31-year WWE veteran open to a blockbuster AEW return

A certain WWE icon has recently confirmed that he is open to an AEW return despite being retired currently. The legend in question would be long-time referee Mike Chioda.

Chioda has worked as a referee for more than three decades. These were all spent with WWE. After he left the company in 2020, Mike made sporadic appearances for AEW, including as a special guest referee at Double or Nothing 2020.

On X/Twitter, a user mentioned that Mike appearing on AEW would be nice because he would love to see Chioda on-screen and for someone as experienced as him to visit Tony Khan's company. The 31-year veteran replied that it would surely be nice to do.

"Yes it sure would be! @AEW," said the veteran.

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Mike Chioda doesn't understand one difference between WWE and AEW referees

A few months ago, Mike Chioda spoke about referees and the major benefits that AEW officials received.

During an episode of his Monday Mailbag podcast, the veteran discussed some referees in the Stamford-based promotion who did not have major expenses paid for during their trip. He compared this to their counterparts in AEW, who, according to him, had all expenses paid for.

"There's referees now, still with WWE, that don't get anything paid for," Chioda said. "They don't get their hotels, cars, or gas, or anything paid for. There's a few of them still, which I don't understand cause AEW [referees get] all their stuff paid for."

Mike Chioda may also have been speaking from personal experience, having worked for both companies. He also mentioned how he found it weird that a relatively new company was able to implement this.

Although this was mentioned almost a year ago, there is no confirmation that it is still the case today, as adjustments could have been made.

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