Former WWE referee on The Ultimate Warrior’s backstage behavior

Veteran referee Mike Chioda has revealed he had no issues working with The Ultimate Warrior during their time together in WWE.

Chioda spent over three decades with WWE before he was released in 2020. The 54-year-old refereed The Ultimate Warrior’s two-minute victory over Hunter Hearst Helmsley (also known as Triple H) at WrestleMania XII.

Speaking to James Romero of Wrestling Shoot Interviews, Chioda said The Ultimate Warrior was “always cool” whenever they interacted. He also discussed the WWE legend’s strained relationship with WWE Chairman Vince McMahon.

“It’s the way it was,” Chioda said. “Warrior was hard to work with with a lot of guys back then. I think Vince just had enough of his bulls*** at the time. He was a great guy to me too. He was always cool to me. I was the referee, so all I had to do was just do my job inside the ring. It wasn’t like I had to go over on [defeat] him or he had to beat me and I was being difficult, because I wasn’t a worker.”

The WrestleMania XII match featured a spot where The Ultimate Warrior immediately got back to his feet after Triple H landed his Pedigree finisher. The one-time WWE Champion then hit three clotheslines, a shoulder tackle and a press slam before he picked up the win with a splash.

Mike Chioda on The Ultimate Warrior’s reputation

As the Pedigree spot with Triple H proved, The Ultimate Warrior’s larger-than-life character had the ability to withstand more punishment than most superstars.

Mike Chioda commented on Warrior’s backstage reputation and described the iconic superstar as a “no-sell kind of guy.”

“He was difficult to work with a little bit there, Jimmy [Jim Hellwig, Warrior’s birth name],” Chioda added. “He was a no-sell kind of guy. He didn’t sell [feign injury in matches] much – that’s for sure.”

The Ultimate Warrior passed away at the age of 54 on April 8, 2014 after he suffered a heart attack. Three days earlier, he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.

Please credit Wrestling Shoot Interviews and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.

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