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The Return Of Steiner Math & An Update From Planet Stasiak: Ten Things You May Have Missed In Wrestling This Week

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Last week was a rough one as WWE - one year to the day after they last cleaned house - wished ten of their Superstars well in their future endeavours. 

It's always sad to see a performer you enjoy watching get let go, especially during challenging times like these, but some of the people WWE said goodbye to seemed (on the surface at least) to be genuinely baffling choices. 

I'm sure they'll all go on to have success and do great things elsewhere, if they choose to after 90 days, but how could the company not figure out how to do anything with a dependable veteran like Mickie James, either member of the entertaining Iiconics or a talented and hard-working high-flyer like Kalisto? 

All had held titles in WWE and had their share of fans, but I suppose business is business. Their loss could end up being another organisation's gain. 

And I, like everyone else, find it positively perplexing that they gave a pink slip to Samoa Joe, of all people. 

The Samoan Submission Machine had proven himself to be a true asset, a utility player that could be everything from a potential World Champion, a colour commentator, a coach at the Performance Centre or fifty other different things if desired. 

It will be really interesting seeing where he ends up next.

The April 15 cull was certainly the talk of the wrestling week and provided some great reactions but, as always, there are plenty more stories, opinions and controversial comments to be found elsewhere...

10. Mike Chioda Almost Called An Audible During Goldberg Vs. Undertaker

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WWE.com

Veteran former WWE referee Mike Chioda was the man in the middle for the disastrous Goldberg versus Undertaker match at Super Showdown 2019, and recently talked about that experience with Metro.co.uk

Chioda - who had pretty much seen it all over his decades with WWE - became so concerned as the bout fell apart that he considered calling an audible and ending it early. 

"I almost had to call an audible during the Undertaker/Goldberg match at Saudi Arabia. It went downhill after Goldberg got gashed open in the turnbuckle, got concussed. He was badly concussed and he got through the match, but barely. 

That’s when I was kinda worried because I thought 'oh my God!'. After the suplex, they almost broke their necks. 'Oh my God, let’s get this done'. He was so concussed."

There was an anxious wait to see whether or not the official would have to intervene for the safety of the performers. 

"I was waiting to hear back from somebody to say, 'should I call this match or not because he’s not doing good at all?'. 

They just let them go. When you were an old school wrestler, you didn’t care if you were bleeding – you got through the match, whatever it took, you got through it. You wouldn’t see too many guys just saying, 'Oh I can’t wrestle no more' or 'I broke my finger', or 'I tore my knee out'. They still get through the match".

According to Chioda, one person could have overruled those backstage, and it was the man who was in the ring with him. 

"That’s it, let it play out. Unless 'Taker’s gonna tell me something. Then I would’ve done it. That was it. 'Taker tells me something, I’m doing it. I don’t care if the office in the back didn’t like it or not! 'Taker is one of the bosses, that’s for sure". 

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Lewis Howse

Written by Lewis Howse

Features journalist for Cultaholic.com and script writer for the Cultaholic YouTube Channel.