Has a gimmick of this type ever been done or do you think that it could ever work:
The superstar starts out as a referee. Maybe larger in size than most other referees. He works and integrates himself as part of the common referee staff, but he is strong and bumps don't work on him. He hardly ever gets knocked down by heels and he pushes back whenever heels get into his face. Later on he does something that pisses a heel off, and it brings him out of his ref job to fight to fight the man. He wins the match and goes on to be a part-time ref and fighter, or just a fighter in general.
I know that the first part sounds similar to what Hebner use to do, but has someone ever transitioned into a wrestling role out of it?