WrestleMania 35 Main Event Finish Update; Referee Fined & Vince Pleased with Performers

As noted before, WrestleMania 35’s main event match ended in a botched finish due to the referee not realizing Ronda Rousey accidentally lifted her shoulder up during the pinfall count.

Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp reported that the match referee, Rod Zapata, initially had some heat backstage following the match but it cooled down shortly afterwards. While he was not punished at the event, Sapp reported that Vince McMahon talked to Zapata during Monday’s RAW show and fined him for Sunday’s incident. It was reported that McMahon told Zapata that he should have waited before starting the count to ensure Rousey’s shoulders were on the mat and it is only the fault of the performer if they struggle to kick out during a pinfall attempt and not in the actual planned finish.

Sapp also reported that McMahon decided to fine Zapata due to a previous incident involving a different referee at last week’s episode of RAW. This incident occurred during the Gable & Roode vs. Ricochet & Black tag team match and involved a blown spot by referee Dan Engler. McMahon reportedly fined Engler afterwards to set an example for the performance expectations required by all of the company’s referees.

It was also reported that Rousey was not happy following the match although it is not known if her frustrations was due to the match’s botched finish or her hand injury.

In regards to the match itself, Vince McMahon reportedly was pleased with all of the performers, according to Becky Lynch in a recent interview with the Gorilla Position show.

“He just said he was so proud of us. He was so proud of us. He did [give us a hug]. He did, yep, but I said, ‘I’m The Man now, Vince’ and he said, ‘Yep!”