WWE Refs Ordered To Count Out Wrestlers Not Paying Attention
Charles Robinson, others, told to not hold up the count.
Any inattentive WWE superstars are likely to find themselves racking up additional notches in their 'loss' column - at least according to senior referee Charles Robinson, speaking in a recent interview with Sean Mooney.
The long-time man in the stripes told Mooney, on the veteran announcer's Prime Time podcast, that WWE referees have been expressly ordered by company chairman Vince McMahon to continue their counts should any wrestler on the outside lose track of their timing. If that ends up with the wrong result, then so be it; McMahon would prefer to maintain the illusion of legitimacy than his men in the middle stop counting because a wrestler isn't going to make it back in time.
This order from the top almost certainly explains the unusual situation which occurred on Chad Gable's 205 Live debut last June. A rip-roaring encounter between Gable and Jack Gallagher came to an abrupt end thanks to a countout, with both superstars left utterly bemused, even distraught, at the ruling. Reports emerged in the days after confirming this was not the planned finish, but that the ref had called it as a shoot.
Now the rule's confirmed, wrestlers had best keep their wits about them.