RevPro Referee, Aaren Wilde, Attacked (For Real) By Pro Wrestler, Josh Bodom
Last weekend on August 30th a referee at a Revolution Pro a referee was viciously attacked, for real, by two pro wrestlers after a botch finish.
The referee, Aaren Wilde, took to twitter following the Summer Sizzler RevPro event to announce his retirement from professional wrestling. Wilde cites “a much-more-serious-than-originally-thought neck and shoulder injury that means [he is] no longer able to referee.
Last weekend at RevPro I was attacked after the Royal Quest tag match. This was not part of the show, it was not planned.
— aarennnn✨ (@AarenWilde) September 7, 2019
I was grabbed and slammed to the mat by Sha and then something happened on the outside. I honesty don’t know what, that part was a blur.
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As a result, I have sustained a much-more-serious-than-originally-thought neck and shoulder injury that means I am no longer able to referee.
— aarennnn✨ (@AarenWilde) September 7, 2019
I hate the term ‘retire’, so I’ll say this; I am indefinitely unable to referee due to medical restrictions.
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The intended winners (Aussies) still won, albeit 5 minutes quicker on a show that ran over by over 45 minutes. I am still shocked, upset and in disbelief at why this happened and why it has been condoned by RevPro/Andy Quildan.
— aarennnn✨ (@AarenWilde) September 7, 2019
500+ matches, 1 botched ending. That one.
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I have spent the last 7/8 days in many feelings. Anger, sadness, frustration. I truly adored performing as a referee and now, at least for the foreseeable future, I am medically unable to do so.
— aarennnn✨ (@AarenWilde) September 7, 2019
I truly hope that I can recover to pursue it again.
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There are so many things that can be said about last weekend, but I would prefer to not write an essay of negativity.
— aarennnn✨ (@AarenWilde) September 7, 2019
For now I am also unable to football referee (my main income) due to the injury.
If you have a few spare pennies, I won’t say no: https://t.co/tuglaZOcw1
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There was a sixth tweet addressing a lack of pay that has since been deleted.
The wrestlers that attacked Wilde, Sha Samuels and Josh Bodom, did so after Bodom failed to lift his shoulders off the mat, leading to a premature three count. To be clear- Bodom and Samuels were supposed to lose either way.
Sha Samuels and Josh Bodom have had very different responses for their parts in the attack.
Samuels began the attack by slamming Wilde to the mat, claiming he was thinking on his feet. A fair defense, but attacking someone that was not fully aware of what was coming was not a good idea. While referees are trained to take wrestling moves, the facts remains that they do not always take the moves and might need more prep than a wrestler. Referees are not physically conditioned the same as wrestlers.
Sha Samuels addressed what happened on a twitter thread.
I’m going to address this once, and that’s it. A mistake happened during our match last week. As a performer, thinking on my feet, I scoop slammed the referee (as safely as possible) and cut a promo saying it was a “stitch up”. .......
— Sha Samuels (@Shasamuels) September 8, 2019
I got kicked in the face to the pleasure of the audience for my trouble and hoped the mistake was forgotten about. At the time I was only concerned about the integrity of the match. We spoke afterwards, and all seemed well.
— Sha Samuels (@Shasamuels) September 8, 2019
I can only apologise for what happened.....
I genuinely believed I had done nothing wrong, but have now had my eyes opened and educated to the fact that regardless how safe you are, you should never assume it is ok to get physical with a non-wrestling member of the crew on the fly. I guess I have been too comfortable with
— Sha Samuels (@Shasamuels) September 8, 2019
the way things used to be. Things are different now.
— Sha Samuels (@Shasamuels) September 8, 2019
I have reached out to Aaren privately and understand if he wants to take his time to get back to me, or if he doesn’t want to speak to me at all.
I wish he had reached out to me privately.....
I would never endanger anyone in a professional environment, no matter what the issue.
— Sha Samuels (@Shasamuels) September 8, 2019
My peers know how safe and professional I am and can only apologise again to anyone who has been affected.
Samuels even released footage of the slam that shows he did protect Wilde.
Wasn’t meant to share this, but feel I need to protect myself. Here is the slam, as you can see I’ve protected him.
— Sha Samuels (@Shasamuels) September 8, 2019
Enjoy the rest of your Sunday. pic.twitter.com/5jvmkePQfZ
Now for Josh Bodom. In addition to deleting his twitter, footage has been released of what Wilde addressed as “a blur.” It’s Bodom beating the hell out of Wilde. He even knees him in the head.
— Alex Dellanzo (@ADellanzo1) September 8, 2019
Aaren Wilde isn’t completely soured on professional wrestling. He asks for fans to continue to support companies that support safe environments.
— Alex Dellanzo (@ADellanzo1) September 8, 2019
While what Sha Samuels did was unprofessional and may have injured Aaren Wilde, what Josh Bodom did is criminal. Be sure to let RevPro know if you think they should allow this type of unsafe professional wrestling to take place under their watch.
Edit: Since we posted this article RevPro has released a statement.