That’s Some Good News: A Recent WWE Signing Is Getting Them Some Positive Mainstream Attention

They’ve earned it. There are a lot of people under the WWE umbrella and a big reason for that is how often the company signs new people. Some of these signings are nowhere near as interesting as others but when WWE does something that gets attention, it can get some serious attention. That may be the case for a recent signing, though it might not be for the reasons you would expect.

Wrestling is an interesting sport as while it is an athletic competition, there is a great bit of theatrics that go along with it. The wrestlers are both competing and putting on a show, which can make for some interesting moments. They aren’t alone out there though as the referee can offer quite a bit of assistance. It takes a special kind of performer to make the spot work and WWE seems to be trying something new.

Last week, WWE announced the signing of independent wrestler Aja Perera (real name Aja Smith) as a referee, making her the first African American female referee signed to the company. This signing has gotten the company some mainstream attention, including an article on CNN.com. Perera is the second female referee signed to the company after Jessika Carr, who debuted on the main roster in December 2019.

For Aja Smith, a dream has now become history. https://t.co/3MODmf0dVx

— WWE (@WWE) February 6, 2020

It’s a big deal. Check out a look at Carr when she started last year:

Opinion: This is one of those things that makes things all the more interesting but hopefully one day it won’t have to be so surprising. Carr has done a great job as a referee so far and the fact that she is a woman is just a detail. It’s a cool thing to see and you don’t even think about it most of the time these days. Hopefully Perera can do just as well on the main roster and that would be good for everyone involved.

Has Carr done well so far? Who is your favorite referee? Let us know in the comments below.

Thomas Hall has been a wrestling fan for over thirty years and has seen over 50,000 wrestling matches. He has also been a wrestling reviewer since 2009 with over 5,000 full shows covered. You can find his work at kbwrestlingreviews.com, or check out his- Amazon author page with 30 wrestling books. His latest book is KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews.

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