Former WWE referee Mike Chioda had a lot to say about Mark Carrano, WWE’s Senior Director of Talent Relations. Carrano is the person who makes the call to talent when they are getting their release from the company and he called Chioda last April to tell him that he was among those being let go.
Chioda did not hold back on his thoughts on Carrano and he had some positive things to say about his dealings with Jim Ross when he was the head of talent relations.
Chioda was asked who his favorite talent relations person to work with: “Jim Ross was the best head of talent relations. He was honest. His word meant everything. There were no contracts back then. A lot of things were said on a gentleman’s agreement. Jim Ross paid very well. He took care of the referees. He thought the referees were just as much part of the boys in the show. He respected the referees and I respected him. To me he’s an icon in the business as far as commentary and everything. He is a great guy. He was the best head of talent relations.”
Chioda on who was the worst head of talent relations: “Mark Carano. He’s the s**ts. Did he ever referee a match? Did he ever work a match? Did he ever set up a ring? Did he ever take ropes? Did he ever drive a truck? He did none of that s**t. I guess he paid his dues in the office because he is still there. He is a smart mark, not his first name, but a smart mark to the business. He knows anything and everything. He couldn’t look you in the eye. He wasn’t straightforward with you. I didn’t believe him. Even when he called me, he lied to me that day when he called me to let me go. I believe he was one of the guys who put me up on the chopping block. I know it didn’t come from Vince and Stephanie who said, “Let’s cut Mike Chioda and cut his payroll because his payroll is so huge.”
He put my name up, I guess, and got it approved through Hunter and probably Hunter got it taken care of through Vince. We (Chioda and Carano) got along on a business standpoint but I tried to stay away from him as much as I could. I believe he’s put in a situation to take all the heat, but to be honest with you, this is the first time that I’ve mentioned his name since I’ve been off and I really didn’t want to talk about his name. You put somebody’s name out there and you are putting him over either way, bad or good. He’s just never paid a lot of dues on the outside of the business. He was trying to get the referees to be stooges and everything. It wasn’t the way I wanted to see the referees go.”
Chioda has a lot more to say about his time in WWE at AdFreeShows.com.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit “Mailbag Monday with Mike Chioda on AdFreeShows.com” with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
