With nearly 20 years of service in WWE, Jim Korderas has become a recognizable figure in the ring.
Like many WWE Superstars, Korderas was a big WWE fan long before ever stepping foot inside the squared circle. Hailing from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Korderas grew up attending live events at Toronto’s famous Maple Leaf Gardens; little did he know that one day, he would be inside the ring officiating matches in his hometown.
As a fan at the Maple Leaf Gardens events, Korderas naturally began taking pictures of the action. He would also sell photographs he had taken at previous events, and this caught the eye of promoter Elio Zarlenga, an associate of WWE President Jack Tunney.
While Zarlenga was upset about Korderas’ activities, he was impressed with the quality of his photography, and introduced Korderas to Tunney. The WWE President hired Korderas, and he began his WWE career by helping set up the ring. While a member of the ring crew, he learned the ins and outs the business from fellow Canadian officials such as Billy Red Lyons, Terry Yorkston and John Bonello.
Since his first match nearly two decades ago, Korderas has been the “third man in the ring” for some of the biggest matches in WWE history. He was the referee for the first-ever Evening Gown Match at Unforgiven in 1998, as well as the classic battle between then-WWE Tag Team Champions Rey Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero at WrestleMania 21. In terms of championship matches, Korderas officiated the first-ever Barbed Wire Steel Cage Match between JBL and Big Show at No Way Out 2005, as well as the match between Kurt Angle & Chris Benoit and Edge & Rey Mysterio at No Mercy 2002 that was the finals of a tournament to crown the first-ever WWE Tag Team Champions.
However, one of Korderas’ favorite assignments was one that saw him take a great deal of punishment. At Unforgiven 1999, he was the referee in the Six-Pack Challenge Match for the WWE Championship. At the time, all of the WWE referees were on strike except for Korderas; during the match, the referees all came out, pulling Korderas out of the ring and attacking him for crossing the picket line. Luckily, Stone Cold Steve Austin came to his aid, taking care of the striking officials and allowing Korderas to get back into the ring and count the winning pinfall for Triple H.
Korderas also counts a SmackDown match between Eddie Guerrero and Kurt Angle as one of his favorites, and recalls the first time he refereed a Hulk Hogan match as a special moment. However, Korderas says that the most special match he officiated was the bout between Triple H and Chris Benoit on the Eddie Guerrero Tribute edition of Friday Night SmackDown. “It was just an honor to be in there for that,” said Korderas, “because the magnitude of a moment like that will stay in your mind forever.”
Of course, just because he’s not involved in the matches doesn’t mean that Korderas hasn’t seen his share of injuries. Over the course of his career, Korderas has separated his shoulder and dislocated his thumb, but has never suffered a major injury. “I’ve been lucky,” he says, “because some guys have had to have major surgeries thanks to injuries suffered in the ring. Outside of my shoulder and thumb, I’ve been pretty fortunate.”
According to Korderas, his hardest injury occurred while he was breaking up a backstage brawl. “I remember getting knocked down in the melee,” he says, “and my head hit the concrete so hard that I knocked myself out. The injury itself wasn’t so bad, but it happened right before my wedding. I remember Audra, my wife, freaked out about it, but I’d say everything turned out okay.”
Nearly two decades after his first meeting with Jack Tunney, Korderas says he’s still just as thankful today as he was then. “I’m fortunate to be here,” he says. “Working with WWE is like working for the elite group in any other field, and I’m honored to have been a part of it for so long.”