Bully Ray Blames Referee Issues In AEW On Ignorance Or Laziness

Refereeing is a crucial aspect of professional wrestling, with each promotion utilizing referees differently. WWE want their officials to be more in the background while AEW typically allows theirs to show more personality. It doesn't always come across well, however. 

On "Busted Open Radio," Bully Ray had plenty of grievances pertaining to the general state of refereeing in Tony Khan's promotion.

"I'm bringing to light the refereeing issues in AEW which continue to happen week after week for no good reason other than complete, utter, and sheer ignorance or laziness," Bully Ray declared. "And that's all I can chalk it up to."

He highlighted one issue that he witnessed during Orange Cassidy's match against Jay Lethal on Wednesday's "AEW Dynamite," where he noted a spot in which both performers were outside the ring and the referee wasn't counting. Then, the referee opted to jump to the outside but proceeded to do nothing. Bully Ray can't seem to grasp what the directive is, and it's at the point where it's taking him out of the match consistently.

"The refereeing s*** just bothers me to high heaven and I think it needs to stop," he continued. "To me, the referee is as important as the competitors. They're part of the story of the match." Whether it's very obviously holding a ladder, putting their hands in their pockets for seemingly no reason, or not counting when both participants are outside the ring, it's starting to gnaw at the Hall of Famer more.

"Did the guys have a really good match? Yes they did, but it's moments like that, that just, I'm sorry ... it should never happen."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Busted Open Radio" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.