I'll give you my background in wrestling and then proceed into the rest of the blog... I started attending shows in 2002 after meeting a promoter in my work place as he shopped for a digital camera. I started attending his promotions shows regularly, got to know him and some of the guys, helped with ring tear down after shows, basically anything to be around the show. I then purchased a video camera and started traveling to these shows and recording them for the promoter, taking them home, copying them to VHS and giving him the footage. This progressed into me making airport runs to pick up WWF/WCW legends as they would come in to work shows for the promotion. Then in September of 2003 I bought my first Referee shirt and pants, brought them with me to Waldron, Michigan and worked my first show as a Referee. My very first match was a 6 man Tag and man was I lost.... I had not learned all the tricks of the trade and at one point legitimately shoved a wrestler down into the corner as I tried to keep him out of the ring. Anyway, here we are in early 2014 and I have been slowed down by a back injury from Refereeing. I never did it as a full time job, but at the peak of my run I was working 2-3 weekends a month. Traveling to places in Southern Michigan, to places like Bay City, Grand Rapids, to places like Alexandria, Greenfield, Columbus, and Fort Wayne in Indiana to Toledo, Lima, and Holiday City in Ohio.
Getting to work with guys I grew up watching on television. Guys like: The Rock and Roll Express, The Steiner Brothers, Buff Bagwell, Kamala, Koko B. Ware, The Barbarian, Warlord, Nikolai Volkoff, The Iron Sheik, Greg The Hammer Valentine, Honky Tonk Man, Jimmy Hart, Abyss, Demolition Ax, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, and many many more.
Being a Referee is to me a lot of fun. I was probably a weird kid as I grew up watching wrestling. I would always watch what the Referee was doing during the match. Seeing how animated they were, or how they handled the sometimes much bigger wrestlers, and occasionally watching them get beat up. I loved watching a Referee named Tommy Young, who worked for the old NWA in the 80's. He was very animated in the ring, he would often react to moves performed by the wrestlers in the ring. He wasn't afraid of the wrestlers and would often engage in shoving matches with guys like Ric Flair. He was an important part of the match, his counts and body language in the ring elicited responses from the crowd on a near pin. It was great. Mike Chioda in the WWE is another I really enjoy watching work. He is kind of a modern day Tommy Young, although I don't think there will ever be another Referee as good as Tommy Young was..
When I tell people I work in professional wrestling or when someone asks if I do, the first thing they do is wrinkle up their noses like they stepped in something and say something brilliant like "You know wrestling is so fake don't you?!?!?" Then they sit there with this look of great anticipation, like a kid on Christmas morning who can hardly stand the wait to open a gift.. They're waiting like my whole world to come crashing down, like they've just opened my eyes to reality. When in fact the first thing I want to do is reach out and slap them a few times. I am fully aware wrestling is predetermined. I won't go as far as to say it's 100% fake... There are a few things in wrestling you can't fake... Gravity..... And, chair shots... I've been on the business end of more than a few chair shots in my time in wrestling. And the next day when your back is stiff and and bruised, you can't help but think they might be kinda real... And I've been slammed and thrown enough to know that the falls are real. You can learn how to fall properly, but that doesn't mean it's painless.
Here is a pic of the aftermath of a Barbed Wire Texas Death Match where the ropes are wrapped in Barbed Wire.. This took place in Pittsford, Michigan in 2005.
I'm not exposing anything that anyone with the I.Q. of a sponge doesn't already know. Vince McMahon has exposed this business and all it's inner workings more than any internet dirt sheet or fan could. He has been both the best and worst thing to ever happen to wrestling. He is a marketing genius, he took the WWE and went from regional promotion to global empire, made it a billion dollar industry. But in the process decimated all the territories and promotions that used to dot the maps from coast to coast, from the north to the south and everywhere in between. He took over those territories, crushed the promotions by buying off their top talent and making the WWE a who's who of professional wrestling then going back to those territories where he got the talent and running shows, in the process killing the territories promotion and claiming the land for WWE. Little by little he expanded his "territory" until the entire U.S. was his to run anytime, anywhere.
