AEW faced tremendous criticism this week for the referees’ role in the Face Of The Revolution Ladder Match on Dynamite.
The referees held the ladder for Powerhouse Hobbs who emerged victorious in the marquee bout. Fans have heavily criticized the match for the referees holding ladders, specifically towards the climax where they held the broken ladder so that Hobbs could climb it and capture the brass ring.
WWE’s longest-tenured referee Jimmy Korderas weighed in on the matter in his latest Reffin’ Rant clip on Twitter. He said,
“Big controversy this week, the role of a referee in a ladder match and what is he supposed to do? As someone who’s been there and done it a lot, here I am trying to explain it… Wednesday night on Dynamite, we got a ladder match. The brass ring, and the referees were very over in holding ladders for several spots — especially at the end with three referees climbing in the ring to hold the ladder down so Hobbs can climb up and get the brass ring.”
“I get it! The safety of the talent is paramount. But at the same time, you can do it discreetly or not shoot it at all. It falls on production, it falls on the referees. It falls on everybody. Get a bigger ladder. Do something else. Yes, I get it, the safety of the talent comes first. And WWE has done it in the past. I’ve even held ladders because I’ve done a lot of ladder matches. But do it in a discrete fashion where it doesn’t look like the talent got an assist from the referee.”
In today's #ReffinRant referees in ladder match has been a hot topic this week. I've been asked by many my thoughts on the matter, here we go. 🤔 #StaySafe pic.twitter.com/1uLQFxESN5
— Jimmy Korderas (@jimmykorderas) March 3, 2023
