Mike Chioda Shares John Cena Story Causing WWE To Be Fined At MSG
While John Cena has undoubtedly made the WWE plenty of money during his near 20-year career; according to former referee Mike Chioda, he hasn’t been afraid to cost them some during that time either.
Speaking on the Monday Mailbag podcast on AdFreeShows, Chioda recalled Cena causing WWE to be fined on more than one occasion by legendary venue Maddison Square Garden.
WWE’s relationship with ‘The Garden’ goes back decades, but that doesn’t mean they’re exempt from the rules. Responding to a question about Madison Square Garden’s strict curfew, the long serving referee recalled John Cena going over time, adding that when Cena was in full flow, he didn’t care.
Chioda began by saying that breaking the curfew never went down with WWE Chairman Vince McMahon.
“The reaction is hot from Vince. John Cena has done it a couple of times, I know. But John didn’t care man, he liked to get his stuff in. Just do what he does and entertain the crowd. It’s always amazing when you work with Cena too, half the crowd is saying ‘Cena sucks!’ and he had all the kids going ‘Let’s go Cena!’ when Cena’s getting into a comeback. When Cena’s getting into a match he didn’t care. It’s a very high price at Madison Square Garden.”
Expanding further, Chioda revealed that the fine could be up to $100,000 for breaking the curfew.
“When the guys used to run over time at the Garden, at curfew I know it used to cost like, anywhere between $50,000 and $100,000. It wasn’t cheap. It wasn’t like a $5000, $10,000 fine.”
“If you’re running The Garden, and you’ve got a full house, you’ve got a million dollar gate. It wasn’t a cheap price to go over the curfew at The Garden because that union stuff was strict there.”
John Cena was most recently in action at SummerSlam where he failed in his bid to win a record 17th World Championship after losing to Roman Reigns.
Cena pulled out all of the stops against his younger, full-time rival but Reigns always found a way to fight back. Cena landed an Attitude Adjustment, an Attitude Adjustment from the top rope, as well as locking in the STFU, but the champion kept coming back. In the end Cena set Reigns up for a Spear, imitating him in the process, but it was champion who landed the move first, sealing the win.
Words cannot describe how appreciative I am that the @WWEUniverse allowed me the opportunity to return and perform. Thank you staff, superstars, and most of all FANS for giving me an unforgettable summer at “home” with my “family”. The journey takes me away now but I’ll C U soon.
— John Cena (@JohnCena) August 23, 2021
In the days after the defeat, Cena appeared on Good Morning America, where he reflected on the loss and praised WWE fans.
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