The Street Fight between Shane McMahon and Kurt Angle at the 2001 King of the Ring is remembered as one of the most brutal of the Attitude Era. Veteran referee Mike Chioda was the official for that contest, and he recently shared the wild story of what was happening behind the scenes, which included Vince McMahon screaming in his earpiece to stop the match and Linda McMahon personally thanking him for his actions.
There was a sequence on the entrance stage, where Kurt Angle repeatedly attempted to suplex Shane McMahon through large panels of glass, which were supposed to be gimmicked sugar glass. When the panels failed to break on the first few attempts, the spot became legitimately dangerous, leading to a chaotic situation both in the ring and backstage.
“Don’t Do It Again”
On the Insight with Chris Van Vliet podcast, Chioda recalled the moment. He explained that as Angle was attempting to put McMahon through the glass, he could hear a furious Vince McMahon in his headset, screaming at him and others to stop the match.
“I knew Shane’s a tough cookie. Man, he’s always been a tough kid… I was getting screamed at by Vince, like Vince was screaming in the background, cussing, Jerry Briscoe, everybody was cussing. But I wasn’t going to stop the match, that’s for sure, you know. And they’re like, don’t throw him through the glass. And I’m screaming at Kurt, don’t do it again. Don’t do it again. And later on, he goes, I said, ‘Kurt, I was screaming in your ear.’ He goes, ‘Was it on this side?’ I said, ‘Yeah, it was on the right side.’ He goes, ‘Oh, I’m sorry. I’m kind of deaf.’”
A Thank You From Linda
He revealed that he had to physically hold a piece of wood in place so that McMahon and Angle could complete a move off the top rope. His actions did not go unnoticed by Shane’s mother, Linda McMahon.
“I remember Linda coming up, because I held that board up top when he gives Shane the Angle Slam off the top rope. Had this little piece of board and was slipping off the rope with both of them up there. And I’m over there holding it like this as much as I can, just to get this, just so they can get that spot off. And I remember Linda pointing that out to me, and I was like, she goes, ‘Great job, Mike.’ You know, she was like, ‘Thank you for holding that board, because I seen that.’ She was, ‘You didn’t hold that board. They were collapsing.’”
You can hear his full interview on the Insight with Chris Van Vliet podcast.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit Chris Van Vliet with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
