Former WWE referee Mike Chioda talked about The Rock vs. John Cena match at WrestleMania 28 in Miami during the Monday Mailbag podcast on AdFreeShows.com. Here are some of the highlights:
If he was considered to be the referee for the match:
“That was decided ahead of time. Rock was the man that definitely took the torch after Hogan. I’ve always admired Rock over the years working with him. Rock set me up to be the referee for that match when he came back with Cena. I was like, awesome. Rock had this match and he wanted me to do it.”
Cena being unhappy about losing:
“I think Cena had a little bit of a problem doing the job because here’s Cena carrying the torch for the last 10 years at that time. He was busting his a*s, day in and day out. Here comes the Rock back after so many years of being in Hollywood and he’s got to job out to the Rock? Of course, the show is in Miami. The Rock is a big Hollywood superstar now. There was a little heat there. I think there was a little dissension, but, you have to go where the money goes. So, they put Rock over, and I was happy about that. I felt bad for John in a way. But then, the second time when it came up, Rock goes, ‘Hey, do you have my match this time or does Chad Patton? I said, ‘Are you going over this time again, or are you doing the job for him?’ He said, ‘Yea, I’m jobbing out to him this time.’ I said, ‘Great. Well, I don’t have to count three on you. Let Chad do the match.’ He said, ‘I see which way you’re going.’ I said, ‘If you’re going over, get me back in the match.’ I was glad to do the first match. Cena had a lot to do with that because he liked Chad Patton a lot. I was glad I didn’t have to do it because Rock was doing the job the second time around.”
Quotes via WrestlingNews.co