Next up for me was the first-round elimination tournament match with Don Muraco versus Dino Bravo. Bravo lost the match via disqualification after pulling yours truly directly into the path of a charging Muraco. So in my first WrestleMania singles bout, I took my first ref bump of two that night. I’ll get to the other bump soon, but this one hurt because Muraco’s rather large elbow hit me right on the collarbone. It was painful but there was no selling it once I got to the back. I didn’t want to seem like a wimp.
Now it was time for me to ref the final first-round tournament match featuring Jake “The Snake” Roberts taking on “Ravishing” Rick Rude. The finish here was a 15-minute time limit draw, thus eliminating both men from the tourney. I remembered the finish of the match but I forgot to keep an eye on the timekeeper for the time cues. I was so into the match that I brain-cramped. Eventually they rang the bell, ending the match. I think if you go back and watch this match again and timed it from bell to bell, it might have gone a bit longer than 15 minutes. One day I’ll go back and check it out.
The fourth and final match I refereed at WrestleMania IV was the Intercontinental title match. The champion the Honky Tonk Man, accompanied by Jimmy “Mouth of the South” Hart and Peggy Sue, defended his title against Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake. The end of this would see me take my second ref bump of the night. The execution of the finish was fine. It was the end result that didn’t quite go as planned. For many years there was an urban myth about me being knocked out by Jimmy Hart’s megaphone. I can no longer allow Jimmy to be blamed for something he didn’t do. He did not knock me out with his megaphone. I knocked myself out when I dropped face first and my chin hit the canvas. I was supposed to slowly come around and explain that Honky was DQ’d but I was dazed. Joey Marella and Danny Davis carried me to the back. I don’t recall much once I got there. Let’s just say I was done for the night. My first WrestleMania experience was in the books and I couldn’t wait for the next one.
I was not a part of WrestleMania V, which was once again at Trump Plaza in Atlantic City. My next ’Mania was WrestleMania VI from the SkyDome in my hometown of Toronto, Ontario. No ref bumps for me in the three matches I refereed this time around. There was of course the Robert Goulet national anthem caper, which I’ve documented in an earlier chapter. The three matches I refereed were Earthquake versus Hercules, the Barbarian versus Tito Santana, and Rick Rude versus “The Superfly” Jimmy Snuka. I was also part of a run-in to help break up the Bad News Brown/Rowdy Roddy Piper melee at the end of their match.
For me the entire night was memorable. Being able to perform in front of over 68,000 fans live and millions more on pay-per-view is a natural high that is indescribable. Something I didn’t know back then: a young Adam Copeland was in the audience that night about 11 rows back from the ring. Of course you all know the future WWE superstar and Hall of Famer better by his ring name Edge. He would sometimes joke about watching me referee when he and his childhood friend Christian were just kids. I never got upset with him when he said that stuff. What could I have said? He wasn’t lying. I smile when I think how cool it is that the kid who watched me at WrestleMania VI became one of the most decorated WWE superstars of all time and a deserving member of the Hall of Fame. Even cooler was that he was a major player in my all-time biggest WrestleMania moment. More on that in a little bit.
It took me a while before I would get the opportunity to take part in my next WrestleMania. For reasons already mentioned in the book, my troubles with a certain superior, it would not be until WrestleMania 13 in Chicago that I would return to the showcase event for the WWF/E. Although I made several appearances throughout the show, I was not assigned a match on the PPV. Instead, I refereed the pre-show match between Billy Gunn and Flash Funk. I didn’t mind reffing that match but I was not on the main show, which is everyone’s goal. Billy Silverman, a referee from the east coast whom the WWF used occasionally when running a show in that area, was given a match on the main WrestleMania card. I normally do not get upset about these things but in this case, I felt I was more deserving of the spot on the show than him. As usual, I didn’t complain and just went with the flow. Still, it was great to be there in any capacity.
