The Rock at WrestleMania 18, which he refereed, this Saturday morning on AdFreeShows.com as well. Chioda's full interview aired as part of today's episode of our podcast, The Wrestling Inc. Daily. Subscribe to get the latest episodes as soon as it's released Monday – Friday afternoon by clicking here.