Being the son of arguably wrestling’s most famous referees, Brian Hebner knows officiating mistakes when he sees them – or, at least, what he perceives as mistakes.
When you think of pro wrestling referees, Earl Hebner is always top of the list, with his son Brian having also made his impact on the refereeing world as well. Known for his work in WWE and IMPACT Wrestling, the Hebner son has been around for just over two decades.
With that level of experience and the fact his father is one of the most famous to don the stripes, Brian Hebner is capable of spotting a refereeing mistake from a mile away. According to him, Bryce Remsburg makes constant errors.
Discussing the popular AEW official on his Refin’ It Up podcast, the Hebner son stated that, while Remsburg is a “very nice guy”, he regularly ruins matches with his mannerisms and facial expressions:
“I have to call the elephant in the room. I have met this guy several times. He’s a very nice guy. It has nothing to do with him as an individual or a human being. Bryce Remsburg, and once again, a very, very nice guy. It’s time for someone to let this guy know he is killing matches, and taking away the power, and taking away the show, and taking away the story because it’s not about him.
He’s over dramatic with too many things. Sometimes I see some things that make me just sit here and really laugh because it actually is funny because that’s how outlandish it’s become and nobody’s even seeing it, it seems like that works for that company.”
Brian Hebner elaborated on what specifically annoys him with regards to Bryce Remsburg’s officiating:
“I think the guy’s a good referee, but he’s not when he does all these things. So if somebody gets slapped, he’s grabbing his face. If somebody gets kicked in the back, he’s holding his back. He’s jumping up and down. He’s just over the top. I understand being involved in caring about what’s going on in the ring and showing natural and when I say natural, I’ll explain that if you’d like, but natural expressions.
I’ve never once watched an MMA match and watched the guy and the referee sell everybody that gets knocked out. They don’t do anything. They do their fu*cing job and that’s what we need to do. It’s okay if it’s a spot where you’re supposed to show emotion or you’re supposed to show something, but not every time someone does something.
Like I say the guy’s a good referee if you take that out. Yeah, I love his count. I love his cadence. I like how he tries to stick to rules. But this has got to stop. He’s taking away from talent, and I think that’s unfair.”
Brian Hebner recently retired from refereeing, reffing his last show as a full-time referee at IMPACT Wrestling’s Slammiversary this past June. Earl Hebner also returned to the Anthem-helmed promotion that night for a one-off appearance, counting the deciding fall between Honor No More and Team IMPACT.