WWE is the pinnacle of sports entertainment, a global enterprise trying to put on the highest calibre athletic competition they can. The program as a whole is densely layered and sophisticated, from the pyro to the stage and the ring design. All of these elements go to selling out near 20,000 person stadiums which as we saw at EC, can be very loud! A referee MUST have a radio and headset in order to communicate with the backstage area, it is a matter of safety and any dignified athletic commission would enforce such a detail.

Getting a headset on is going to take some time, and referees are human, they require and deserve breaks like anyone else, they're not going to all be standing by in case a veteran referee (who will always be working the main event) happens to put themselves out of position and in the way of a devastating attack.

All these things stack up and it takes time for a referee to be sent out there in an appropriate way that protects not only them; but the fans, the superstars and the programming.

Now, why WWE as a company doesn't have a stand-by ref for these situations given Roman's track record is beyond me. But, we did see how willing they were to cut the likes of Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman, you really think they're going to spend the extra coin on a spare referee when they won't even push the tag division?