WEW & DWOW need to stop using untrained refs

Yesterday I was reading Larry Goodman's review of the train wreck that was the Womens Extreme Wrestling PPV in Atlanta. Now anyone who writes about womens wrestling like I write about Japan or SHIMMER knows that WEW and it's sister company Dangerous Women Of Wrestling is distasteful misogynistic garbage. But the thing that jumped out at me is how unsafe it is to the workers. As it is, wrestlers put their lives on the line to entertain us. The last thing we need is wrestling companies doing stupid things that devalue the product and also make it more likely that a wrestler will get seriously injured. Before I get into that, be aware that WEW & DWOW used to be the same company. They split up but produce more or less the same product using many of the same people and they are equally guilty of the main issue that I will be talking about. Also, I have seen WEW as it is on The Fight Network here in Canada. It's unwatchable crap but the quality of the product isn't the issue here. I'm not planning on buying any of their product regardless.



The main issue is safety. WEW & DWOW have always used inexperienced untrained young women as refs. I don't know why they do this but they do. I have to presume they are used for their looks. At a recent DWOW show in Philly, Angel Orsini was seriously injured during a ladder match with Sumie Sakai when the young woman ref forgot to hold the ladder during a spot. Angel broke both heels. You would think a lesson would be learned but according to Larry's review of the WEW show, WEW is still using these women as refs. Larry told me that there weren't any injuries as a result of these women but they are incompetent and constantly screw up. Of course that hurts the product too.



This is not a gender issue. This is a competence and safety issue. SHIMMER uses Laura Mattano & Jennifer Carlisle as refs. Both are well qualified experienced workers. And in Japan, there have been female refs since the 70s ever since Miyuki Yanagi retired as a wrestler and became a ref. In fact, her daughter Tommy Ran has been a ref for many years and there are others too. As long as WEW & DWOW continue to use untrained women refs mostly for their looks, there is a liklihood that a wrestler could get seriously injured in the ring again. The wrestlers need to be able to trust the ref. These girls can't be trusted.



The bottom line is that WEW & DWOW need to stop doing this and both need to announce publicly that for safety reasons they will never use untrained incompetent young women as refs again. Now I know that most of the wrestlers work for WEW & DWOW mainly for the money and hate the product. Angel Orsini said exactly that in a recent interview. But I think it's time for workers to take a stand. If WEW & DWOW don't make a public announcement about this, chances are good they will continue to use these women regardless of what they say privately. And I know DWOW has made promises privately but have said nothing publicly. Forget the money and stop working for them. The life you save may be your own.