On the latest edition of Monday Mailbag on AdFreeShows legendary referee Mike Chioda spoke about the classic Last Man Standing matchup between John Cena and Umaga from the Royal Rumble pay-per-view in 2007. Chioda revealed that Umaga was legitimately knocked out in the match due to Cena pulling too hard on the ring ropes during a choke spot. Highlights are below.
Says Umaga was knocked out legitimately:
“Umaga couldn’t answer anything. He was out like a light. That’s why I got so worried about Eckie (Umaga). I was thinking, was he concussed? But no, the rope got him and choked him out, and he passed out. I didn’t even know Eckie was passed out. He was shoot passed out. He was totally out of it.”
Says Cena was tugging too hard on the ring ropes, which is why Umaga passed out:
“He finally woke up. I was like, ‘Are you alright? That was nuts.’ It was the ring rope that choked him out. John was pulling too hard. He was tugging too hard.”
Says he felt bad because Umaga was trying to tell him that it was too tight:
“I felt bad because as a referee, you have to know what’s going on in there. I was like, ‘Eckie, I just thought you were selling so good.’ He said, ‘I was trying to tell you but I couldn’t get it out.’ He couldn’t talk but he was trying to tell me it was too tight, and I couldn’t even hear him.”
(H/T and transcribed by WrestlingNews.Co)