WrestleMania XIV in Boston was memorable for many reasons. I got to referee the mixed tag match with Marc Mero and Sable versus Goldust and Luna Vachon. Although I was happy to be on the actual PPV that year, all our thoughts were with Earl Hebner, who had suffered a brain aneurysm a few days before the event. Thankfully he had the presence of mind to call his brother Dave, who called an ambulance. He was rushed in time to a hospital in Boston where they were able to stabilize him. All of us went to visit him the day before the show. He was not looking well at all. His wife, who was flown in to be with him, told us that the doctor said one of three things can happen with an aneurysm: you make a full recovery, you have complications with your health, or you die. It took several months, but Earl made a full recovery and returned to work. He was one of the lucky ones, and we were very happy to have him back with us. Oh yes, we dedicated WrestleMania XIV to Earl.
The WrestleMania tour continued for me with number XV. It was a busy night for yours truly. I participated in three matches. First was the Sunday Night Heat match that featured Miss Jacqueline taking on Ivory. Not much noteworthy in this match but the ladies worked very hard for sure.
My next assignment was match number two on the main card. The WWF tag-team titles were on the line as the champs Owen Hart and Jeff Jarrett accompanied by Debra defended against Test and D’Lo Brown, who were accompanied by Ivory. The champs retained their titles with the aid of Debra, who managed to distract almost everyone in the ring including me.
Later in the evening, I officiated the WWF women’s title match. Sable was the ladies’ champion and she faced newcomer Tori. The match was moving along just fine until it came time for me to get knocked down and incapacitated for a minute or two. The plan was for Tori to run at Sable in an attempt to hit her with a flying cross body block. Sable would duck out of the way as I positioned myself behind her. Not such a terrible place to be positioned, but I digress. Tori would then hit me with the cross body across the chest. This was supposed to send me crashing to the canvas on my back, where I would sell that the back of my head hit the mat, taking me out of the picture for the proper amount of time. Here’s when things went south. Instead of hitting me across the chest, Tori’s flying cross body hit me square in the belt buckle. Way too low for me to properly take the bump and sell my head. Trying to think fast, I instinctively and immediately sold my groin area. Tori’s elbow did make contact with the family jewels so I figured I might as well go with it.
All would have been just fine if Nicole Bass, who interfered in the match to help Sable, had not entered the ring right where I was selling. I did my best not to see her but to make matters worse, after she did what she was supposed to do, Nicole Bass exited the ring again right where I was selling. Once again I had to do my best to avoid seeing her. I crawled back to the action, counted the pin, and the match was mercifully over. When I got to the back I ran into Kevin Kelly, who was a play-by-play announcer for the WWF at the time, and he commended me for thinking on the fly. He said that under those conditions, I did very well. I very much appreciated his comments. WrestleMania XV was in the books, thank goodness.
Anaheim, California, was the site of WrestleMania 2000, as it was called. The 16th annual extravaganza aired from the Arrowhead Pond for the second time. I was fortunate to have been assigned the triple threat ladder match for the WWF tag-team championship. The champs the Dudley boys faced the Hardy Boyz and the team of Edge and Christian. This match stole the show. All six men put on a performance that set the standard for any and all future matches of this type. They all gave it everything they had. It did take a toll on their bodies, as all six men were battered and bruised, but they were very happy with their accomplishment. As I said, it was easily the match of the night and put each of them
on the wrestling map if they were not on it already. It was one of those moments that had me on edge for the entire match and also made me proud of them all.
Houston, we have a problem! That very well could have been how we remembered WrestleMania X-Seven from the Astrodome in Houston, Texas. WrestleMania X-Seven is regarded by many as the greatest WrestleMania ever from top to bottom of the card. Once again I had the privilege of being assigned what turned out to be the match of the night, the TLC II match. It was a rematch from the SummerSlam TLC match. The Dudleys, the Hardys, and Edge and Christian tore the house down. Each time these six guys get together in this type of match environment, they always seem to top themselves: a true testament to how good they all are. The highlight spot of the match was when Jeff Hardy was hanging onto the ring several feet above the mat that the title belts were fastened to. Edge climbed a ladder in the corner, took aim, and leaped from the ladder, spearing Jeff in the process as they both crashed to the mat. The entire stadium was on their feet chanting “holy shit” in unison. It was one of the most memorable WrestleMania moments of all time.
