Earl Hebner inducted into TNA Hall of Fame - "the first referee to ever be inducted into a professional wrestling Hall of Fame."

[C.S.]

For all the nitpicking about TNA, this is a really cool gesture - especially if Earl Hebner is indeed "the first referee to ever be inducted into a professional wrestling Hall of Fame."

 

Is that actually true?

 

We know there are no referees in the WWE Hall of Fame, obviously.

 

What about the Observer Hall of Fame?

 

There is at least one other wrestling HOF too. Maybe more than one. Is a ref in any of those?

 

Here is the official press release from TNA, for those interested:

 

 

 

For 27 years professional wrestling referee Earl Hebner has entered millions of living rooms across the globe every week, officiating the wildest and most memorable matches and main events of wrestling's top promotions. On Saturday, Oct. 3, in front of family, friends and fans in his home state of Virginia, Hebner, the most famous professional referee in the world, will be inducted into the TNA Hall of Fame.

"Earl Hebner is not only one of the most recognizable personalities in professional wrestling, his passion for the sport, in-ring management skills, and ability to entertain audiences has set the standard by which all professional wrestling referees are measured," said TNA President Dixie Carter. "It is an honor to have Earl as part of the TNA family and as the newest member of the illustrious TNA Hall of Fame."

Hebner's TNA Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place Saturday, Oct. 3 during The Road to Bound For Glory Tour live event in Salem, Va. Smashing Pumpkins front man and TNA Senior Producer, Billy Corgan, will induct Hebner, with TNA Ring Announcer and Hebner's dear friend, Jeremy Borash, emceeing.

On Sunday, Oct. 4, during TNA's biggest night of the year, the Bound For Glory Pay-Per-View event, a special segment will be dedicated to Earl's TNA Hall of Fame induction and will feature career highlights and portions of his induction ceremony from the previous night.

Hebner will be the sixth inductee into the TNA Hall of Fame, joining Sting, Kurt Angle, Bully Ray, Devon and Jeff Jarrett. His TNA Hall of Fame induction marks the first time a referee of any major professional wrestling organization has become a member of the promotion's Hall of Fame.

"When I received the call from John Gaburick (TNA's Executive Vice President of Television and Talent Relations) and he told me I am being inducted into the TNA Hall of Fame, I was stunned and my eyes welled up with tears," said Hebner. "I've been working for 37 years for this incredible honor. It is rare for a referee in any sport to be recognized in this way, and I am proud TNA is recognizing me as the first referee to ever be inducted into a professional wrestling Hall of Fame."

Hebner fell in love with professional wrestling during his teenage years while working concessions at the Richmond, Va., fairgrounds, where local and regional promotions would run shows every Friday night. He first became involved in professional wrestling by volunteering on the ring crew. Hebner's foray into refereeing came about by happenstance when a referee fell ill and Earl was asked to fill in on a moment's notice. Hebner went on to referee for Jim Crockett Promotions, and in the late 80s he made his debut with World Wrestling Federation, when he replaced his twin brother, Dave, mid-match and influenced the outcome of a title bout. Hebner made his TNA debut in 2006 where he has served as Senior Official, managing TNA's other referees, including son Brian.

Event Information for Earl Hebner's Hall of Fame Induction:
TNA Wrestling presents The Road to Bound For Glory Tour
Featuring the Stars and Knockouts of IMPACT WRESTLING
Saturday, Oct. 3 at 7:30 p.m.
Salem, Va. – The Salem Civic Center
Tickets start at $15 and are available at ticketmaster.com

 

http://prowrestling.net/article.php?TNA-announces-Earl-Hebner-s-inductor-Hebner-comments-on-the-honor-more-details-on-the-Hall-of-Fame-ceremony-44017

[Jingus]

I might care if any wrestling "hall of fame" actually mattered. They really don't. Meltzer's is the closest to being legit, and even it is something run entirely off one guy's website.

[Slasher]

LOL. Oh TNA.

[Johnny Sorrow]

Earl Hebner is the only guy who gave me an autograph I wasn't asking for. 😄 I was at a TNA show a few years ago and afterwards some of the 126 of us there were invited to come to ringside as the faces were signing autographs and a morbidly obese woman was literally rolled into and out of the ring to get a pic with AJ Styles. As I hung over the rail laughing, Hebner grabbed my ticket from my hand and signed it. 😄

[Woof]

There is something so "TNA" about the first HOF referee being one of the worst of all time. And your story makes tons of sense, Johnny, given that Earl has made a career of jamming himself into epic moments so that he'd be in the iconic photo.

[El-P]

One of the worse of all time is pushing it. He was perfectly fine for a long time I think, before he got all epic and shit and decided to go for the delayed three count. I wonder when that happened exactly. Or maybe I wasn't paying attention, but I don't think he was doing that before the Attitude Era got rolling. Then, yes, fucking annoying.

 

The sole reason he's "iconic" for TNA is because he's the referee from the Montreal screwjob, and that's pretty much it.

[Grimmas]

Sting, Kurt Angle, Jeff Jarrett and Earl Hebner. That is one hell of a hall of fame.

[SteveJRogers]

I might care if any wrestling "hall of fame" actually mattered. They really don't. Meltzer's is the closest to being legit, and even it is something run entirely off one guy's website.

THERE IS A PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING HALL IN UPSTATE NEW YORK! With ceremonies and everything!

 

http://www.pwhf.org

 

Doesn't appear to be any refs there though.

 

I really wish people would stop sleeping on that one, while slobbering all over one that only exists inside someone's desktop. At least the organizations themseles have physical representations of ceremonies and something given to their inductees.

