There’s been a lot of controversy online about the finish of the Winner-Takes-All Match for the WWE Raw and Smackdown Women’s Championships in the main event of WrestleMania 35. It’s true that Ronda’s shoulders came off the mat while Becky was pinning her, and the ref kept counting anyway. With Corey Graves bringing that up on commentary, it’s understandable that people assumed it was part of the story. But now Raw and Smackdown have both happened without it being brought up again, and Ronda appears to be taking a break for who knows how long, as she deals with a broken hand and enjoys the time off she was reportedly already planning. So it seems a lot more like it was a legitimate mistake and the pin was meant to be valid, which is not to say they can’t bring it up again when Ronda returns and wants to restart her feud with Becky.
Now reports have come out via Fightful.com that WWE blamed referee Rod Zapata for the finish, and has even fined him. Referees are usually supposed to call finishes as if it’s a shoot, and not count three if the pin doesn’t look valid. Zapata has reportedly been told he should have waited till Ronda’s shoulders were back down to restart the count, even though he knew this was the move that was supposed to be the finish. That obviously would have been the best thing to do, but that finish happened so quickly that the mistake is pretty understandable. Not to mention that if this was where the pin was meant to occur, surely some responsibility has to be share by Ronda Rousey for not keeping those shoulders down.
