REF WEEK: Referees The Real MVPs. Mason Childs

Referees, The Real MVPs

By Mason Childs

“The best referee is the one you don’t notice” How many times have we either heard that or said that? Most likely a lot. It seems to be that buzz phrase. But what does it mean? And, is it even true?

Today, I’m not going to dissect the role of a referee into fine detail, I’m gonna hype up my five favourite referees I’ve been able to work with over my career.

Please note, these are in no particular order.

Referee Mat Tipping aka Referee Matty T

After one show at an inner city venue in Holland Park, Brisbane, I had a guy come up to me and asked about training. At this time, it was very common. But this guy didn’t want to become a wrestler, he wanted to become a referee and/or a ring announcer, which I was excited as heck for! He’d still come and train, and showed a lot of the younger guys up in fitness and took to his roles like a fish to water. Ref Matty T filled in in so many roles throughout his career. He was a ring announcer and referee (as previously discussed) but he was also a commissioner and an amazing heel manager. He had such a great flare for the theatrics of wrestling. I really hope someone who is still in touch with him passes in this article, so he truly knows how much I appreciate him.

The Ref aka Referee Chris Irvine

Another guy who truly understood that he could contribute more as a referee than a pro wrestler is Chris. He compliments a match, you know he’s there, but when the time comes for the match to be about the wrestling and not him, he’s amazing at that part. When I first got to Townsville, nearly a decade ago, The Ref was very new to it all. But he took on every mistake as a lesson and got better. He now doesn’t mind a bit of comedy either, yet maintains his official status. PS, sorry about the triple naked bum spot!

Referee Rachel Raska

Our first female referee on the list another one, much like The Ref, that I’ve had the chance to watch grow into a true professional. Ref Rach took an opportunity to become part of the show and truly ran with it. She has also learnt when to assert herself and when to fade into the background at the right time. Much like The Ref and Ref Matty T, she doesn’t take away from the story and drama of a match, but definitely adds to a match. She has even gone out of her way to improve by travelling to America and doing a referees course with some top names in the business.

Referee Graham “Fozzy” Young

Once the absolute constant of NSW wrestling, Fozzy was a terrific referee to work with. Easy to work with, he was seamless at passing messages to other workers and his storied career is easily a testament to his capabilities. I hope being a family man is treating you well old friend!

Referee Daniel Beaumont

Another wrestling constant throughout my younger years, Beaumont was the top referee throughout Victoria, worked extensively in Japan and helped a lot of talent get their foot in the door in the Land of the Rising Sun. A truly selfless man, “Dusty” always had great stories and was a pleasure to be around. The only one negative I could pick, would be how incredibly in shape Beaumont was, he outshined pretty much everyone he was in the ring with! After a few years of bad knee troubles, Beaumont called it a day and is still missed in the ring. Even though we haven’t spoken in quite a while, I hope you’re doing well old friend.

So there’s my list of my five top favourite referees I’ve had the chance to work with. I am missing quite a lot more, as I just didn’t have the time to write a massive list! So the qualities all these fantastic people had: they could/can be taken seriously as authority figures, knew when to let the wrestlers shine, added to the overall drama and story of the match and also knew/know when to have a laugh in a comedy spot of two!

Thank you for reading, and make sure you get back in the ring before the 10 count!

Images: PWL, QWA, Sarah Newman, Slam