Accounts of how Vince McMahon treated talent and those who worked under him differ depending on the source, but the accepted consensus has always been that he ran a tight ship and would chew people out when they didn't do things the way he wanted them done. Even veteran referee Mike Chioda wasn't excluded from this, as he recalled during an appearance on the "Busted Open Radio" podcast.
"The only night I -probably- I did so wrong was Candice [Michelle] and Beth Phoenix; best out of three falls," he recalled when asked if he wishes there was a single night he could redo in his career. "We just get off a seventeen-day Europe tour, and I knew Candice, she was hanging tough all week, you know, we were all hanging out, partying. She was a little tired. She got dehydrated in that match, and stuff like that."
Chioda further told that Candice Michelle ended up taking a bad bump after going to the top of the turnbuckle and falling down fast in the corner. "She was still awake, and I was like, 'Alright, just cover Beth, just cover!' I knew she was hurt, but if I call the match, Beth still wins the title?" he noted, assuming that he was safe to make a judgment call.
Unfortunately for Mike Chioda, Beth Phoenix didn't exactly play things the way he had hoped she would, and instead pulled the dehydrated Candice Michelle by her hair out of the corner. "I was like 'oh, s**t!' I counted 1-2-3. I was so proned, as a referee, to finish the matches with the boys, the girls, everybody, always, the boys, that's one thing the wrestlers always did: whether they were hurt or not, man, they would get into a finish right away," the veteran referee added.
"The referee, really, just never stops the match unless he talked to the boys," Chioda explained. "So, I counted three, man, Vince was hot, she dislocated her shoulder, she was badly concussed, thank God she was okay later on and stuff, but Vince, man? That's the one time, and only time, he ever f**king reamed me out, man." Chioda then admitted that he was supposed to stop the match immediately, and took responsibility for not making a better call, while claiming that Vince McMahon was angered by how he didn't use all the control he had as a referee to make sure the wrestlers weren't injured.
In the past, Michelle has looked back on her feud with Phoenix and never mentioned the incident, but instead called the feud the biggest highlight of her career.
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Busted Open Radio" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
