WWE contacted released employee to be part of Edge vs Randy Orton match at Backlash

WWE tried to bring back referee Mike Chioda for "The Greatest Wrestling Match Ever" between Randy Orton and Edge at Backlash, last year. Chioda said that WWE contacted him just a month after he had been released to officiate the match.

Randy Orton and Edge squared off for the second time in 2020 - which also happened to be Edge's second singles match since his return to WWE - at Backlash. Mike Chioda had been released by WWE in April as part of budget cuts arising from the pandemic.

While appearing on Chris Van Vliet's recent podcast, Mike Chioda said that WWE tried to bring him back for the match, but he couldn't as he had to take care of his wife, who was facing health issues.

"They called me a month later [after my release] to do Edge and Randy Orton’s match, and Randy had texted me and he really wanted me to do this special match they were having. But at that point, the pandemic was going on a little while, my wife couldn’t get in to get tested. She had some complications, with maybe her cancer coming back. It was the same problems that she had when she got diagnosed with cancer." (H/T Post Wrestling)

Chioda said that WWE's Mark Carrano contacted him to be a part of the match for an "extra payday". He told him that WWE were paying him until August. Randy Orton then texted him to ask him to be a part of the match, but the former WWE referee had to take his wife to a doctor in Texas.

WWE's "Greatest Wrestling Match Ever" at Backlash

Take a look behind the scenes of The Greatest Wrestling Match Ever in WWE The Day Of: #WWEBacklash 2020, available TOMORROW on WWE Network!@EdgeRatedR @RandyOrton pic.twitter.com/xFKPp4k8lc

— WWE Network (@WWENetwork) July 16, 2020

The Greatest Wrestling Match Ever was a unique match between Edge and Randy Orton, which harked back to old school wrestling.

Both Superstars put on a clinical performance, using their finishers on one another as well as those of numerous legends of the business.

Orton won the match after 45 minutes of intense wrestling. Edge suffered an injury in that match which kept him out of action until this year's Royal Rumble.

"How can you even contemplate calling this 'The Greatest Wrestling Match Ever' and not have Howard Finkel introducing it?"Well said, @EdgeRatedR. The newest episode of #WWETheDayOf spotlights #WWEBacklash, and it's available NOW: https://t.co/SfiC0BHgFy pic.twitter.com/mGJLPnOMxB

— WWE Network (@WWENetwork) July 17, 2020