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Best refereed matches in history


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So anyway for a future episode of my podcast a friend of mine who's a referee in New England indies is going to be a guest. We are going to look at some of the best refereed matches in wrestling history. That's kind of a blind spot for me. I love Tommy Young, but if someone asked to come up with say 4-5 of the greatest refereeing performances in wrestling history, I'd draw a blank.

Want Brian Hildebrand in there too naturally. Anyone have any opinions? Tommy Young clobbering Cornette I love, but I cannot recall which match that was.

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After a really shitty loss with really shitty refs my high school football coach once said the best refs are the ones you never knew were there. I think thats true for wrestling too. If you don't notice the refs it means there wasn't some stupid angle or some over elaborate finish etc which makes the match that much better.

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Ricky Steamboat in the Low Ki vs Danielson match from 7/01 is the best. You notice him, but his presence gives the match a certain gravitas you don't normally get on indy shows at the time and a sort of instant validation of the greatness of the match and the two wrestlers. Ricky Steamboat standing right there watching someone get chopped and reacting to how hard the chop is fucking rules. Or circling around both guys selling after a near fall holding up two fingers with one hand and holding his other out as if to tell the fans "these two are incredible and deserve your applause and adoration." You can't help but notice Steamboat in that match and he's terrific.

 

The ref for Funk vs Onita is great just for his outfit.

 

Thats all I got. Really cool topic. I'm looking forward to the responses and the eventual podcast.

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A lot of matches with Tommy Young.

 

Individually:

 

3/30/02 ROH Ki vs Danielson (Ken Shamrock)

 

Any lucha referee that does a jump and waves hands in the air to signal a submission to end a fall.

I like Shamrock in the Bret/Austin I Quit match as well. He stayed out of the way when he had too and really added to the ending without distracting from the match.

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I like Tommy Young from the Falir vs Funk GAB 1989... I thought he did a great job there... especially yelling at the camera guys outside the ring lol.

Two of the alltime great Tommy Young moments are from Bash 89.

 

1. During Luger/Steamboat, Luger nags him about the count speed, saying "I want it faster!" So Tommy promptly fast-counts him when his complaining gets him flash-rolled-up.

 

2. Flair saves himself after multiple piledrivers by putting a foot in the ropes, and Tommy rebuffs Funk's complaint with "There it is! RIGHT THERE!"

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I like Shamrock in the Bret/Austin I Quit match as well. He stayed out of the way when he had too and really added to the ending without distracting from the match.

 

 

I was going to mention this one too, though I guess there have to be ones much better. But Shamrock played his role very well within the match, and he does his role great in the post-match, which is part of why the double turn so effectively works.

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I can't think of a single one for real referees off-hand, I guess because of the obvious. The cliche about the best referee being one you don't notice is there still holds true.

 

In terms of guest referees, of all people I think Triple H did a really good job refereeing Cena vs Punk II at Summerslam 2011, for much the same reason; you completely forgot he was even there until the finish. Plus part of the build was that everyone thought Hunter was making a mistake taking it upon himself to referee such an important title match, since he's not an experienced ref and could screw it up, and that was paid off with the finish where Hunter did, in fact, make a simple mistake and screw it up. That's why you need professional referees.

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Okay another question. What are some of the WORST refereed matches in history. I'm talking a performance so bad from Dick Woerhle that Johnny Sorrow throws his TV out the window bad. Not counting guest refs or Starrcade 97 since that's been talked to death. I'm talking a bad reffing job from bell to bell bad.

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Tommy Young during Flair-Steamboat is the one that sticks out to me.

 

The 90s AJPW ref could be divisive but he could really escalate the drama.

Kyohei Wada. He once grabbed a guy and dragged him on top of his opponent for a pinfall. Lost all respect for him after that.
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Also you could find a list of matches Tommy Gilbert refereed and take your pick from that.

There's a UWF NO-DQ match with... Murdoch, I think... where Gilbert gets in the way constantly. He enforces the rules too tightly for a normal match let alone a NO-DQ.

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What match with Wada was that? Wada was always one of my favs. Never got in the way, added to the drama, never drew attention to himself.

 

Joe Higuchi is probably my favorite all time ref. never drew attention to himself, but when he did it got a shitload of heat on some ganjin for breaking the rules then picking on the little ref. His presence of being tiny and never backing down always put lots of heat on guys like Hansen. Brody and Snuka vs the Funks I think. By Higuchi just standing up to Hansen and Brody he drew just as much heat as when Baba made the save and got fucked up. And he didn't draw attention to himself but rather he drew attention to Brody and Hansen being bullies... Yeah Joe Higuchi....

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For good, I'm not sure it qualifies but my favorite ref moment ever is Charles Robinson sprinting down the ridiculously long 'Mania ramp in '08 during the Taker/Edge match, arriving like a bullet and counting one of the best nearfall counts I can remember seeing.

 

Not a referee story per se, but King Mo as the guest enforcer at BFG '12 for Storm vs. Roode is a favorite of mine. His look of shock when he sees some of the crazy bumps these guys are taking and the epic blade job by Storm is priceless and adds a lot to the match.

 

Someone mentioned Triple H but not this match, he does a great job of being damn near invisible for Bryan/Cena at Summerslam '13. You'd think he would struggle not to call attention to himself in that environment, but he does a great job.

 

And if you're into comedy stuff, take your price of goofy Bryce Remsburg spots. Not everybody's cup of tea, but I enjoy it.

 

As for bad referees, I'm not as sure. Some lucha referees can be really annoying but I'm not knowledgeable enough to say who, when, or where. Dragon Gate refs always pause ridiculously before the third count of a pinfall, but that's more of a house style I guess. Can't come up with anything specific, crappy refs don't usually last long I guess.

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I haven't seen the Kyohei Wada match in question, but he definitely seemed to overstep his bounds at times. At the same time, he adds a sense of authority and seriousness to the procedings that few others can. He's taking a few months off right now and his presence on those AJPW shows is definitely missed.

 

Mr. Takahashi (buff 80s NJPW ref) was great too, for much the same reasons as Wada. Wrote a book exposing the business in 2000(!) which seems to be quite famous among Japanese fans.

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But also a true answer for sure. Would prefer shorter matches, as we try to keep the old school stuff to an hour, but that's a great pick. Does anyone know the match where Tommy Young gets into a mini fist fight with Jim Cornette?

 

If you mean Nick Patrick, it's Wrestle War '90, Midnights v. the RnR. Can't think of a Tommy Young one that's extended like that.

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