Mike Chioda Says WrestleMania 15 Main Event Was Biggest Pop He’s Ever Heard

Former WWE referee Mike Chioda recently weighed in on the biggest crowd pop he’s ever experienced, naming the main event of WrestleMania 15. That match saw Stone Cold Steve Austin battle The Rock in a No DQ match for the WWE Championship, with Austin coming out victorious. Chioda discussed the match on the latest episode of his AdFreeShows Monday Mailbag show, and you can check out some highlights below (per Wrestling Inc):

On the largest pop he’s ever experienced: “The one pop that stood out is when I did … it was Rock and Stone Cold [Steve Austin] at WrestleMania [15]. First 10 minutes of the match and I got hit by a steel chair, and that’s when Stone Cold swings the chair at me. Oh my God, in Philly, and I was like, ‘Bring it, man, just make it look good,’ and he brought it. But I remember the pop when he came out and just being out there. The pop was so huge in Philly.”

On Austin’s connection with audiences: Chioda said that the response wasn’t unexpected, as Austin could elicit audience excitement like no one else during his heyday. “When I always say [Hulk] Hogan and Rock got that huge pop with 68,000 people in the SkyDome [at WrestleMania 18], yeah, I get it — it’s all that. But every night, day in and day out, every week, when Stone Cold came out and that f**king glass used to break, when the music would start and the glass would break, man, the people would just come unglued off their seats. It was just like, ‘Woah, what the f?’ I mean, come unglued!”