Why WWE Legend Received Bonus Payday For Iconic Steve Austin Match

A veteran with a long history in WWE has spoken up about a unique incident that occurred in a Steve Austin match, which led to a higher payment for the performance.

The role of a referee in a pro wrestling match is to enforce the rules, make sure everything goes smoothly, and count the pinfall or submission to end the match. It’s a lot more complicated than that, of course, but the point is that in a regular match, most fans might not even notice the referee.

Mike Chioda was one of the most renowned WWE officials of all time, with a career spanning over 30 years in the company. During his time in WWE, Chioda refereed many major matches.

At WrestleMania 15 in 1999, The Rock headlined his first WrestleMania by defending the WWE Title against “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. It was the first of three Rock-Austin WrestleMania matches, which may make it the greatest WWE rivalry of all time.

During the match, there was a spot where Steve Austin got a steel chair from The Rock, who put Mike Chioda in front of him, so Austin nailed Chioda with a chair shot to the head, which is something that happened often in the Attitude Era. Chioda took a bump and was out of the match the rest of the way.

Taking A Chair Shot From Steve Austin Was A Good Idea For Mike Chioda

In an interview with Insight’s Chris Van Vliet, Chioda revealed that he was paid extra for taking the bump as a referee.

“[The biggest was] $2500. Yeah, it was a chair shot that Stone Cold gave me [at WrestleMania 15]. Because I started the match for the first 5-10 minutes, and I take the chair shot and I get knocked out.

Yeah, my head rang for like three days, ears were ringing, it was pretty cool. He [Jim Ross] goes, ‘You’re getting a bonus for that Mike.’ I was like, oh my god, thanks, JR. Got that bonus on top of the WrestleMania pay.”

After Chioda was taken out of the match, Steve Austin would go on to beat The Rock to win the WWE Title in the main event of WrestleMania for the second year in a row.

The WWE Hall of Famer Steve Austin could return to the ring again for one more match, although it’s not known if Austin is willing to lace up the boots one more time, like he did at WrestleMania 38 in 2022 when he beat Kevin Owens in what was Austin’s first match in 19 years.