WWE referee issues public apology after making major error during main event of huge match

A WWE referee has apologised after making a major mistake in the ring on Friday night.

WWE's Smackdown event, shown live on Netflix, took place in Greensboro, North Carolina at the Greensboro Coliseum and featured two qualifying matches for the upcoming Money in the Bank event on June 7.

The premium live event at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, has two Money in the Bank ladder matches for the men and women of WWE to try and earn a title shot of their choosing - any time and any place.

It all kicked off on Friday, with Solo Sikoa and Alexa Bliss winning their respective triple threat matches to advance to the match - where they will be met by five other opponents.

Sikoa knocked off Rey Fenix and Jimmy Uso but there was a moment of confusion and controversy in their match-up.

In one sequence, Fenix pinned Sikoa after an acrobatic move - with both of the Samoan's shoulders on the mat.

WWE referee appeared to make major mistake in huge match

But while referee Charles Robinson was supposed to count the pinfall with his hand, he was completely oblivious to the attempt and instead had his eyes on Jimmy Uso, the third participant in the bout.

Referee Charles Robinson was just COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY OBLIVIOUS to this pin attempt from Rey Fenix 😂😂pic.twitter.com/YM2hhd4VL4

— WrestleTalk (@WrestleTalk_TV) May 17, 2025

On commentary, announcer Wade Barrett screamed, "Referee wake up!" before Sikoa eventually kicked out from the smart roll-up.

The spot did not appear to be part of the script and after the perplexity from viewers online, later on, Robinson, a veteran official in wrestling, issued an apology to his 273,000 followers on Instagram.

Accompanied by an image of a cartoon bear with the words, 'Just to say sorry', he wrote: "Sorry,…out of position and missed the count on @wwe #smackdown. We all mess up and learn from our mistakes.”

60-year-old referee Robinson started out as a photographer and soon became a full-time referee, first working for WCW back in 1997 and then WWE from 2001 onwards.

He has been the senior official for WWE since 2020 and has suffered a number of injuries, including a mild fracture to his finger and a plantar fascia tear on his left foot during a 2017 WWE title match he refereed.