Felix Upton on January 17, 2026
WWE referee Daphanie LaShaun just clapped back hard after a fan publicly blamed her for not responding during the match where Elton Prince suffered a serious neck injury that ultimately led to surgery.
On January 17, 2026, a fan on Twitter revived the conversation around Prince’s in-ring accident from May 2, 2025, where he took a bad bump during a SmackDown tag match against Axiom and Nathan Frazer. The fan singled out LaShaun—who officiated the match—and accused her of botching counts and failing to check on Prince when he was clearly hurt, demanding she get fired.
“This referee needs to be fired. She’s the worst ref @WWE have had and botched so many matches and doesn’t even check to see if the wrestlers are injured WHICH IS THEIR JOB @RefBaeDaphWWE,” the fan wrote. Like HOW are WWE looking past this!! @TripleH”
LaShaun responded with a GIF laughing at the tweet—sparking an even more heated reaction from the fan, who doubled down:
“I don’t know why you’re laughing because this was when Elton broke his neck and you’re botching counts constantly and not checking on wrestlers. Glad you find that funny.”
That’s when LaShaun fired back with a sharp retort, making it clear that she couldn’t care less what the fan had to say and that he was completely wrong, saying, “I truly admire your consistency to be loud and wrong. 👏🏾”
This comes after Elton Prince broke his silence on January 9 about the neck injury that’s kept him off WWE TV for over seven months. In a detailed Instagram post, Prince revealed that he underwent a two-level neck fusion surgery after a terrifying in-ring moment in May 2025.
“Back in May I took a bad landing in the ring, the top of my head hit the mat and what felt like burning hot electricity exploded through my neck and my arms. I lost control of my hands as all my fingers curled in and were stuck for a moment. It was pretty terrifying.
We found the problem and yesterday I successfully underwent a 2 level neck fusion. Not exactly where I hoped to be at 28, but we are owed nothing in this life and I am just grateful to be on the road to recovery.”
While Prince never publicly blamed anyone for the incident, the fan’s comments have brought the role of referees in real-time injury response back into the limelight—and LaShaun’s unapologetic response made it clear she’s not tolerating misdirected blame.
The road back for Elton Prince is a tough one—but the conversation around in-ring safety and referee responsibility is now louder than ever. Whether justified or not, Daphanie LaShaun isn’t backing down from the heat.
Do you think fans are right to call out referees in situations like this? Please share your thoughts and feedback in the comment section below.
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