Demetrius Korderas (born March 19, 1962), better known by his referee name, Jim "Jimmy" Korderas, is a Canadian professional wrestlingreferee, commentator and television personality who currently works for Canadian TV sports network Sportsnet. He is best known for his 22-year tenure in WWE from 1987 to 2009.
World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (1987–2009)
Korderas in the ring in 2008
It was previously said that Korderas was legitimately knocked unconscious by Jimmy Hart at WrestleMania IV after Hart had accidentally hit him with his trademark megaphone. Koderas later said that this wasn't the case and that this particular version of the story is an urban legend. Rather, Korderas had knocked himself out as a result of landing awkwardly onto the canvas.[3]
On May 23, 1999, Korderas was the referee at Over the Edge for the match between "Blue Blazer" Owen Hart and The Godfather. He was in the ring when Hart fell 75 feet from a harness tethered above the ring and died. According to reports, Hart yelled to Korderas to move because Hart did not want to land on Korderas, but Hart's foot still made contact Korderas' shoulder.[4][5]
During a kayfabe strike by the WWF referees in late 1999, Korderas was the only regular referee who did not join the strike, which led to him being attacked by the striking refs at Unforgiven in 1999.
At Rebellion in 2002, in a "Kiss my Ass Match" between Rikishi and Albert, Korderas forced Albert to kiss Rikishi's buttocks while Albert was trying to escape from the ring.
On November 4, 2004, episode of SmackDown!, taped in St. Louis, Missouri, during an unscripted segment of Tough Enough, Kurt Angle, a former amateur wrestler and 1996 Olympicgold medalist, challenged the finalists through a squat thrust competition.[6][7] Chris Nawrocki won the competition, and the prize Nawrocki won was a match against Angle.[8] Angle quickly took Nawrocki down, legitimately breaking his ribs, then made him submit with a neck crank.[8] After Angle defeated Nawrocki, Angle challenged the other finalists to a legitimate (shoot) wrestling match.[8]Daniel Puder, an American professional mixed martial artist, accepted Angle's challenge.[8] Angle and Puder wrestled for position, with Angle taking Puder down, however, in the process, Puder locked Angle in a kimura lock.[7][8][9] With Puder on his back and Angle's arm locked in the kimura, Angle attempted a pin, one of two referees in the ring, Korderas, thought quickly and counted three to end the match, despite the fact that Puder's shoulders weren't fully down on the mat, bridging up at two.[7][8][9] Puder later claimed he would have snapped Angle's arm, thus making Angle submit on national television, if Korderas had not ended the match.[8]Dave Meltzer and Dave Scherer gave these following comments:
"It was real. If you don't follow fighting, Puder had Angle locked in the Kimura, or keylock as Tazz called it, although Tazz didn't let on the move was fully executed. Not only was Angle not getting out of the move, but most MMA fighters would have tapped already. Angle couldn't tap for obvious reasons. The ref counted a three even though Puder's shoulders weren't fully down, trying to end the thing, because the reality was Angle would have been in surgery had it gone a few seconds longer or had Puder not given up the hold." ― Dave Meltzer[7][9]
"As you would expect, Kurt Angle was less than happy backstage at Smackdown after almost being forced to tap out to Tough Enough contestant Daniel Puder. Downright ticked off would probably be the best way to describe his mood. The unscripted nature of the contest was the main reason that Angle was made to look so bad since Puder just reacted to the situation and could have forced Angle to submit had the referees not thought quickly and counted a pin that wasn’t there on Puder." ― Dave Scherer[7]
Korderas played a minor part in what was JBL's last appearance as a wrestler on SmackDown!. Originally giving JBL the win on the May 26, 2006 edition as JBL was taking the World Heavyweight Championship belt, Korderas spotted Rey Mysterio's foot on the bottom rope and restarted the match. Mysterio won after JBL threw Mysterio into Korderas, who was retying a turnbuckle pad that he had caught JBL untying, knocking Korderas out. He came to in time to see Mysterio pin JBL after an exchange of illegal objects and moves, thus ending JBL's Smackdown career. Earlier that night, Korderas had also been assigned to the JBL vs. Bobby Lashley match for the WWE United States Championship, which Lashley won. JBL, in his on-screen role as color commentator had bashed Korderas for being Canadian and claimed that he was screwed out of the Championship by Korderas.[10]
In 2006, the WWE pulled Korderas off the road briefly due to health issues, but he returned to work shortly thereafter. In November 2008, referees, and thus Korderas, were made no longer exclusive to particular WWE television shows, or brands. On January 9, 2009, Korderas was released from WWE.
Ring of Honor (2012)
On May 12, 2012, Jim Korderas refereed a match at Ring of Honor's Internet Pay-Per View entitled Border Wars. Jim was heralded by fans chanting "Thank you, Jimmy" when he entered the ring.
Personal life
After leaving WWE, Korderas began spending more time with his wife and family, as well as taking classes in broadcasting.[1]
Korderas (right) and Arda Ocal ringside doing commentary at an independent wrestling show in 2012
After meeting Arda Ocal, then of Sportsnet 360, Ocal brought him on as an analyst on "Right After Wrestling" on SIRIUS Radio, and also secured him a spot on the Aftermath Television Program, which Korderas is still a part of today.
Korderas published a book on his life and career, called "The Three Count - my life in stripes as a WWE referee" The foreword was written by Adam Copeland (Edge) and was released on April 1, 2013 by ECW Press.
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