That being said here is what a show day looks like as a Referee. If the bell time is 7pm I will usually try to get to the venue about 3:30-4pm. That way you are sure to get there on time if you get lost, you can get settled in, get something to eat, then relax and chat with the wrestlers/promoter as they start to filter in... Usually about 5:30 or so you'll have a good idea of who is going to be there and what wrestlers are not going to show up and a card is made and posted in the locker room.. Depending on how many Referee's there are (usually 2, sometimes more) one of us will write the card down in a notebook, then we'll divvy out the matches among us. I try to do them by strong suit if I know who I'm working with. Like I personally don't do well in Tag matches so I will work mostly singles matches or specialty matches. Then once the card has been divided up between us. I will go to the wrestlers involved in my first match and introduce myself if we haven't worked together and tell them I'll be with them in the ring tonight and ask what their finish is going to be. They'll give me what the finish is going to be and I'll ask if there are any other spots or things I need to be aware of and they'll fill me in. You try to space your matches out so that you have time between matches to get with your next match to find out the finish and any info you might need. Working back to back matches is difficult because you're already out in the ring and you don't know the finish of the next match. So as you're "checking" the wrestlers in the corner pre-match I will ask the wrestler who is going to win for the finish and info. It's a little more hectic that way but it's doable. So, after I get the info on my first match it's usually time to start getting changed and ready for the show. The promoter will give you special instructions during the show if you're needed to run in and pull wrestlers apart during a fight, or if you need to help someone out of the ring. Then usually it's bell time... There is a lot to remember sometimes. Sometimes more than I think Referee's are given credit for. We have to learn which wrestler to follow in the ring to make it look like we don't see the bad guy cheating, we have to turn a blind eye to things that are blatantly going on behind our back, and despite the fact the crowd is screaming at you, you have to play dumb, which in turn infuriates the crowd.
I've had things thrown at me, been called every name in the book.. Even had a little boy who was probably 6 or so give me the finger one time. I've had my Referee shirt stolen by a fan after it was removed during a beating. Fans can be ruthless.. But it's also an amazing feeling getting to be a part of something that makes people happy, makes them forget their problems, and sometimes the Referee gets to be involved in the match and gets what's called a "Ref Spot" whether it's shoving down a wrestler who shoves you, or body slamming a wrestler after getting caught up in the action, I've gotten into slapping exchanges with wrestlers, had pies smashed in my face. And hearing that crowd react to something you've done is second to none.. I can't imagine how it must feel to the wrestler who does it regularly. I've heard the collective groan of a crowd as I've taken a chair shot, and I've heard them cheer as I body slammed a wrestler. It's an amazing feeling.
But one of the best things honestly is the guys in the locker room. I've met some good people doing this. I've met some who weren't good people but like any job, you work with them and maintain a professional attitude.
I recently read an article titled Top 10 Rules For A Pro Wrestling Referee and it was pretty accurate. I will share it paraphrased with you.
1. The Referee will never disqualify a wrestler for not breaking a hold on the count of 5 unless it's part of the finish or the wrestler plans on maintaining the hold for 5 minutes to establish himself as a psycho.
2. Unlike any other sport where the Referee's look like they could be replaced by anybody. In Pro Wrestling you can be. Whether is an old wrestler making an appearance, a celebrity, or another Referee coming into the ring to make the 3 count as you lay knocked out.
3. During a hotly contested match the Referee will draw out the 3 count in painstaking fashion to add suspense to the matches finish. Unless it's a quick roll up finish then the Referee will count as if the building is on fire and needs to be evacuated.
4. Regardless of the severity of impact "accidentally" being hit in the ring will send a Referee sprawling to the floor or mat and render them unconscious long enough for a wrestler to pull something underhanded..
5. Related to #4, when a Referee takes a fall he will land in such a way that his vision or view of the match is obscured... And when he "comes to" he will not get up and look around, instead he will either look straight ahead or down at the mat. Giving the bad guy extra time to do what he needs.
6. Every time a submission hold is applied a Referee will lean in with an intense focus that suggests that this might be the first time in wrestling history someone will submit to said move.
7. While the Ref is in a heated discussion with a Tag Team member outside the ring, in a corner, etc... The legal wrestler can be stomped by the Bloods, The Crips, pepper sprayed, exposed to caustic chemicals, beaten by grandma's in the front row and left for dead.. What could possibly be discussed for this length of time is a mystery better left untouched.
8. When wrestlers are fighting outside the ring and the Ref begins the count of 10, an epoch of human history will often pass before he completes the count in an important match. Wrestlers will do Moonsaults through tables, go to the dressing room to get their buddies' impression of the move, hold a press conference detailing the media's exaggerated impressions of steroids in wrestling, go grab a hot dog from the concession stand, then return to the ring... The Referee will have just counted 4....
9. The Ref will invariably fail to see that the bad guy has his legs stretched to the ring rope for added leverage, no matter how many times it happens the Referee will never see it.. Never once looking at video footage after and will continue to never catch the bad guy night after night allowing the heel to cheat for eternity.
10. If the Referee is an any way big or athletic, he will most likely make a biased call in a match and find himself either on the end of a beating or in the classic "bad guy referee" storyline..
The life of a Referee is thankless, we're verbally abused, physically abused, taunted by fans, targets for object thrown, naturally hated, and I love it....
Thank you for allowing me to steer off course a little and talk about something that is near and dear to me. My kids are as well, but sometimes it's nice to just step back, write about something else, then find my way back to the other topics next time..
I'll have another post ready to go by the end of the weekend or early Monday....
Until Then,
Be Well....
You should definitely write more about reffing. I like your witty sarcasm and truthfulness in this blog. P.s. I still have your shirt :-)
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