On Monday Night RAW, we saw what appeared to be a mistake by the referee during the match between Elias and Ricochet. After a sunset flip, Ricochet was supposed to pin Elias for a clean three count and an upset victory. It was obvious by watching it that Elias had his shoulder up, but the referee counted to three anyway.

Dave Meltzer reports that this was not intentional. Elias having his shoulder up was not a part of the plan and was not WWE’s attempt at starting a feud between the two. There were no plans for a rematch, but we may see a continuation next week so that Ricochet can get his clean win back.

What appeared to happen is that Elias lost his balance when one of this legs fell more forward during the rollup than he was prepared for and Ricochet couldn’t readjust him in time. WWE has made it a new angle to take when pin mistakes like these happen by blaming the referee when it is obvious that the pin shouldn’t have happened.

It’s worth noting that a rule in professional wrestling is that you’re supposed to take the referees seriously so that their calls are not in question in the future and doesn’t take any attention off the wrestlers. This is a rule you’re taught almost immediately when training, as I’m told by local trainers. It’s interesting that the WWE has made it a habit of blaming referees in kayfabe when wrestlers botch a pin given this rule.