This week’s episode of “Mailbag Monday with Mike Chioda” has been released.
During it, he was asked about the backstage feeling regarding the finish of the WrestleMania 35 main event that saw Becky Lynch beat Charlotte Flair and Ronda Rousey.
Lynch rolled up Rousey for the win, but it looked like Rousey kicked out.
“Rod Zapata was the referee for that match and got a lot of heat for it, a lot of heat for that match for counting. He shouldn’t have counted. I think he panicked. He could have said, ‘Hey, get that shoulder down more. Get that shoulder down.’ Sometimes if you start a count and it’s almost not touching, and if you’re telling them as you’re counting, they can make the adjustment and get it tighter. He should have never counted. He got a lot of heat for that. I remember there was so much heat that you almost thought he was going to lose his job at that point. That was something that you just have to work as a referee. If you don’t see something down, you can’t count it the way the camera angles are. Vince was f*cking hot.
Laurinaitis was hot. Rightfully so. You have to man up to your mistakes. That’s why it’s hard to be a referee. You know that’s the finish, and he was saying something about how he didn’t think Ronda or someone couldn’t make the adjustment. I remember we said to him, ‘Why didn’t you just tell them to get the shoulder down as you’re counting?’ He tried to protect himself and said ‘I don’t think she could have made the adjustment.’ Those were his return words, and I think he got himself a little more heat after that. That goes back to where you have to protect yourself as a referee because it’s going to make you look bad for counting the shoulders that are not down. It makes you look like sh*t, and that’s where you bury yourself if you don’t make the adjustment.”
H/T to WrestlingNews.co