Jimmy Korderas On WWE Botching RETRIBUTION Storyline, His Issues With AEW’s Officiating

In a recent interview on The Wrestling Inc. Daily, former WWE referee Jimmy Korderas discussed WWE botching its RETRIBUTION storyline, his issues with AEW officiating, and much more. You can read his comments below.

Jimmy Korderas on WWE botching the RETRIBUTION storyline: “I think the ball was dropped right from the get-go when they tried to make them a rebellious group with all the Molotov cocktails and all that stuff. They lost me right there. That’s me, and I’m like, you know what, you can cause chaos without having to go that route. And then all of a sudden, to stop the chaos, the story is ‘oh, we’ll just sign these guys on and pay them to come in and create chaos,’ but then once you sign them, they become basically ineffective. I guess in theory, I guess it’s salvageable, but I don’t see it. I think the damage is too far gone and I think in people’s minds there’s no coming back from this.”

On his issues with AEW’s officiating: “Again, I hate to rail on the brothers and sisters in stripes, but to me just watching, I don’t think the officiating is a priority at all for them. In situations, especially in tag matches, ‘oh, we’re going to do this. Well, what do you need me to do?’ It’s kind of like just fudge the numbers a little bit. Just keep yourself distracted and kills me because you look at some of the producers they have down there. You have Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, Dean Malenko [and] you got Billy Gunn. How is this not being utilized? Maybe being a former referee myself, I pay too much attention to the referees and some of the over selling a lot of stuff and being out of position and stop moving around so much. It’s those little things.

“Maybe I’m overanalyzing because I used to be one of them. I guess I still am. I’m haven’t given in my card yet, but anyway, it’s just little things. Like I always say, the referee’s job is to help the talent tell their story. You’re not the story, unless you’re included in their story. So you’re invisible until you need to be visible, and I’m noticing that a lot of times, the referees, particularly in AEW, tend to be very visible when they shouldn’t be. When I see an exchange of two guys going back and forth and throwing these bombs and haymakers back and forth, and right between them, standing between them in the main shot is a referee selling every punch. No, stand off to the side. Let the guys be the focal point or the girls.”