[SteveJRogers]

Sting, Kurt Angle, Jeff Jarrett and Earl Hebner. That is one hell of a hall of fame.

And Dudleys/Team 3-D

[Woof]

I can think of nothing that Earl Hebner does as a referee that is good.

 

~ He does a terrible job of attempting to enforce the rules during a match, usually just standing around and letting guys do whatever because it hasn't specifically been scripted for him to do something

 

~ When he DOES interject himself it's usually way overboard; he has zero middle ground

~ His counts are inconsistent and sloppy

~ He does that weird leg kickout thing to telegraph that he won't be counting the full 3 whenever its supposed to be a false finish

 

~ His calls for the bell are creepy looking as he just flails his arm in the general area of the timekeeper with his hand just flopping all around at the end of his wrist like it's just dead tissue

 

~ He is generally uncoordinated in the ring, often tripping over his own feet, and is frequently in the wrong position

 

~ He takes horrible looking bumps that are straight out of a Three Stooges routine and expose the business

 

~ He's involved in way too many angles, which may not necessarily be his call, but given his grandstanding in other areas I don't feel the need to let him off the hook for

 

~ His voice is whiney and unauthoritive

 

~ As stated above, he tries WAY too hard to make sure he's in the picture for iconic moments, which usually means grabbing the wrist of the winner to raise it up even when the guy is nowhere near in the condition to have it raised; he is so shameless at the end of the WMXX main event that it made me sick at the time, constantly hanging around long after the match just so he could be there in the Guerrero-Benoit moment; he was so obnoxious during the Austin-Rock WM19 post-match that Rock had to keep shoving him away

Given his stature for so long as WWF's Senior Official and then as the same in TNA, he is terrible. I can think of no other professional wrestling referee that has ruined matches for me more than him. I mean it's not even close.

[goc]

If I were going to induct a referee into a wrestling Hall of Fame I'd probably start with Ron West.

[artDDP]

What about Earl flipping off a red-hot Steve Austin right after his WrestleMania match with Bret?

 

I had forgotten about him trying to get between Rock and Austin at XIX and Rock several times trying to shove him away.

 

My memories of Earl were my dad yelling at the TV about Earl's terrible ref bumps.

 

Was the "Damn right I did!" phase of his TNA career something he came up with or was that just more lolTNA? I went to a TNA house show in 2011 and Earl, in the middle of a match, stops everything to grab a mic and scream "Damn right I did!" in response to "You screwed Bret!" chants. And he was selling a T-shirt with the same phrase in the lobby.

[Sidebottom]

I was always under the impression it was something Earl was just doing. TNA didn't market the shirts. There are may things we can blame TNA for but his isn't one of them

[Laz]

Does he market a "if you ain't white then you ain't right" shirt, too?

[CarpetCrawler]

Wasn't he fired from WWE for allegedly selling unlicensed WWE shirts, or am I thinking of a different ref?

[Laz]

That was him.

[Eduardo]

One of the worse of all time is pushing it. He was perfectly fine for a long time I think, before he got all epic and shit and decided to go for the delayed three count. I wonder when that happened exactly. Or maybe I wasn't paying attention, but I don't think he was doing that before the Attitude Era got rolling. Then, yes, fucking annoying.

 

First time I noticed it was at WM12 with Michaels-Hart, but maybe/probably he was doing it before that.

[rainmakerrtv]

Wasn't there a WCW Hall Of Fame and they made inductions around Slamboree time? I seem to recall Tommy Young going into that.

[Timbo Slice]

There was. First Slamboree ever in 1994. Inducted a ton of guys to get them a PPV payday and did some hilarious interviews throughout the show.

[Zenjo]

That's 27 years and counting without a convincing near fall.

 

I can't think of another referee who has had a bigger negative impact on the wrestling industry than Earl Hebner. The amount of matches I've seen him ruin over the decades by being so amazingly bad at his job. Give me a grand for every time I've shouted out 'Fuck you Hebner' and I'd be a millionaire. The most obnoxious, pig headed, idiotic, retarded, insulting, offensive, incompetent piece of shit imaginable.

 

I can think of no more deserving entrant to the Hall of Shame.

[PeteF3]

Agreed with all the criticisms of Earl--what's weird is, Dave Hebner was actually very good.

[Tabe]

There was. First Slamboree ever in 1994. Inducted a ton of guys to get them a PPV payday and did some hilarious interviews throughout the show.

First one was 1993, not 1994.

[Jingus]

Those who hate Earl so much: what's your explanation for why practically every wrestler who's ever worked with him has nothing but good things to say about the guy? I mean, not counting Montreal ethics stuff, just talking about the in-ring work. I don't think I've ever heard one of his coworkers complain about what he does in there. (Personally, I've always found him to be perfectly average and mostly forgettable.)

[Jingus]

Also, unrelated subject: what the hell was the deal with the Hebners all getting fired from WWE, anyway? That always felt strange, because it seemed like details on the story were few and far between, and "selling merchandise without permission" just seems like a terribly odd way for a seeming-lifer like Earl to get canned.

[goc]

Those who hate Earl so much: what's your explanation for why practically every wrestler who's ever worked with him has nothing but good things to say about the guy? I mean, not counting Montreal ethics stuff, just talking about the in-ring work. I don't think I've ever heard one of his coworkers complain about what he does in there. (Personally, I've always found him to be perfectly average and mostly forgettable.)

That's not a good defense. People in the business also all rave about how they love working with Kane. Or how easy it is to work with Jeff Jarrett. I've never seen anyone that worked with Killer Tim Brooks say anything but glowingly positive things about him yet when I watch a Killer Tim Brooks match all I see is a guy who is total shit.