10 Best Wrestling Referees Ever

8. Joey Marella

Charles Robinson
WWE.com

For wrestling fans of my generation, Joey Marella may very well be the first referee they truly remember. 

He started working with the World Wrestling Federation in 1983, following the familiar story of working odd jobs down at the bottom of the ladder before finding himself in the role of referee.

He was the real-life son of the legendary Gorilla Monsoon, but the relationship between the two was never acknowledged in WWF and neither should it have been. 

Jesse 'The Body' Ventura was always particularly hard on Joey, however, which may or may not have been a rib on Gorilla (but it almost certainly was).

Joey's life came to a tragically short end in 1994 when he fell asleep at the wheel whilst driving home. Harvey Wippleman (real name Bruno Lauer) was in the passenger seat at the time, and was critically injured in the crash. Marella wasn't so lucky. He left behind a legacy as one of the best referees to ever grace Titan rings, mind. 

Contributor
Contributor

Born in the middle of Wales in the middle of the 1980's, John can't quite remember when he started watching wrestling but he has a terrible feeling that Dino Bravo was involved. Now living in Prague, John spends most of his time trying to work out how Tomohiro Ishii still stands upright. His favourite wrestler of all time is Dean Malenko, but really it is Repo Man. He is the author of 'An Illustrated History of Slavic Misery', the best book about the Slavic people that you haven't yet read. You can get that and others from www.poshlostbooks.com.