WWE Referee Hall Of Fame

Unnoticed but very important!

Referees in the wrestling world go unnoticed unfortunately and are extremely undervalued. You see them but you don’t notice them. They’ve been in the middle of some of the most famous matches in WWE history. When you think about it, a match can’t start or end without them.

In context, the referee is there to just count the pinfall or call for the submission.

However, there’s a slew of referee’s that have made a name for themselves in the company. They’ve stood out and have been involved in the storylines and matches.

There’s times where the fans even chanted for them to strike to the wrestlers and they did. Some even went as far as to bleed for the sake of the story being told.

Here are some of the outstanding referee’s who deserve to be in the Hall Of Fame.

Mike Chioda

Chioda’s career started in 1989 when he joined WWE. He was just that guy counting the pinfalls and honestly didn’t stand out. In that era, it was common for the referee to just stand there and do this job.

He was the referee for The 1–2–3 Kid Vs Razor Ramon match, which ended up being a bigger match than it was intended to be.

Chioda has refereed a slew of high-profile Wrestlemania matches.

He did Shawn Michaels Vs Stone Cold at Wrestlemania 14 and The Rock Vs Hulk Hogan at Wrestlemania 18.

During the Attitude Era and Ruthless Aggression Era, Chioda was able to act out more in the ring. He took some sick bumps from the wrestlers. He would challenge the wrestlers if they didn’t like his calls.

WWE released him in 2020, but thankfully he found employment in AEW.

Nick Patrick

Probably one of the best heel referee’s to ever exist.

Nick was a senior referee in WCW until NWO formed in 1996. From there he became NWO’s personal referee and his heel tenant began. He worked all their matches and made sure only NWO members would win.

Nick had a feud with Earl Hebner during the 2001 Invasion storyline where we saw both WCW and WWE referee’s just go at it. Which was probably the most entertaining part of the whole storyline.

He had one of the most recognizable looks in WWE.

He left WWE in 2008.

Charles Robinson

Charles began his professional career in 1997 in WCW, but his big break came in 1999 when he was asked to also be a heel referee just like Nick Patrick. That didn’t last long and he joined Ric Flair when he was feuding with NWO.

Charles joined WWE in 2001 and the rest was history.

He’s been a mainstay in the company and has been in a lot of famous matches. He loves to get involved somehow in the storyline, whether you have to knock him out or shout things. You can feel his energy.

Who can’t forget the huge sprint he did at Wrestlemania?

Charles actually was the referee for both Ric Flair and Shawn Michaels retirement matches.

Earl Hebner

The most famous referee to have ever lived!

While others say he’s the most controversial referee.

Earl has undoubtedly been part of the greatest matches in WWE history. If there was a main event with huge stakes, you can rest assure that Earl was going to officiate the match.

Earl and Triple H seemed to always have bad blood in the ring(storyline wise). He used to cost him countless matches because he would distracted Triple H.

Now, why was he so controversial?

Well, he owns the displeasure of officiating the most notorious match in WWE history. That match being between Bret Hart Vs Shawn Michaels at Survivor Series 1997.

He will forever be remembered for this specific moment.

That moment was when he signaled to ring the bell when Shawn had Bret in a Sharpshooter, which cost Bret the belt and we all know how the rest ended.

In the Attitude there was a jam-packed roster and within that roster stood out a person with a stripe shirt.

Tim White

Tim started his career with the WWE in 1985, he was Andre The Giant’s helper per say. In 1993 Tim moved to be a full-time referee.

The most famous moments he had came to be during Hell In A Cell matches where he really made sure his presence would be known and talked about for ages to come.

He officiated the Hell In A Cell between Undertaker and Mankind(We all know the history of that one).

Soon, he proved that not even referee’s are safe in these type of matches. In 2002 he was the referee selected to referee the match between Triple H and Chris Jericho. It was a bloodbath of a match.

Tim was hit off of the ring and landed his shoulder on the cell structure. If you see the match you could see just how painful it must’ve felt. He also bled during the match, which upped the stakes more. We’ve never seen a referee bleed before until then.

Because of that Hell In A Cell, Tim had to take off two years due to injury.

He had an odd storyline in 2005 where he “hated” his life and wanted to “end it all”. It was a weekly bizarre vignettes just showing him depressed and holding dangerous weapons. It was a bit controversial to say the least.

2005 also signaled the year that he wanted to retire. So, WWE thought about “ending” Tim White in a way only Vince McMahon knew how to do. The Tim White character needed to die(kayfabe).

At Armageddon 2005, while in his bar, he grabbed a shotgun and went off-camera, and all we hear a loud gunshot and the grimaces of the interviewers face.

It was the end of an era for referee’s.