In a 12 months the place contracts have been the speak of the wrestling world, evidently AEW have re-signed a lot of their most necessary employees to new offers — these being their referees.
Based on Fightful Choose, a lot of AEW referees got new one-year offers earlier this 12 months, to the purpose that a lot of officers may very well be midway by them. No particular names got to Fightful, nor a particular quantity. Some referees’ offers with the corporate had come to an finish by the point they have been renewed, however Fightful claims longer offers are being deliberate for them sooner or later. Given the timing, these longer offers will probably come into play in 2025.
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This information ended up coming to gentle whereas Fightful was wanting into on-line criticism of a number of AEW pay-per-view spots through which the officers appeared to have blatantly manipulated match finishes. The latest slip-up to be caught on digicam was throughout Anna Jay’s victory over Harley Cameron on the Zero Hour kick-off present for AEW WrestleDream, the place the referee seemingly pushed Cameron’s shoulder down so he might depend the successful pinfall. Fightful’s report says they weren’t given “a direct purpose” for the errors, however claims they “have been informed it is not going to proceed.”
Essentially the most notable instance of a referee messing up on an enormous stage was on the 2023 Grand Slam version of “AEW Dynamite,” the place Jon Moxley did not kick out through the end to his AEW Worldwide Championship match with Rey Fenix, just for referee Rick Knox stopped counting regardless of Moxley not transferring. This led to a modified end the place Fenix hit a second ending transfer, with Knox counting the three depend on a second strive.
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