AEW Reportedly Re-Signs Several Referees Amidst Recent Criticism Of Ref Errors On PPV

In a year where contracts have been the talk of the wrestling world, it seems that AEW have re-signed a number of their most important staff to new deals — those being their referees.

According to Fightful Select, a number of AEW referees were given new one-year deals earlier this year, to the point that a number of officials may actually be halfway through them. No specific names were given to Fightful, nor a specific number. Some referees' deals with the company had come to an end by the time they were renewed, but Fightful claims longer deals are being planned for them in the future. Given the timing, these longer deals will likely come into play in 2025.

This news ended up coming to light while Fightful was looking into online criticism of several AEW pay-per-view spots in which the officials appeared to have blatantly manipulated match finishes. The most recent slip-up to be caught on camera was during Anna Jay's victory over Harley Cameron on the Zero Hour kick-off show for AEW WrestleDream, where the referee seemingly pushed Cameron's shoulder down so he could count the winning pinfall. Fightful's report says they weren't given "a direct reason" for the mistakes, but claims they "were told it will not continue."

The most notable example of a referee messing up on a big stage was at the 2023 Grand Slam edition of "AEW Dynamite," where Jon Moxley failed to kick out during the finish to his AEW International Championship match with Rey Fenix, only for referee Rick Knox stopped counting despite Moxley not moving. This led to a changed finish where Fenix hit a second finishing move, with Knox counting the three count on a second try.