Mike Chioda Reveals Talks for AEW All In Appearance Fell Through

On April 15, 2020, WWE released over 100 employees, making it the biggest staff cut in the company’s history. One of those let go was veteran referee Mike Chioda, which surprised many fans. In fact, Chioda has now revealed he was in talks to work AEW All In, but the deal didn’t happen.

Mike Chioda worked for AEW as he made a couple of appearances in the past, but never signed a permanent deal with the company. Chioda did work AEW Double or Nothing back in 2020, which happened suddenly.

While speaking to Ben Veal, Mike Chioda stated that Cody Rhodes tried to get him into AEW and wanted him to train the referees. Cody asked if he was interested in working part-time or full-time. Chioda responded that he was willing to work full-time since he still had something left to give. However, things didn’t work out as planned. AEW called him back for a few shows here and there, but nothing long-term.

“Cody tried to get me into AEW. He really wanted me to train the referees. He was like, ‘Hey, do you want to work part-time or full-time?’

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I’m like, ‘I’ll work full-time. I still got some gas in the tank—you know, I still got a little left in me.’ And uh, it actually didn’t pan out, though. But they ended up calling me back for one show or this and that.”

Chioda revealed that when the company held an All In event in London at Wembley, he received a call from Dean Malenko, but it never led to a major role. Chioda mentioned that Malenko asked him if he had ever worked in London before. He found it strange because he had worked there back in 1992, which was the biggest show he had done at that time.

“Then they did a show in London at Wembley, and I did get a call from Dean Malenko, but it just never worked out for a big spot. It’s kind of weird, the questions too, like, ‘Well, did you ever work in London before?’ Well, yeah, well, I worked in 1992 in London. That was my first biggest show ever done, you know.”

AEW held their first All In event in 2023 and followed it up with another one last year at Wembley, but it’s not known which event Chioda was asked to work at. Mike Chioda is not sure about returning to WWE with Triple H in charge. With his experience and strong reputation, many fans would love to see Mike Chioda return to wrestling. We’ll have to wait and see if he eventually joins AEW in the future.

Would you have liked to see Mike Chioda officiate at AEW All In? Should AEW have made better use of his experience as a full-time referee or trainer? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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