During the latest episode of his Monday Mailbag podcast for AdFreeShows, former WWE referee Mike Chioda commented on the Samoa Joe vs. Rey Mysterio WWE United States Championship match at WrestleMania 35 in 2019 and why it was cut short.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On being told to cut Samoa Joe vs. Rey Mysterio short at WrestleMania 35: “We had 15 to 18 or 22 minutes, originally, got knocked down to like 12 minutes. I remember Rey had this badass cosplay, his gear was made and he spends a lot of money on his gear. Samoa Joe had a different style. I remember it got knocked down to 12-15 minutes and then when I got in the ring, Billy Kidman said, ‘Go home,’ like, right away. Rey’s in the ring already, did his entrance, Samoa Joe is coming down and I’m like, ‘Rey, they’re saying go home right away.’ He’s like, ‘What?’ I’m like, ‘I swear to god.’ He’s like, ‘[Chioda] are you f***ing with me?’ I’m like, ‘No, I swear to god he’s telling me you’ve got to.’”
On cutting Mysterio’s match short: “I couldn’t believe they did that to Rey because I don’t think they cut anybody else’s match that night. They didn’t cut anybody else’s matches or anything, it was just Joe and Rey’s match. I felt bad. He just goes in there and kind of demolishes Rey and beats him. I felt bad for Rey, I really did. He was coming back, they had made some promises to him but they’re taking care of him now, him and Dom, which is cool. I think he was going through a little bit of stuff with the company but he’s totally rebounded. Rey is such a professional and such a great person, man, a great guy, and he’s one of my best friends. That was just a bad weekend that weekend, and that was my last WrestleMania.”
