At the 2025 AEW Dynasty event, wrestler Bandido clinched the ROH World Title, wresting it away from Chris Jericho. The competition had an added risk for Bandido, as he also had his mask at stake in the event of a loss.
Initially, Jericho emerged as the winner of the bout until Bandido’s relatives pointed out to the match referee, Aubrey Edwards, that Jericho used a weapon during the fight. Subsequently, Edwards called for a rematch.
In a recent episode of the “Busted Open Radio” podcast, Jimmy Korderas, the former WWE referee, was critical about the way the match was officiated. His remarks were,
“If the referee in the back saw Jericho use the bat, then I could maybe say, I’ll let this one slide. But Aubrey came out and she didn’t see it either. She took the word of a family member at ringside, so what’s to stop her from going to the announce desk to go to any other fan in the arena, go to the concession stands and say, ‘Hey, did you see that?’ And while I’m at it, grab some popcorn. It made zero sense whatsoever. They don’t care. They’re just throwing everything at the wall.”
Korderas emphasized the necessity for immediate changes in AEW, and advocated for “Some structure needs to be implemented with the officiating.”
Previously, AEW has faced backlash for their match referees’ lax attitude, enabling underhanded tactics and interventions from non-official participants in tag-team bouts.
In an aside, one AEW star had some harsh words for Jimmy Korderas, calling him nothing more than a “bald grifting f***.” For more on this, click here.