Best corrupt ref angle ever?

[boozinjedi]

So it wasn't an angle,BUT a great corrupt heel moment...
A beautifully unforeseen heel turn WrestleMania X,

Just when we thought Lex Luger was finally going to win the title over Yokozuna,
Mr. Perfect DQ's him for putting his hands on him during the match!!!

[FlairFan2003]

The "twin" angle with Hebner in the Hogan-Andre re match in 1988 was priceless. In the days before the Internet, etc, how many fans really knew Hebner had a twin brother, plus the whole "buy the belt" scenario with DiBiase played perfectly with his crooked character, and made you feel even more sympathetic for the cheated Hogan. And Yes, that was a Friday Night Prime Time Special on NBC built almost entirely around that match, something you will probably never see again.

The Nick Patrick angle was great because it played into the whole NwO dynamic so well, they may have been "The Outsiders" but by recruiting WCW Pres Eric Bischoff they effectively controlled the company and protected themselves from the inside, adding their own ref made it even better, how on earth were you going to beat these guys. The Tie In with the firing of Randy Anderson when he didnt want to be a crooked ref was also great, one of the best heel interviews Bischoff (with a lot of help from Kevin Nash) ever did, embarrassing Randy in front of his cancer stricken wife and children. The fact WCW remembered this and brought Anderson back in the storyline after Flair displaced Bischoff as WCW Pres, then had him cheat as ref to help an incompetent David Flair beat Bischoff and shave his head, was a great swerve and great cap on that storyline.

"Dangerous" Danny Davis if I remember was supposed to be the spring board to his actual wrestling career which went nowhere.

Lil Naitch Charles Robinson was good for a few laughs for about two months, nice comedic relief, but it wasnt a centerpiece to the stories the way "twin Earl" was. Robinson (like Hebner) was and still is a very good ref who I believe still works for WWE.

One of the more entertaining turns by a ref was when Bischoff assigned NwO buddy Dusty Rhodes as the special "Impartial" ref for a Barry Whyndam vs Dean Malenko (who was injured, supposedly he shouldnt have been wrestling) match on Nitro, which if Whyndam, one of many NwO guys circa 1998 won, Ric Flair would not be reinstated to wrestle. They clearly played on the 80s rivalry between Rhodes and Flair and Arn Anderson, as well as Rhodes preious betrayl of the fans earlier in the year to side with the NwO. Once the match started however Rhodes surprised everyone, just when you think it's another Bischoff swerve to keep Flair & The Horsemen away from The NwO, Dusty starts calling the match down the middle, which infuriates Whyndam, who gets DQ'd after arguing with Big Dust. When Bischoff angrily brings out more NwO guys to confront Dusty & beat him up, Flair jumps out of the audience and saves Rhodes. The crowd on Nitro went beserk, it was one the best "Gotcha" moments against Bischoff any WCW fan fave ever had.

[waylonmercy]

Wasn't that the event which got WWE an 18 rating?

I still remember the Earl/Dave Hebner event. I think Earl Hebner was the hell twin since he never refereed a match in WWE up until that point, Dave was the referee and Earl was in NWA. I believe I was pretty mad for the screwjob finish as a child.

[HBsam31]

I was a kid at the time of the Hebner twin Hogan screwjob, and what a moment it was. It was special in the first place getting to see Hogan Andre 2 on regular tv, and my mom let me stay up for it. I was a rabid hogan fan, and I thought it was going to be business as usual for him. You know, big boot, leg drop, throw in a bodyslam. 123. The we found out a twin referee was out there, and he counted Hogan out even though he kicked out. I was in shock that the title had switched hands, and like that. Then the twins came face to face, and Hogan cleaned house. Along with that we had The million Dollar Man trying to buy the belt, and all this lead to the great title tournament at Mania 4. This was memorable for so many reasons, and was definitely the best corrupt ref angle.

[CrucifiedRaven]

The one described above, with DiBiase, Andre, Hogan and Hebner is a classic.

Nik Patrick as the NWO "heel" ref was pretty bad.

But one that always stuck out was that blonde WCW ref (he's still in WWE I believe? Charles Robinson?) in 1999... He became like Ric Flair's official referee... and he even had a match vs Gorgeous George (Savage's hot new valet)...

I don't know why this stands out to me... maybe because of how smokin' hot Gorgeous George was. But I found it entertaining. Probably because it was just so bad. But that was WCW at the time.... Still doing Savage/Flair feuds even in 1999.. except they needed a corrupt referee and a hot 21 year old to make it entertaining.

[jaysen platinum]

Danny Davis is definitely the best corupt ref. I say this because I was a kid when this happened and I had no idea wrestling was built around angles and storylines. Now, as an Indy wrestler, I understand the business a lot more.