Mike Chioda On How He Ended Up Refereeing Ric Flair’s Last Match

Mike Chioda is among the most experienced referees in the wrestling industry, working for WWE from 1989 to 2020 and also making appearances in AEW as a referee. He will act as the referee for Ric Flair’s last match on Sunday, July 31 when Flair joins Andrade El Idolo to go up against Jay Lethal & Jeff Jarrett. He spoke on the details surrounding this final bout for Flair from his perspective on the Battleground podcast per Fightful.com.

On the significance of this event: “My career, doing Ric Flair’s Last Match, is going to be the last chapter of my career in my book, when I write my book, 35 years with WWE, 37 years in the business. He’s definitely going to be the last chapter in my book. It’s going to be awesome to see him perform again. He’s been getting in shape and working out. God bless him. I’m gonna be happy for him,”

On the connection that led to his selection as the referee for this match: “Conrad Thompson texted me. I know he’s family. He reached out to me. I do a podcast, Monday Mailbag with Mike Chioda for Conrad for about two years now. I do a lot of stuff for Conrad. He asked me to do this match and it was an honor to be asked and a great feeling. ‘Wow, Ric wants to do it one more time.’ I follow him on social media and saw him about eight months ago at another event. He’s got more spunk at 73. I’m 55 and I’m thinking, ‘Am I going to have that energy in 18 more years?’ On the boat, drinking a beer or two, fishing, hanging out.”

You can check out the video below for the full discussion.