That match almost didn’t take place that evening. There was an incident in one of my prior matches that could have prematurely ended WrestleMania X-Seven. It was the Hardcore championship match. The champ Raven defended the title against Kane and the Big Show in a triple threat hardcore match. They started battling in the ring, but it didn’t take too long for the fight to make its way to the backstage area. At one point Raven jumped behind the wheel of a golf cart parked in the back. As he pulled away, the Big Show jumped on the back. Raven tried to steer the vehicle clear of the power cables, but his front tires kept lifting off the ground due to Big Show on the back of the cart. The golf cart crashed into a fence where the power cables ran alongside. Fortunately for all involved, the cables were unharmed. Disaster was averted and the PPV was able to continue. WrestleMania X-Seven was the best WrestleMania that almost didn’t happen.
Finally, WrestleMania has come back to . . . Toronto! That’s right; the granddaddy of them all was back in my hometown with WrestleMania X8. Besides running around the SkyDome for the Hardcore title’s 24/7 rule, I also refereed the European title match, where champion Diamond Dallas Page defeated local hero Christian. With all due respect to Christian and DDP, their match was memorable but the most striking memory I have from the show actually happened well before the doors opened to the public. I was standing out in the stadium leaning on the barricades just taking it all in and remembering back to number 6 and thinking about how things had changed. The set design was elaborate and the production values were marvellous.
As I stood there just enjoying the atmosphere, someone placed a large hand on my shoulder. Much to my pleasant surprise it was the one and only Hulk Hogan. Still with his big paw on my shoulder he said to me, “Now this brings back some awesome memories, doesn’t it, brother?”
I know the Hulkster calls everybody brother, but it’s still pretty cool nonetheless. I told him it was awesome and that I was having flashbacks from WrestleMania VI. He laughed and said, “Yeah, me too, only back then we both had more hair.” Again we shared a laugh and chatted about the way the business had changed and the difference between when he started versus then. For me it was just an amazing time shooting the bull with one of the all-time legends in wrestling history.
Later that night when the Rock and Hulk Hogan stood eye to eye in the middle of the ring, I snuck out into the crowd because I wanted to experience it like a fan. I was always a fan and still am to this day, but being out there in the SkyDome listening to the roar of the crowd gave me goosebumps. Toronto was off the hook. I was proud of my hometown.
Seattle, Washington, was the site of WrestleMania XIX. What I remember most is not the triple threat tag-team title match I refereed. That match featured the team of Eddie and Chavo, Los Guerreros, versus the team of Rhino and Chris Benoit versus the champs Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin. The champs retained in a very good but somewhat rushed match. My most vivid memories are of the main event, where WWE champ Kurt Angle put his title on the line against Brock Lesnar.
These two warriors were having one hell of a match when Brock climbed the corner to the top. Pausing for a second or two, Lesnar attempted a shooting star press, which is basically leaping off the top rope, doing a back flip in mid-air, and landing chest to chest on your prone opponent, who is flat on their back in the ring. As Brock was about to take flight, it appeared that he double-clutched. In other words, he kind of hesitated as he was jumping, which caused him to under-rotate and land on the top of his head. Everyone in the Gorilla Position was frantically trying to communicate with the referee, Mike Chioda, to find out if Brock was injured. All the refs were having trouble with our earpieces that night, so it seemed that Mike was not hearing Gorilla.
Somehow Brock and Kurt got through the match. It was very apparent after the match that Brock did not have all his wits about him. After much coercion from Gerald Briscoe, Lesnar finally agreed to get checked out at a nearby hospital. He had suffered a stinger, which given the circumstances was quite remarkable. Brock dodged a bullet that night.
Kurt Angle was not 100% going into the match and was really feeling the after-effects when he returned backstage. You could see that he was in a lot of pain and his arms were trembling. He too was checked out, but Kurt is a wrestling machine and was there for the next set of television tapings, as was Brock. These two incredible athletes are part of my strongest memories from this WrestleMania.
