Top 5: Wrestling Referees

Most people that follow wrestling know that you need more than just wrestlers to have a great match. The third/fifth person in the ring does as much as anybody else to make things work. A good referee can make a good match even better. A bad referee can make a bad match even worse.

The boys running the All In event know this as well as anybody. That’s why they scoured the globe to find the best possible officials to referee the matches that will take place on September 1 in Chicago.

Let's take a look at our officials

Paul Turner, Rick Knox, Todd Sinclair, the legendary Earl Hebner, and Jerry Lynn!! pic.twitter.com/MwoaA4ZXDp

— All In (@ALL_IN_2018) June 3, 2018

Referees are vital to a successful wrestling show. Who are the best? I’ve got my Top 5 Referees right here…

5. Bryce Remsburg

Bryce has been one of indy wrestling’s top referees for well over a decade, most notably serving as top official in CHIKARA & SHIMMER.Trained by Mike Quackenbush & Reckless Youth, Bryce has been with CHIKARA since the beginning & currently serves as Director of Fun. He’s very excitable on commentary & is always up for some zany in-ring fun.

4. Drake Wuertz

Drake’s independent wrestling career was legendary. He won CZW’s Best of the Best & Tournament of Death. He won IWA Mid-South’s King of the Deathmatch & Ted Petty Invitational. He won titles & tournaments everywhere he went…and he made it to WWE as a referee? Kinda weird, but he’s actually really good at it. As somebody that knows how a match works from multiple perspectives, Drake has earned the trust of everyone he’s worked with. He’s worked in NXT since 2014 & got the honor of refereeing the Ronda Rousey/Kurt Angle vs. Stephanie McMahon/Triple H match at WrestleMania 34. When you’re working the boss’s matches, you’re doing pretty well for yourself.

3. Mark Curtis

Mick Foley has said that Mark Curtis was the most talented trainee at Dominic DeNucci’s wrestling school. At 5’6 & 145 pounds, there wasn’t a place for Curtis as a wrestler in the 80s & 90s. He worked as a manager before settling into the role of referee. He was Smoky Mountain Wrestling’s head official during its existence, and behind the scenes he was owner Jim Cornette’s right-hand man, doing everything possible to help the territory run. He was one of SMW’s top representatives during their inter-promotional feud with the USWA, leading to memorable promos like this one.

After SMW closed he moved on to ECW & WCW, where he became famous after choking out a fan that ran into the ring. Curtis passed away in 1999 after a lengthy battle with cancer.

2. Nick Patrick

The son of the Assassin, Patrick wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps as a wrestler but became a referee instead. The Assassin was a great heel, as was Nick Patrick. His stint as the New World Order’s referee added a new dimension to the group. He also got some work as a heel official during the ill-fated Invasion angle, and got to work a feud with the WWF’s lead referee at the time. Patrick remained with WWE until 2008 & was one of SmackDown’s top referees for most of his time there.

There wasn’t a better heel referee, at least in the United States, than Nick Patrick. He cut a better promo than any other official & was great at getting fans to hate him for the right reasons.

Honorable Mention: Earl Hebner

Two things really bug me about Earl. His slow counts during main events made the people getting pinned look like crap & told people that it was going to be the finish. Also, once he screwed Bret he got way too full of his own ish. His post-WWE work matches have mostly been all about Earl & it takes away from the workers involved. With all that being said, you can’t have a list like this without mentioning Earl Hebner. Between the Main Event storyline with Earl being Dave Hebner’s evil identical twin helping Andre the Giant & the whole screwing Bret thing, he’s the most famous referee of all time.

Honorable Mention: Todd Sinclair

I was not a big fan of Todd’s for most of my trips to Dayton for ROH events. It seemed like he was always in the wrong place at the wrong time. His near-fall counts were annoying. He looked like Bobby Hill. The fans got on him like crazy. Then I figured out that was his gimmick. He’s awesome at being an incompetent referee that means well.

Honorable Mention: Tommy Young

Everybody from back in the day says that Tommy’s the best ever. They may be right. But the lion’s share of Tommy that I’ve seen is in Ric Flair matches. He always makes the same mistakes & does the same spots & it gets predictable. I feel if I’d seen him with a wider variety of wrestlers I would rate him higher than I do.

1. Charles Robinson

Robinson grew up in the heart of Horsemen Country & idolized Ric Flair. The Nature Boy was the reason Robinson wanted to get into the wrestling business, and his dream came true when WCW hired him as a referee. He got to take part in a storyline where he favored Flair & his allies & even earned the nickname of “Little Naitch” when he wrestled Randy Savage’s girlfriend Gorgeous George in a match where he wore a robe & did most of Flair’s moves. He still dyes his hair today like he’s a Nature Boy.

Robinson moved to WWE after WCW went out of business & hasn’t left. He refereed countless women’s matches during the 2000s & was the third man in the ring for Flair’s retirement match at WrestleMania XXIV, along with Shawn Michaels’ retirement match at WrestleMania XXVI. He had another WrestleMania Moment when he had to do a run-in after a referee got bumped during the Undertaker vs. Edge WrestleMania XXIV main event.

When they needed a referee for that spot, Charles was the only one that could do it. He’s the one they call on when they need something extra. He still puts the ring up all these years later, because somebody has to. If Eva Marie needs help winning in NXT, Charles gets the call. He’s reliable, which every referee needs to be more than anything else.