Best corrupt ref angle ever?

[TheRev]

The WWE has "blessed" us with a corrupt ref angle, which may or may not turn out to be a good storyline. To me, I'm not sure what the payoff will be.
It did make me think about other times corrupt refs have been used and how the angle actually played out.
I think the best one ever was when the "heel" Hebner twin cheated Hogan out of the title by fast counting and saying Andre the Giant beat him. This blew my mind as a kid because:
1. It was on Saturday Night Main Event (may have been a Friday night special this time but not 100%). That show was a big deal to me.
2. Hogan lost to Andre which was crazy to me.
3. DiBiase bought the freakin' belt from Andre, which as a kid, made me furious. I "knew" it wasn't fair.
4. Who would have thought that Earl Hebner had a twin?!? To me, that was a genius swerve. It's not an angle you can pull off multiple times because, hello, it requires a twin if someone who is skilled at something special like being a ref.

Now I could be wrong, but I can't see this ref angle turning out well. We will see but I don't have high hopes.

What is your favorite corrupt ref moment?
Your worst? (I'd say when Patrick turned in WCW and even wrestled some...waste of time)

 

[TheCrusher]

Okay, help me out here. I'm trying to remember the whole sequence of events when they brought "Dangerous Danny Davis" in as a ref and then brought him into the matches. At the time I was in the "just pretend it's real" phase of knowing better but going along with it. It made for entertaining TV for a couple weeks.

"Little Naitch" had some times when he got himself right in the thick of things as well. That was another short-term ref angle that played out okay.

Other than the Hebner angle--which I admit got me pretty fired up at the time--there hasn't been a crooked ref angle that really got me going.

I don't think they're really going anywhere at all with the current angle. They just had to grasp at something to keep Ryback's reputation while maintaining Punk's reign.

 

[olando76]

Dangerous Danny Davis was the ref for the match against The Hart Foundation and The British Bulldogs. He would later join The Hart Foundation. To me the best heel ref was Nick Patrick for the nWo.

 

[bittermang]

To me the best heel ref was Nick Patrick for the nWo.

One of the best jokes/references/gimmick's to come out of Nick Patrick's run as nWo referee was the first nWo PPV, Souled Out, and Nick Patrick getting tired as the night went on, because he was the only referee on the nWo roster.

At least, I thought it was funny. I don't recall any angles or matches going the other way because of it.

Nick Patrick as the nWo ref was a great piece of the overall nWo angle, because it added to the mystery and hysteria of the time. You couldn't trust anyone, because any member of the roster could've joined the nWo, including the damned ref.

 

[matman8540]

Actually, there was one other ref angle that happened in the NWA/WCW, when a smaller African-American referee gave a fast count to the Varsity Club over the Road Warriors. That man being Mr. Theodore R Long. Of course, he became a manager of tag team champions, and the rest is history.

 

[Rabbid Wolverine]

LOL Montreal Screwjob, that fooled everyone.

But if we're going scripted, it would prob have to be the swerve on hogan with the twin referee.

I actually liked when Shane Mcmahon was supposedly against his father at Survivor Series 98 and was going to make the 3 count for Austin but flipped him off instead. That was nice, it also lead to Rock beating Mankind and turning into the Corporate Champ.

 

[Wolf Pac]

There's no doubt Earl Hebner is the most infamous and best corrupt referee ever for his screwjobs in both the Hogan-Andre and Hart-HBK matches, there's no arguing that. The man seems to be proud & takes pride in it in fact cause he's made t-shirts which say "You're Damn Right I Did" which he wears at TNA house shows all the time cause the crowds there are always chanting "You Screwed Bret" at him - which is funny BTW, I wish he would wear one of those t-shirts on an episode of Impact one day. I remember laughing so hard when Shawn Michaels had Chris Benoit locked in the Sharpshooter in their Triple Threat match with HHH at Backlash 2004 and Earl looked like he was about to call for the bell, teasing another screwjob, it was so hilarious because the crowd (Benoit's hometown) were pissing themselves and chanting "You Screwed Bret" at both Earl & HBK so loudly, I couldn't stop laughing the entire time Benoit was locked in the submission. I just had a thought, what if they did an angle in the Invasion storyline where Earl screwed the WWF to side with The Alliance? Let's say at Summerslam 2001, him & Stone Cold pulled the ol' Montreal Screwjob on Kurt Angle to retain the WWF Title for The Alliance, how great would that have been? I can't imagine the heat he would've gotten for that.

Even though Earl is the best, my favourite corrupt referee however is Nick Patrick in the nWo for the reason bittermang mentioned, that and because I also found him to be the coolest looking referee I'd ever seen. Instead of those usual crappy referee t-shirts, he'd wear those cool looking nWo shirts in matches he refereed instead and he had a cool looking goatee too. I agree with the OP that we could've done without him wrestling in matches, his matches with Chris Jericho at World War 3 96 and with Randy Anderson were horrible, but whenever he refereed though he had some good moments, like him refereeing the entire Souled Out 97 PPV, kudos to Nick for that, how tired he must have been. His best moment though as the heel nWo referee was ironically the moment that he turned back to being a face and that was when DDP covered Randy Savage after hitting the Diamond Cutter in their match at Spring Stampede 97 and there was no ref to make the count and Nick came in with everyone expecting him to screw DDP out of the match but he counted the 3 for him instead, giving the upset victory to DDP, a victory that would make DDP a star.

Shane O' Mac is another favourite corrupt referee of mine. I remember being legitimately pissed when Stone Cold had Mankind covered in their Semi-Final match at Survivor Series 98 and Shane ran in to count but then stopped after 2 and flipped Austin the finger instead, screwing him out of the Deadly Games Tournament. I never saw it coming, but it was a great moment looking back on it and is one of my favourite referee swerves of all time along with Nick Patrick making the count for DDP at Spring Stampede 97. Shane also had some other good moments as a corrupt ref.

 

[rge2010]

One that hasnt been mentioned is Slyvan Grenier at No Way Out 2003 - Rock vs Hogan II.

Very good match, nice touch with the lights going out, Rock getting the win courtesy of the corrupt Ref and Vince.

 

[aFTeRLiFe]

I was going to say the Nick Patrick one when he was with the nWo was well.

But I also liked the Charles Robinson and Flair team. They looked just alike, was hilarious. I was trying to find the video where he first sided with Flair. Like how it happened.

 

[closet_fan]

Okay, help me out here. I'm trying to remember the whole sequence of events when they brought "Dangerous Danny Davis" in as a ref and then brought him into the matches. At the time I was in the "just pretend it's real" phase of knowing better but going along with it. It made for entertaining TV for a couple weeks.

This was a good one. Davis was letting heels win by DQ. I remember one was Hercules Hernandez against Billy Jack Haynes. BJH had HH in a full nelson, HH kicked Davis and Davis called BJH for a DQ saying he pushed HH into him.

Davis also ref'd the British Bulldogs vs. Hart Foundation match that Dynamite Kid couldn't wrestle in.

@TheRev, It was a Friday Night Main Event. That was an excellent ending.

 

[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.