Details on WWE trying out new policy with Referees and Match Finishes
On Wednesday, June 6, 2007 at 6:24 PM EST According to a report by The Pro Wrestling Torch, WWE began implenting a new practice in mid-May of not informing referees ahead of time the finishes for the matches they were involved with. This was first reported a few weeks ago by various wrestling websites, but more details have become available about the situation.
Based on what is known, all matches before intermission at WWE House Shows will indefinitely take place without the referee knowing the finish. It's being looked at as an experiment and exercise within the company in front of generally smaller crowds. Some sources within WWE have suggested that this idea was influenced by wrestling newsletters such as The Torch suggesting that more realism could be brought back to wrestling by doing this given the huge popularity of MMA, mainly UFC recently.
The idea suggested was that if WWE referees didn't know the finish of matches ahead of time, wrestlers would be forced to pay full attention to telling a realistic story in the ring which would allow the referee to simply follow the rules and have that lead to the intended finish. The overall concept is that if the referee buys into the finish, then the fans no doubt will. Some within in the company have suggested that by doing this, "smart marks" would get the word and then be in the know that referees are no longer in on the finish adding lots of intrigue back into the product.
In addition to this adding intrigue for wrestling fans, it also forces WWE wrestlers to actually kick out of pin attempts before a three count, follow all the instructions by the referee (breaking before a five count) and making sure submissions are clear. The idea is that if a wrestler knows a referee isn't in on the finish then they have to tell a story in a convincing fashion and not get nonchalant about false finishes or the upcoming finish. This new practice seems to be a good idea as it has added some excitement to the undercard. During the first two weekends of trying it out, there were no incidents of a finish taking place that wasn't planned. Says one WWE source, "It keeps everyone on their toes. There has been nothing bad said about it by anyone so far."