New York, New York, the city so nice they named it twice. WrestleMania XX returned to Madison Square Garden, where it all began. I was assigned the opening match, where the United States champ the Big Show took on challenger John Cena. In 2004, John Cena was just two years into his WWE career and you could tell even then that this kid had something. The well-educated and sometimes hard-to-please wrestling fans in MSG cheered this young superstar loudly.
As the match went on, Cena displayed his enormous strength by delivering an F.U. to Big Show. That is a move that required Cena to lift the seven-foot, nearly 500-pound man on his shoulders, then toss him in the air, flipping him on his back. You have to see it to believe it. Usually, that would be enough for Cena to defeat his opponents, but not this time. Big Show surprisingly kicked out of the pin attempt at two, which shocked everyone. Cena thought about it for a second, then went to retrieve the chain he wore to the ring. I, like any good referee would, prevented Cena from using the chain on Show. As I turned my back to get rid of the chain, Cena, without me seeing, pulled brass knuckles from his pocket, punched Big Show with them, and delivered a second F.U. As luck would have it, I turned around just in time to see the F.U. and count one, two, three. John Cena had won his very first WWE title. His career from that point on was pretty good to say the least. It was a special feeling for me knowing that I took part in Cena’s very first title in the WWE.
WrestleMania goes Hollywood! The 21st instalment of the yearly classic aired from Tinsel Town, Los Angeles, California, and the Staples Center. For the second year in a row, I refereed the opening contest. As I’ve said before, the first match on any PPV, especially WrestleMania, is the match that sets the tone and the mood for the rest of the show. A good opener gets the crowd into the night early, then it’s up to the rest of the card to hold their attention. Rey Mysterio versus Eddie Guerrero did just that. I spoke about this match previously when talking about Eddie. It was one of my favourite WrestleMania matches that I have refereed.
The Windy City was once again the site, this time for WrestleMania 22: Chicago and the Allstate Arena. I was originally scheduled to take part in two matches this night, the Money in the Bank ladder match and the casket match between the Undertaker and Mark Henry. I offered to give my spot in the casket match to Chris Kay. Chris did not have a match on the show and I thought it would be a huge moment for him to referee a match on WrestleMania. It would be an even bigger moment considering it would i
nvolve the Undertaker. I spoke with referee Nick Patrick, and we asked John Laurinaitis if he would be okay with the change. John said he was fine with it if the Dead Man was. So we asked Taker if he was cool with the kid being one of the refs for the match. Nick would be the other so there would be a veteran presence manning the casket. The Undertaker gave us his blessing, and Chris Kay had his WrestleMania moment.
I was perfectly fine only refereeing the ladder match. Michael “P.S.” Hayes explained that I was needed for that particular match because of my experience in those types of matches. It is very comforting to know that your superiors have confidence in your abilities. I was just as happy that I had a hand in making someone else’s WrestleMania a memorable one. I was just trying to pay it forward.
The Motor City was our next stop for the granddaddy of them all. WrestleMania 23 took us back into the stadium setting. Ford Field was the site and on this night, more than 80,000 fans jam-packed the arena. Once again, my assignment was the Money in the Bank ladder match. This year, there were be eight participants instead of the usual six. As was the case in every other MITB match, all the guys went above and beyond to entertain. There was one thing that stood out in the match that I believe all who witnessed it still remember. Midway through the match, Jeff Hardy climbed a 15-foot-high ladder inside the ring and on his brother Matt Hardy’s urging, he performed a leg drop off that ladder onto Edge, who was lying prone on another ladder outside the ring, set up on the ring apron and the barricade. The impact caused Eddie’s ladder to break in half and Edge, along with Jeff, was injured. My first reaction was to check on both men to see if they were okay. Well, not okay but conscious. After we determined that they were responsive, they were eventually carried off on stretchers by the paramedics. Both guys were beat up but they survived. I do think that the toll on their bodies was building up. As we saw a few years later, Edge had to retire from the ring because of all the wear and tear on his body, particularly his neck. That speaks volumes to how much he gave to the business he loved. Thankfully WrestleMania 23 was not his last. Edge was back the following year which would turn out to be my final WrestleMania.
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