WWE Plans For Ref Cam Following SummerSlam Revealed

WWE debuted a new gimmick at Saturday night's SummerSlam pay-per-view, with a Ref Cam being used by the official during Rhea Ripley vs. Liv Morgan for the Women's World Title, while Seth Rollins also wore a ref cam during his special guest referee spot for CM Punk vs. Drew McIntyre. 

Fightful Select has reported that WWE first tested the concept at the WWE Performance Center recently, with it being fine-tuned ahead of SummerSlam. WWE plan to continue utilising the Ref Cam moving forward, however it will most likely be used for replays as opposed to being shown to display the live in-ring action. 

Seth Rollins' Ref Cam suffered from a malfunction at SummerSlam and the battery pack worn by Rollins fell off his trousers during the show. Rollins then made the call to take off the Ref Cam but there was no heat on the former World Heavyweight Champion since WWE knew this was a possibility. 

Cameras worn by referees are common in sports, although they have not been used on a regular basis in pro wrestling since the early 1990s when World Championship Wrestling used the Refer-eye cam. This would see the referee wear a helmet with a camera but the picture quality was usually terrible due to the quality of small camera equipment 30 years ago.