Vince McMahon blamed for infamous botch in match with top WWE Superstars
Vince McMahon is to blame for a botch that took place at the 1998 WWE Survivor Series pay-per-view, according to former WWE senior referee Mike Chioda.
Last week marked 25 years since WWE Survivor Series took place at the Enterprise Center (formerly known as the Kiel Center) in St. Louis. The event featured a tournament for the vacant WWE Championship. The tournament led to "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and Mankind (Mick Foley) facing off in the semi-finals, which ended in multiple swerves.
Vince McMahon watched from ringside in a wheelchair as Austin looked to put Mankind away with a Stunner onto a steel chair. However, Vince jumped out of his wheelchair and pulled Chioda out of the ring to prevent the three-count. The sloppy spot continued with McMahon dropping Chioda with a punch at ringside while the longtime WWE referee was held by Sgt. Slaughter.
Mankind went to apply the Mandible Claw to Austin, but he was dropped by a Stunner. Shane McMahon then ran down to make the three-count, but he stopped mid-count and gave The Texas Rattlesnake a middle finger. The Stooges rushed in and decked Stone Cold with a chair, which allowed Mankind to get the pin and secure his spot in the finals as Shane counted. The heels quickly sped away from the arena in a limousine as Austin car-jacked an SUV to give chase.
Video of the finish to Austin vs. Mankind went viral to mark the 25th Anniversary of the match. One fan took to X to criticize the finish, blaming Chioda for being "out of position" for the McMahon attack and Gerald Brisco for his weak chair shot to Austin. He also pointed out that Big Boss Man missed his cue to come out.
Chioda saw the fan criticism and decided to respond. The 57-year-old-referee, who was released in April 2020 after 31 years with the company, put the blame on his former boss, Vince McMahon.
"Okaaaaaay! I was out of position or Vince didn’t make his way around to my feet by the ropes? I think I had a lot more ring experience than my boss! 🤣🤣," he wrote.
The aforementioned tournament match between The Rock and The Undertaker saw interference by Boss Man and Kane, which led to The Great One winning by disqualification. The Rock would go on to defeat Mankind in the tournament finals main event to capture the vacant WWE Championship.
Vince McMahon sells millions of dollars worth of TKO stock
The former WWE Chairman recently sold around $713 million worth of TKO stock. Details can be found here. McMahon was later seen walking with a cane. The news of McMahon's stock dump has been a trending topic for the past two weeks and the subject of many fan jokes seen here.
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