Understanding a Wrestling Referee
December 27, 2011
By Nigel Doughty
The referee is a strange character to most. His only job is to ensure that wrestlers do not break the rules, to count pin falls and register submissions, however, even then they appear to get it wrong a lot of the time. In any other job, the person carrying out the task would be fired.
In reality, of course, the referee does much more than this. He is the one that controls the flow of the match – through his ear piece, he is told how long the match should go on for, how it should flow and how it should end.
On top of this, he needs to communicate with the wrestlers in the ring, so that they are aware of exactly what is going on.
This process is started off before the match, when the wrestlers will discuss any big ‘spots’ that they intend to do throughout the match. Most of the time the referee will be involved in this, but this can change throughout the match too.
Constantly, the referee is communicated with through his ear piece – he could be told to extend the length of the match, or cut it short, as the requirements for other segments in the show are assessed.
When a regular Joe is watching the show, they will see the referee talking to the wrestlers. For the unaware, this will just look like he is trying to control rule breaking. In reality, he is relaying the information to the wrestlers in the ring.
Although, ultimately the wrestlers put together a match, and they are responsible for how they gel together, none of it is possible without the referee in their to keep things flowing as they should. In this respect, the third, mostly unnoticed, man is the most important man in the ring.