5 Reasons why WWE should introduce VAR

In WWE, Randy Orton often boasts about having a finishing move that consists of the three most dangerous letters in sports entertainment: RKO.

Now, in football/soccer, the sport can lay claim to having three letters that are equally as dangerous, at least to fans’ heart rates, as ‘RKO’, and those letters are VAR.

What is VAR?

VAR (Video Assistant Referee) allows referees to review a decision with the help of another official who has watched a replay of a particular incident (fouls, offsides etc). Once the footage has been reviewed by the VAR system, the referee is told via headset what the video shows. The referee can then decide to take immediate action or they can watch a monitor at the side of the pitch to help make their decision.

Despite largely being viewed as a success at the 2018 World Cup, VAR has received a lot of criticism since it was introduced to the English Premier League at the start of the 2019-20 season.

Some of the biggest controversies have revolved around extremely tight offside decisions, notably when Liverpool’s Roberto Firmino was denied a goal because VAR showed that his armpit – an area of the body that nobody ever scores with – was offside when the ball was played to him.

Why should WWE use VAR?

It is quite clear that VAR is not working as expected in football, but that does not necessarily mean the system would not be a success in WWE.

In this article, let’s take an alternative look at the VAR debacle by explaining why sports entertainment, as opposed to sports, might be better suited for the controversial technology.

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#5 The drama of VAR is perfectly suited to WWE

VAR has completely changed the emotions that football fans and footballers feel when a goal is scored. In previous years, as soon as the ball crossed the line, fans could celebrate/commiserate and they instantly knew that their team had just scored or conceded.

Now, with the introduction of VAR, 40,000+ fans have to stare at a big screen in the corner of a stadium to find out whether the referee has received word that the goal should stand or not.

As you can imagine, this can be excruciating for fans and players of the teams involved, but it has also added a new element of drama to football that makes it more exciting to watch matches as a neutral – and that is why it is perfect for WWE.

Remember when Dolph Ziggler defeated Seth Rollins in an Ironman match in the main event of Extreme Rules 2018? WWE fans love to have their voices heard during shows, and on this occasion they decided to essentially hijack the match by counting down from 10-1, just like at the Royal Rumble, every time a new minute ticked over in the 30-minute match.

The drama of having VAR in WWE would probably be enough to get the fans cheering and booing every decision, but perhaps WWE could also use a 10-second countdown before the referee’s call is made official on the big screen?

#4 WWE has used it in the past, so why not again?

At Extreme Rules 2013, Alberto Del Rio (w/Ricardo Rodriguez) and Jack Swagger (w/Zeb Colter) battled it out in a No.1 contender I Quit match, with the winner going on to challenge Dolph Ziggler for the World Heavyweight Championship.

Towards the end of the match, Rodriguez held a towel in his hand at ringside in case he needed to throw it in for Del Rio. When referee Mike Chioda was not looking, Colter stole the towel and threw it in the ring. Chioda assumed that Rodriguez had forfeited the match for Del Rio, so he gave the victory to Swagger.

Another referee ran down to the ring and told Chioda what happened. The senior official then watched a replay of the incident on a monitor at ringside, realised that he had made a mistake, and he demanded that the match be restarted. Del Rio went on to quickly lock in the cross armbreaker on Swagger, who gave up.

WWE deserves credit for moving with the times and being ahead of many other organisations when it comes to social media and technology, and this example shows that VAR was successfully used in sports entertainment a long time before it became such a big talking point in football.

It worked back in 2013, so why not in 2019?

#3 Bring an end to shenanigan finishes

Sportskeeda’s Tom Colohue recently reported that there have been discussions behind the scenes in WWE about limiting the number of shenanigan-filled finishes in high-profile matches.

This has become a talking point amongst WWE fans recently, especially after the referee ended the Hell in a Cell main event without a definitive winner after Seth Rollins hit “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt with a sledgehammer.

“Particularly since Hell in a Cell, discussions have definitely taken place about making sure we get a few more clean finishes. We saw that in the way that Bray Wyatt won the title [in the rematch against Rollins at Crown Jewel]. They don’t want to be having those sort of finishes, even in Triple Threats.”

Just like in football, the introduction of VAR would obviously cause a few problems for WWE, notably with the way that heels have traditionally been booked to win matches.

Every week on RAW, SmackDown and NXT, we usually see at least two matches end with a heel winning by placing their feet on the ropes or by holding onto their opponent’s tights during a pinfall.

These kinds of finishes would no longer be possible with the benefit of VAR, but would that really be such a bad thing?

#2 Sports-centric approach

In the months leading up to SmackDown’s debut on FOX in October, it was widely reported that WWE’s new Friday night show would have a more sports-centric feel on its new network, with in-ring action taking priority over comedy segments and other entertainment acts.

Now, in all honesty, excluding the premiere episode on FOX, which featured appearances from The Rock, Tyson Fury and Cain Velasquez, it does not feel like SmackDown is any more sports-centric now than it was back in the SmackDown Live era.

The only notable difference is there is now a weekly panel show on FS1 – WWE Backstage – which presents WWE as more of a sports product than an entertainment brand.

With regards to the in-ring action, the last two episodes of SmackDown began with Baron Corbin mocking “The Big Dog” Roman Reigns by pointing to the big screen, which showed a big dog barking with a high-pitched voice, and the most recent episode even featured somebody dressed in a “Big Dog” outfit.

Needless to say, these Corbin-Reigns segments have been the total opposite of sports-centric, but the use of VAR in matches on WWE television – even if, for now, it is only used on SmackDown on FOX – would help the product fit into both the sports and entertainment categories.

#1 Injured referees are a thing of the past

Back in the Attitude Era, it was not uncommon for several matches on a single show to involve a referee bump. That would then allow Superstars, usually heels, to take advantage by illegally attacking the babyface, and the referee would recover from his ‘injury’ just in time to count the 1-2-3.

Nowadays, this kind of finish is almost unheard of on RAW, SmackDown and PPVs. Referees are no longer needed to tell the story of the finish to a match, which means they would almost always be able to check a monitor at ringside to make important VAR calls.

Also, let’s be honest, referees have been booked to be appalling at their jobs since the beginning of time in WWE. A man with 24 years of experience as a referee, Charles Robinson, should know by now that when someone is distracting him at ringside, it probably means something illegal is happening behind him.

But, sports entertainment being sports entertainment, Robinson acts unaware and he will turn around to count a 1-2-3 when everybody except him knows what just happened.

If VAR is used in WWE, the 'clueless referee' gimmick will be a thing of the past.

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Do you agree? Should WWE experiment with VAR? Let us know in the comments! And don't forget you can now rate RAW, SmackDown and NXT matches on Sportskeeda!