Jimmy Korderas Thinks Undertaker May Have Ulterior Motive With "Soft" Comment
On today's episode of The Wrestling Inc. Daily, WWE veteran referee Jimmy Korderas returned to the podcast to discuss some recent topics in the wrestling world. At one point, Wrestling Inc. Managing Editor Nick Hausman brought up The Undertaker's controversial comments where he called today's WWE product "soft". Korderas worked with Undertaker for over two decades, and he gave his thoughts on what The Dead Man had to say.
"I'm an Undertaker guy," Korderas stated. "I fully respect The Undertaker and his opinion. I can't speak to it because I'm not there now. I'm not in the locker room. I don't see it anymore. So I don't know what the changes are from back when I was there. Basically, like 'Taker said, back in the day, you had to, at times, put up or shut up. It's just the way it was, again talking old school mentality. How it is nowadays? I couldn't speak to that. I honestly couldn't."
Hausman brought up the idea of whether or not these opinions will tamper with The Undertaker's legacy. Korderas shared his perspective from his two decades in the business to explain a possible motive The Undertaker might have.
"I don't know if it's going to tamper with his legacy or not, but maybe he's just trying to fire up the guys, fire up the troops," Korderas suggested. "Maybe it's his way of lighting that little fire to get guys motivated. I've seen it before, even back in the day, sometimes guys get complacent with their positioning and replacement, and they're okay with just going along with things.
"Sometimes you have to stir the pot a little bit, let's put it that way. Not only with other talent but with management. Hey, I know people talk about Vince in this way, but sometimes it's okay to go to Vince and say, 'Hey Vince, I got an idea. How about this?' Maybe that's what he's trying to do. Maybe he's just trying to light a fire under the boys and girls."
The Wednesday Night War has been the topic of many debates for pro wrestling fans since it began 72 weeks ago. The veteran WWE referee discussed his thoughts on both shows and if he believes WWE NXT is going enough to close the viewership gap.
"It's going to be interesting. I think the numbers last week showed that maybe something is connecting here," Korderas noted. "It's getting a little closer. I like the fact that both shows are presented differently. I don't want to sound like I'm tooting one horn over the other, but the style that NXT presents is a style that kind of resonates with me as an older wrestling fan, and I know that AEW appeals to a younger audience, a younger demographic.
"And it doesn't mean that I don't enjoy what I see when I watch them. I enjoy it differently, and with both products, there are some things I see that I say, 'I wish they would have done this. I wish they would have done this a little differently,' and so forth. That being said, I think them continuing on their own paths [and] staying in their own lanes as opposed to trying to copy... I think this whole 'Wednesday Night War' thing is over done. Can't we just enjoy both? I know they're on at the same time, but in today's technologically advanced era, you can watch both, maybe not both at the same time.
"Well you could even watch both at the same time if you really wanted to, but why can't you enjoy both products? But if I can mention really quickly, speaking of cheap plugs, up here in Canada, we didn't get NXT live on Wednesday nights, but it will be live on Sportsnet 360 at 8:00 p.m EST, just like it is down there where you are. So now the Wednesday Night Wars have moved north to the border, north of the 49th parallel."
You can follow Jimmy on Twitter @JimmyKorderas. You can find the full audio and video for Jimmy's interview via the embedded players below.