"Protect yourself, Asuka."

[mrbananagrabber]

During the Emma/Asuka match on NXT, I heard the ref say this twice to Asuka, telling her to protect her head from Emma's punches.

Is this something that gets said by refs? I've never heard it. Is it a genuine thing, like refs enforcing the five second break, telling them to get out of the corner etc. I just found this one fairly odd.

[Fade]

Like..kayfabe? Or for real?

Maybe its a result of all the concussion bizness.

[Captain2]

Theres à lot of backstory to this one. The referee has taken Asuka under his wing and even looks after her like a daughter. This caused him to betray his loyalties during the match and tell her to protect herself as he cannot bear any harm coming to her.

[Deleted]

Makes sense. Comes from MMA, where a knockout is ruled if you're "not intelligently defending yourself."

So it's probably just something thrown in to make it sound more real.

[Rudy Gobert Fadeaway]

EMMA LOOKING FOR THE FINISH


AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND IT IS AAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLL OVEEEEEEEEEEEEER

THE VEGEMITE SANDWICH GETS THE TKO

[Sephiroth]

Thus sounds more like one of those parts about her getting acclimated to WWE's way of doing things.

["Gentleman" AJ Powell]

Mar 24, 2016 17:38:07 GMT -5 Rudy Gobert Fadeaway said:

EMMA LOOKING FOR THE FINISH


AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND IT IS AAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLL OVEEEEEEEEEEEEER

THE VEGEMITE SANDWICH GETS THE TKO

ASUKA STEPPED OUT INTO THE ROAD, AND BOOM! EMMAMITE SANDWICH TO FINISH IT!

[pegasuswarrior]

This is a pretty well-played angle. See, the first time this happened was actually a week before, but the audio didn't pick up the exchange clearly, so they had to rewrite and try this again during the Emma/Asuka match.

Asuka is beginning her rogue unprotected head shot gimmick, but the referee, you see, is the most integral part. The audio had to be loud enough for those who love to scrutinize and this episode, they pulled it off nice and subtly, according to plan. See, the bait has been dangled and the Internet (OP included) now gets to call this into question.

From there, the angle is to carry over to the ref in a near fall situation. A loud whisper of "Kick out" is to be heard. By now, the scrutiny of the Internet will be more than just a one-off sort of thing.

An amazing enziguri that causes a 1280 flip on the opponent with the crowd going berserk? "This is unacceptable," the Internet will say.

Asuka breaks out a Ganzo Bomb from the top rope and Emma sells it like an accordion at steamroller convention. "How unprofessional!" they'll say.

This will all culminate in a Takeover in which all will be tuned in just chomping at the bit to point out the most minor of minor flaws that could just as easily go unnoticed. But no, not us, Internet. We must stay diligent.

So much ring psychology. So many hard hits. Spots just begging for appreciation. But all will be on the edge of the seat because of the need to point out the silliest flaw or mistimed movement possible.

And then, the referee will lean in and loud whisper, "Appreciate the excellence of these workers."

Automatically, the Internet will begin to shout the praises of NXT and its workers. It's brilliant! The angle all along will have been to condition fans to scrutinize so much that when the time is right, a reversal will be put in place and the obsession with not paying attention to anything but the ref will have worked to perfection! The Internet will have no other choice but to go along with it since it was not match-related and feeds the need to look closer and at anything but the match itself. An amazing display of classical conditioning. WWE Little Albert Universe, get ready!!!

Kudos to NXT.

[AdamAFL was sooooo wrong]

Maybe not always WWE refs but I hear refs in general saying this quite often so it's not exactly uncommon. Just like in boxing, if you're not showing enough cognitive response to defend yourself the ref will stop the match.

[Rudy Gobert Fadeaway]

Mar 24, 2016 18:31:44 GMT -5 pegasuswarrior said:

This is a pretty well-played angle. See, the first time this happened was actually a week before, but the audio didn't pick up the exchange clearly, so they had to rewrite and try this again during the Emma/Asuka match.

Asuka is beginning her rogue unprotected head shot gimmick, but the referee, you see, is the most integral part. The audio had to be loud enough for those who love to scrutinize and this episode, they pulled it off nice and subtly, according to plan. See, the bait has been dangled and the Internet (OP included) now gets to call this into question.

From there, the angle is to carry over to the ref in a near fall situation. A loud whisper of "Kick out" is to be heard. By now, the scrutiny of the Internet will be more than just a one-off sort of thing.

An amazing enziguri that causes a 1280 flip on the opponent with the crowd going berserk? "This is unacceptable," the Internet will say.

Asuka breaks out a Ganzo Bomb from the top rope and Emma sells it like an accordion at steamroller convention. "How unprofessional!" they'll say.

This will all culminate in a Takeover in which all will be tuned in just chomping at the bit to point out the most minor or minor flaws that could just as easily go unnoticed. But no, not us, Internet. We must stay diligent.

So much ring psychology. So many hard hits. Spots just begging for appreciation. But all will be on the edge of the seat because of the need to point out the silliest flaw or mistimed movement possible.

And then, the referee will lean in and loud whisper, "Appreciate the excellence of these workers."

Automatically, the Internet will begin to shout the praises of NXT and its workers. It's brilliant! The angle all along will have been to condition fans to scrutinize so much that when the time is right, a reversal will be put in place and the obsession with not paying attention to anything but the ref will have worked to perfection! The Internet will have no other choice but to go along with it since it was not match-related and feeds the need to look closer. An amazing display of classical conditioning. WWE Little Albert Universe, get ready!!!

Kudos to NXT.

[Super Duper Dragunov]

this needs more "TROJAN MAAAAAAAAAN"

[Deleted]

NXT refs can get very vocal at times, and do some different things. Seems to be a place to throw everything against the wall.

[MrElijah]

Yes. Asuka should protect herself from the blood she spills.

[alred1982]

This would of been a better ending to the cena lesnar match at summerslam hell a few of brocks matches should be the ref stopping it

[Sparvid]

Protect yourself at all times.

[111111]

Refs say that all the time.

[tenshi]

Mar 24, 2016 17:38:07 GMT -5 Rudy Gobert Fadeaway said:

EMMA LOOKING FOR THE FINISH


AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND IT IS AAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLL OVEEEEEEEEEEEEER

THE VEGEMITE SANDWICH GETS THE TKO

THE EMMAMITE SANDWICH ERA HAS BEGUN, MIKE! HOW CAN STOP THAT WOMAN!?

[Bang Bang Bart]

Mar 24, 2016 20:19:59 GMT -5 tenshi said:

Mar 24, 2016 17:38:07 GMT -5 Rudy Gobert Fadeaway said:

EMMA LOOKING FOR THE FINISH


AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND IT IS AAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLL OVEEEEEEEEEEEEER

THE VEGEMITE SANDWICH GETS THE TKO

THE EMMAMITE SANDWICH ERA HAS BEGUN, MIKE! HOW CAN STOP THAT WOMAN!?

AND NOW FOR THE OFFICIAL DECISION, HERE IS BRUCE BUFFER.

[lemonyellowson]

Mar 24, 2016 17:36:05 GMT -5 Captain2 said:

Theres à lot of backstory to this one. The referee has taken Asuka under his wing and even looks after her like a daughter. This caused him to betray his loyalties during the match and tell her to protect herself as he cannot bear any harm coming to her.

This is better storytelling than anything in this years mania build.

[Deleted]

I don't think there's anything to it and the underlying idea is simply "If you don't demonstrate that you can protect yourself and are ok, I'm stopping the fight." Not a bad touch really.