AEW Referee Stephon Smith Responds To 'Frustrating' Critique From Bully Ray

Of all the recent controversies in wrestling, the one regarding referees holding ladders, stemming from AEW referees doing so when Powerhouse Hobbs won the Face of the Revolution ladder match, has certainly been one of them. And AEW referee Stephon Smith appears to have heard enough about it. After Bully Ray, one of the loudest critics regarding the matter, posted video highlights of the first ever TLC match in order to show no referees holding ladders during it, an annoyed Smith took to Twitter and offered up the following response.

"It's frustrating that this is still a line of criticism," Smith tweeted. "I get it. There were no ladders held in this match but had someone been seriously injured I'm sure the line of thought would be different." Smith, who worked as a referee for "WWE NXT" from October 2019 to August 2021, noted that he had held ladders for talent in "NXT" as well as AEW, and received no blowback those previous times. He believes this instance got more attention due to how it was shot, but ultimately has no regrets regarding how it was handled.

"In both instances production shot the talent tight but in the case of Will that was a split second call by the team & it was the right one," Smith tweeted. "Production (in both companies) always take the ladder climb wide to get the crowd and then tight once they get whatever is there. We're there to help. To make sure everyone bell to bell is safe regardless of the shot production takes. Talent safety is #1 (in both companies). Sorry the curtain got pulled back too much on live TV but not sorry because it ensured Will had his moment & was safe in the end."