On the June 14th edition of Dynamite, Adam Cole took on MJF in an AEW World Championship Eliminator match.
The two men fought to a 30-minute draw that drew widespread praise from fans. However, Bully Ray was unhappy with the bout.
Having previously taken issue with the use of blood in the match, the WWE Hall of Famer has now taken aim at the referee for the contest, Bryce Remsburg.
Speaking on Busted Open Radio, Ray claimed that “poor refereeing is as blatant as great wrestling.”
“The ugly is the same ugly that I have been talking about since day one — the referees. When I’m watching a great match, the refereeing in these matches, or the poor refereeing in certain circumstances, is as blatant as the great wrestling.”
He went on to detail his gripes with the official, questioning why he followed Cole and Friedman when they went out of the ring instead of starting a 10-count.
“Why is the ref on the floor with the two guys for a minute before he even climbs back in the ring, walks around for a little bit, and then decides to get to a count? There are more creative ways to do this.
“Forget about the creativity, there are more ways to do this that keeps the credibility on the referee. I’m actually trying to protect the referee.”
Later in the match, with Cole lying on a table outside the ring, MJF came off the corner to crash through him. Bully claims the issue of not counting reared its head again at this point.
“Then we get to the table spot. They go to the outside. The ref is not counting. They do the table spot. Referee comes back outside, talking to them, talking to them, talking to them, talking to them.
“Then the referee decides to roll back into the ring, and once MJF gets back in the ring, [the ref] starts counting Adam Cole only. How does that make sense? I’ll take the silence as you agree. It makes zero sense.”
“The referee is as much a part of the match as the wrestlers” – Bully Ray
Ray says the decisions made by Remsburg take away from the match as he’s a big part of the bout as well.
“Unfortunately, it does take away from the match because the referee is as much a part of the match as the wrestlers.
“Not that the referee should be seen, not that the referee should be a focal point, not that the referee should command the spotlight. But the referee has a job to do. Without the referee, there is no law and order in a wrestling match, and we can’t stick to the stipulations.”
Continuing on the topic of stipulations, Ray said the match should have had one if there were going to be points where the normal rules were thrown out.
“If you don’t want a referee to count, just make it a No DQ match, make it a no count-out match. Give me a stipulation to which I don’t need to pay attention to the referee’s job.
“But three times in that match with the same mistakes of the referee not counting.”
In another rant about the company, Ray has blasted the frequency with which The Canadian Destroyer was used in a recent episode of Dynamite.
H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the above transcription.