WWE: Recent Referee Controversy Hurting Match Quality?

A few superstars have recently turned heel and currently blame others for their lack of success. R-Truth claims that there is a conspiracy from the "Little Jimmys" that make up a majority of the WWE fanbase nowadays. Christian blames the fans for forcing him into a match that he lost his World Heavyweight Championship in. Ever since then, it has been one excuse after another. Even Mark Henry has complained about his treatment since joining Smackdown and has been ruthless, moving to the beat of his own drum ever since.

These three men are not the first to blame a higher power or claim that there is a conspiracy against them. Who could forget Chris Jericho's "Conspiracy Victim" storyline as a rising star in WCW. Conspiracies have also prompted events such as the formation of The Nation of Domination, having Rikishi run over "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and also gave Sheamus a WWE title match against John Cena, which he won successfully.

Usually, these claims begin with faulty referee decisions. Referees making mistakes have been planned before, but there have been a lot of bad decisions made lately by those donning the black and white stripes. Here are just a few examples of late where referees have all but ruined the ending of matches by their mistakes.

Chioda Screws Miz

The night after Extreme Rules, The Miz looked to regain his WWE Championship in a rematch against John Cena. The two put on one of their best matches together, especially for a television match, but neither would give up. Alex Riley, who was still a mentor of The Miz at the time, threw the WWE Championship belt into the ring for The Miz to use. Riley would distract referee Mike Chioda as The Miz would hit Cena with the belt.

As The Miz covered Cena for a three count, the belt lied on the ground underneath both men. Chioda would count Cena's shoulders down and have the bell ring. The Miz had won the championship. Even if it was with the use of dirty tactics, The Miz was a great heel and it was a classic heel move to use a foreign object. A total of 15 seconds would pass after the bell rang to end the match that Chioda would see the WWE Championship belt by The Miz.

Despite never being able to prove anything, Chioda automatically assumed that The Miz had used the championship belt during the match and reversed the decision. Years ago, a heel would win a match like that and all that would be said is that he "stole one" there.

One...Two...Kick Out...Three?

On the June 17, 2011 edition of SmackDown, the team of Ezekiel Jackson, Sin Cara and Daniel Bryan was awarded a victory over the team of Wade Barrett, Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase. The match ended when Bryan hit a drop kick in the corner on DiBiase and went for a cover. Referee Rod Zapata went on to count to three and end the match, despite the fact that DiBiase had kicked out after two.

Let's be honest, people: the outcome of a wrestling match is predetermined. The referee is the guy who calls the action and dictates how the match goes. This is especially the case when there are young superstars, which was the case in this match.

Zapata has been with WWE since 2010 and used to be a referee in FCW. Zapata speaks Spanish and is the translator for Sin Cara, which is why he is the referee in many of Sin Cara's matches. Zapata was also the referee when Sin Cara faced Evan Bourne on RAW Roulette. He accidentally rang the bell prior to the official announcement that the match was a No-Countout match.

The Ropes Don't Break and the Title Changes Hands

I have always been very critical of Scott Armstrong. His counts during pinfalls are awful to watch. The matches that he calls often leave something to be desired. While I respect his Hall of Fame father, "Bullet" Bob Armstrong, and loved watching his brother Road Dogg perform as I was growing up, I don't like watching Armstrong as a referee.

Armstrong gave me the perfect reason to not respect him at Capitol Punishment when he was the referee for the United States Championship match between Dolph Ziggler and Kofi Kingston. Ziggler locked in a sleeper hold, which was probably the part in the match where Ziggler was going to win the United States Championship. Kingston was close to the ropes and, because he was meant to lose, was smart to tuck his right foot back in and possibly gain a rope break. Instead, Ziggler wished to roll to the center of the ring and used the ropes to do so.

For a solid two seconds, Ziggler had his foot on the rope, which would be a rope break in any situation. Booker T would mention the rope break and Jerry "The King" Lawler would agree. However, there would be no replay of it and no mention of it beyond that.

The Washington D.C. Screwjob

I know that this one is actually a storyline, but it still is another shot at the referees. There was nothing done about this outside of replays being played and Christian sounding more like a whiner. In the end, that just makes the referees look that much more inept and foolish.

Mike Chioda is the referee in this title match and, even though I know that Chioda was supposed to not reverse the decision, it just looks idiotic when Chioda, as seen earlier in this slideshow, reversed a decision to have John Cena retain the WWE Championship.

Speaking of which, the other world title match at this event, R-Truth vs. John Cena, should have really ended a little differently. R-Truth getting water splashed in his face, no matter who it is from, could technically be labeled as a disqualification on Cena's behalf. That would merit a rematch for R-Truth.

Wade Barrett = WWE Champion

November 22, 2010, will always be remembered as the night that The Miz became a world champion in WWE. Should it have been Wade Barrett's night as well?

Barrett faced an injured Randy Orton with the WWE Championship on the line on that episode of RAW. After an attack on Orton from his Nexus teammates, Barrett looked to cash in and win the WWE Championship. Orton would, however, fight back and win the match to retain. Minutes later, The Miz would use his Money in the Bank briefcase to win his first WWE Championship.

If you look at the clip, John Cena was supposed to pull Mike Chioda out of the ring, but was too late in doing so. The visual evidence shows that Chioda's hand came down for the third time right before Cena pulled Chioda out of the ring. Technically speaking, Wade Barrett became the WWE Champion in that moment.

What Will Happen to the Referees?

Will WWE recognize this trend with referees blowing major calls? Will there be any mentions of them in the future? Will any storylines come out of it involving specific referees?

I believe that referees only have their names known when they make mistakes. The names of referees were always said during matches in the past, but it has been phased out of commentary in recent years. What do you think? Should there be a Jim Joyce-type call made for storyline purposes?