WWE veteran recalls incident where WCW played mind games with Vince McMahon

Mike Chioda has opened up on WCW placing an advertising billboard within view of Vince McMahon's office in Stamford, Connecticut.

In a recent interview with Michael Morales Torres of Lucha Lubre Online, the former WWE referee recalled visiting WWE headquarters. During his travels, he spotted a billboard advertising WCW's flagship program, WCW Monday Nitro, that could easily be spotted from Vince McMahon's office.

Chioda was insistent WCW would have placed the billboard in that specific location in order to play mind games with the WWE Chairman. He also revealed the company got "hot" over the situation.

"There was a time with WCW, I remember stopping off at the office in Connecticut… we had to go there and there was a WCW billboard that was built right in Stamford, Connecticut. If you opened Vince’s curtain, that’s when you’d see the billboard!" Chioda said. "They put that there on purpose! It was like ‘WCW: NITRO’ it was like, holy s***, I can’t believe it! I remember the company being hot over that! Because imagine looking out your window, and you’ve got to see this billboard?"

Mike Chioda was also asked whether or not the iconic segment involving D-X trying to invade a live WCW show was done in response to the billboard. Chioda responded:

"I’m sure it was! That’s called a receipt in our business, as you know."

Mike Chioda on Vince McMahon's viewing habits during rivalry with WCW

La autoridad en el cuadrilátero, @MjcChioda habla sobre WrestleMania 18, 31, quien le hablaba por su auricular, el conteo de 3 que no debió ocurrir y más. También nos habla de Monday Mail Bag en @adfreeshows por https://t.co/lzEAz8UNa7Entrevista: https://t.co/EWcuqvQcLz pic.twitter.com/6FpNkWO1Pe

— Lucha Libre Online (@luchalibreonlin) May 2, 2021

During the same interview with Michael Morales Torres, Mike Chioda also revealed there was significant backstage pressure on Vince McMahon and other WWE creative team members during the Monday Night Wars. McMahon's insistence on keeping an eye on the competition led to him watching WCW Monday Nitro while his own wrestling product was being produced.

"We just did our jobs," Chioda said. "We knew there was more stress, more or less, on Vince and Kevin Dunn, and the producers and everybody else. Because… they were following every night, on the monitors, in their offices, Vince would watch WCW and he’d have our show on, to see what they’re doing the next day, what are they going off the air with."

Mike Chioda remains the longest-tenured WWE official in history, with a career spanning 30 years with the company before his release in 2020.