Kemo
12-24-2020, 07:18 PM
G0coToNc-54
On a recent episode of The Wrestling Inc. Daily podcast, former WWE referee Mike Chioda sat down with Wrestling Inc. Managing Editor Nick Hausman where he shared a unique Vince McMahon story. Before that, he talked about what it was like to meet McMahon for the first time.
"Total businessman. That was in 1985 [where] I met Vince at TVs," Chioda recalled. "We were just doing ring crew, backstage work and all that stuff, and we would do local crew stuff. I hadn't become a referee till a couple years later, and then debuted in '89. Meeting Vince was phenomenal. He's a businessman and very good family man."
Chioda then shared a story about McMahon driving the ring crew truck with himself and former ring announcer Tony Chimel in the truck with him. He noted that while McMahon didn't crash the truck, he and Chimel were a bit terrified as he kept doing loops around the parking lot.
"We were in Ridgefield, OH, had the ring crew truck, the WWF truck. Tony Chimel and I -- Pittsfield, OH, on Thanksgiving day, we did Survivor Series for many years," Chioda noted. "So we'd be out in Ridgefield all week. I remember the Wednesday night before the show, we're at the Holiday Inn, and everybody's drinking, having fun. And he said, Mike, you got the keys to the goddamn ring truck?' I said, 'Yes sir.' He goes, 'God damn it. Give it to me.' I said, 'the keys to the ring truck Vince?' He goes, 'The keys to my ring truck.' I went, 'Oh, okay. No problem.' We used to have a fanny pack back then.
"I got the keys to the truck. Said, 'Here you go, sir' and I remember Pat Patterson -- God bless his soul, miss him very well much as well -- and everybody was sitting at the bar laughing and drinking. He takes the keys, and he starts going out. He goes, 'I'm driving this goddamn truck! You like this truck?' I said, 'Yes sir.' So I catch Tony Chimel in the corner, and I said, 'Chimel! Hey, Vince wants to drive our ring truck.' He's like, 'What? Get out here! He can't drive the ring truck.' I'm like, 'You f--king tell him that. You tell the boss that.' We're in a tough situation.
"He goes, 'Guys, hop in. We're taking this truck for a spin.' Ice everywhere, snow everywhere. It wasn't snowing at the time, but it snowed previously. He's got the truck on one side almost. He's taking turns, and we're in the truck like, 'Oh my God, he's gonna kill us.' He drove the truck around the parking lot two or three times. Man, he's a pretty cool boss. He didn't crash the truck. There were quite a few times I thought we were tipping that truck. He likes speed, and I was like, 'This is not the vehicle to be driving, a ring crew truck."
WWE Hall of Famer Gerald Brisco was on The Wrestling Inc. Daily where he also discussed McMahon's love of speed. Chioda noted that if you didn't drive fast when driving for McMahon, you probably weren't going to drive him again.
"Love of speed is right," Chioda stated. "There were days where we had to drive Vince to places. If you didn't drive fast, you weren't going to drive him again. He likes speed."
On a recent episode of The Wrestling Inc. Daily podcast, former WWE referee Mike Chioda sat down with Wrestling Inc. Managing Editor Nick Hausman where he shared a unique Vince McMahon story. Before that, he talked about what it was like to meet McMahon for the first time.
"Total businessman. That was in 1985 [where] I met Vince at TVs," Chioda recalled. "We were just doing ring crew, backstage work and all that stuff, and we would do local crew stuff. I hadn't become a referee till a couple years later, and then debuted in '89. Meeting Vince was phenomenal. He's a businessman and very good family man."
Chioda then shared a story about McMahon driving the ring crew truck with himself and former ring announcer Tony Chimel in the truck with him. He noted that while McMahon didn't crash the truck, he and Chimel were a bit terrified as he kept doing loops around the parking lot.
"We were in Ridgefield, OH, had the ring crew truck, the WWF truck. Tony Chimel and I -- Pittsfield, OH, on Thanksgiving day, we did Survivor Series for many years," Chioda noted. "So we'd be out in Ridgefield all week. I remember the Wednesday night before the show, we're at the Holiday Inn, and everybody's drinking, having fun. And he said, Mike, you got the keys to the goddamn ring truck?' I said, 'Yes sir.' He goes, 'God damn it. Give it to me.' I said, 'the keys to the ring truck Vince?' He goes, 'The keys to my ring truck.' I went, 'Oh, okay. No problem.' We used to have a fanny pack back then.
"I got the keys to the truck. Said, 'Here you go, sir' and I remember Pat Patterson -- God bless his soul, miss him very well much as well -- and everybody was sitting at the bar laughing and drinking. He takes the keys, and he starts going out. He goes, 'I'm driving this goddamn truck! You like this truck?' I said, 'Yes sir.' So I catch Tony Chimel in the corner, and I said, 'Chimel! Hey, Vince wants to drive our ring truck.' He's like, 'What? Get out here! He can't drive the ring truck.' I'm like, 'You f--king tell him that. You tell the boss that.' We're in a tough situation.
"He goes, 'Guys, hop in. We're taking this truck for a spin.' Ice everywhere, snow everywhere. It wasn't snowing at the time, but it snowed previously. He's got the truck on one side almost. He's taking turns, and we're in the truck like, 'Oh my God, he's gonna kill us.' He drove the truck around the parking lot two or three times. Man, he's a pretty cool boss. He didn't crash the truck. There were quite a few times I thought we were tipping that truck. He likes speed, and I was like, 'This is not the vehicle to be driving, a ring crew truck."
WWE Hall of Famer Gerald Brisco was on The Wrestling Inc. Daily where he also discussed McMahon's love of speed. Chioda noted that if you didn't drive fast when driving for McMahon, you probably weren't going to drive him again.
"Love of speed is right," Chioda stated. "There were days where we had to drive Vince to places. If you didn't drive fast, you weren't going to drive him again. He likes speed."