"I said it, and I own it" - Former WWE official Jimmy Korderas on his controversy with AEW star (Exclusive)

Retired WWE referee Jimmy Korderas recently made the news after his post on X regarding AEW and Tony Khan went viral. The 63-year-old garnered a strong reaction from AEW star Dax Harwood.

One-half of FTR, Harwood, lost his temper on the former referee while responding to the now-deleted post. The AEW star is known to be a strong supporter of his current workplace and is often seen defending it like a loyal soldier on social media.

Korderas recently appeared on Sportskeeda's The Wrestling Time Machine, where he opened up about the controversy. The former WWE official said that instead of taking back his AEW comment, he would like to ''own it,'' given that people came ''twice as hard'' at him even when he tried to apologize afterwards.

"No, because I said it, and I own it. I tried afterwards to apologize for it, and instead of people, they came back twice as hard. And I said, 'You know what?' Then, you know, I tried to be the nice guy here and just say, 'You know what? I misspoke. I shouldn't have said what I said.' And it actually backfired, believe it or not. So I said, 'You know, you just can't please these people sometimes,"' Korderas said. [From 0:31 onward]

These wrestlers angered WWE management! Check what happened next

Jimmy Korderas is a highly respected member of the professional wrestling business. He is a veteran of the industry, having begun his journey as a referee back in 1985. He spent over two decades working for WWE, from 1987 to 2009.

Jimmy eventually exited the Stamford-based promotion after being released in 2009. He returned to the ring for one final time in May 2012, officiating a match at Ring of Honor's internet pay-per-view, Border Wars. Korderas currently runs a YouTube channel.

For more Jimmy Korderas content, check out his YouTube podcast, Refin It Up.

Please credit Sportskeeda Wrestling and embed the YouTube video if you use quotes from this article.

About the author

Faiz is a WWE writer at Sportskeeda Wrestling. He is a BBA graduate who is passionate about sports and wants to make a career in that field. This passion led to a postgraduate degree in Journalism, which helped him pivot into becoming a sports writer. When writing, he puts the utmost importance on accuracy and thorough research.

Faiz has six years of work experience across four companies. He started his career with Zomato and then moved to Amazon. He shifted to becoming a football writer at TV9 Digital and is now with Sportskeeda. He covered the Wrestling Xtreme Mania event in Gurgaon in 2025, where he had the opportunity to interview Raj The Maharaja, fka Jinder Mahal. At the same event, he also got quick interviews with former WWE Superstar Dijak and Japanese Joshi legend Emi Sakura.

When it comes to his favourite wrestlers, Faiz has two names in mind. He loved to watch Triple H before the current WWE CCO retired, and he is a huge fan of Roman Reigns. Being a loyal fan since the Tribal Chief's SHIELD days, Faiz credits Roman's mic skills and unmatched in-ring storytelling for his mega success. When he was young, one in-ring story left a lasting impression on his mind and eventually got him hooked on WWE. That match was Shawn Michaels vs. Ric Flair at WrestleMania 24. Apart from that, he is also a fan of RAW.

When Faiz is not writing for Sportskeeda, he loves to keep up with other sports. He is an avid cricket and football fan, a huge gamer, and loves playing some RPGs on the PlayStation.

Know More

Edited by Yash Mittal