10 WWE Releases AEW Needs To Sign

3. Mike Chioda

mike chioda
WWE.com

The longest-tenured referee in WWE history. A 31-year veteran with multiple WrestleMania main events under his belt, not to mention the best seat in the house for countless famous moments. Senior referees didn’t come much more ‘senior’ than Mike Chioda, a WWE-lifer who made his debut back in 1989, but not even a career of service could save him from the chopping block.

Will Mike Chioda turn up in AEW? This one is unlikely, but AEW could do worse than signing up someone with such a vast amount of experience. Only Tony Chimel and Howard Finkel were with the company longer as far as onscreen talent was concerned, and neither of the announcers was particularly active in recent times. Chioda has seen it all; such experience is priceless.

AEW’s roster of referees has been another breath of fresh air, as a new group of officials has been able to carve out a career on TV. The promotion doesn’t need a new head referee, but Mike Chioda isn’t just a zebra who can count to three; he is one of the most experienced people in modern professional wrestling.

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Born in the middle of Wales in the middle of the 1980's, John can't quite remember when he started watching wrestling but he has a terrible feeling that Dino Bravo was involved. Now living in Prague, John spends most of his time trying to work out how Tomohiro Ishii still stands upright. His favourite wrestler of all time is Dean Malenko, but really it is Repo Man. He is the author of 'An Illustrated History of Slavic Misery', the best book about the Slavic people that you haven't yet read. You can get that and others from www.poshlostbooks.com.