Referee Mike Chioda comments on WWE's 'Plan B' finish for Royal Rumble matches
Mike Chioda spent 31 years in the WWE, and it's safe to say that the veteran referee would know all the little-known backstage details about how WWE operates.
As always, Chioda answered several questions on the latest edition of Monday Mailbag on AdFreeShows. The former WWE referee was asked whether WWE usually has a 'Plan B' heading into the WWE Royal Rumble matches. There is always a possibility that the Superstar scheduled to win ends up getting hurt or eliminated early. What does WWE do in that scenario?
Mike Chioda revealed that there isn't a backup plan before the show as WWE Superstars and officials usually improvise on the fly. Chioda noted that when two WWE Superstars get eliminated simultaneously, the best option is to restart the match. In other instances, a decision is made on the spur of the moment.
Chioda explained:
"'Not really. That's a good question. But I mean, Plan B, no, there is no Plan B. When you are going into a Royal Rumble match, I mean, we can call this stuff on the fly. So, if there is two guys that go out at the same time, I'm sure we would just restart the match and redo those two competitors. If they fell at the same time, it would be a draw. But Plan B if anybody gets hurt or something, no, we'd just call it on the fly and then we would say, 'okay, this one's going over,' or they would let that guy lay low for a while, and we would come up with a Plan B finish, with the same guy but, everything is called on the fly at certain times."
Mike Chioda added that instructions regarding the changes come from whoever is calling the shots at the gorilla position, and in most cases, unsurprisingly Vince McMahon.
"Yeah, it would come from Vince and whoever is in charge at gorilla during the match, the producer, the agent. And if Vince is watching, if he is there, then he would decide who he wants to go over at that time. And you know, you've got to remember when you've got something like that going on, you can always take it away from him on Monday Night RAW if you had to go another direction with the storyline or so forth."
Phenomenal worker: Mike Chioda's reaction to Edge's WWE Royal Rumble win
Edge returned at the Royal Rumble to win the men's match, and Mike Chioda shared his reaction to the Rated-R Superstar's victory.
Chioda had nothing but words of praise for Edge, who he called a great guy and a fantastic worker.
"Man, I love it. Edge is a; he has been in the movies. You know, in the Vikings, I love him in that series called Vikings. And Edge had one of the most ruthless, one of the most out-of-the-blue spears, one of the deadliest finishers, when he used to hit that spear. A phenomenal worker who is from Canada. And a great guy. I love Edge, Man. He's always been a great guy to me. Phenomenal worker and great to see him back, and he looks great."
Mike Chioda also highlighted a major flaw in Brock Lesnar's F5 during the most recent episode of Monday Mailbag with host Paul Bromwell.
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