10 Times Wrestling Referees Really F**ked Up!

7. Earl Hebner Botches The No Way Out Main Event

The No Way Out clash between The Rock and Kurt Angle was months in the making and pivotal in making Rock reclaim the WWF Championship before his legendary encounter at WrestleMania X-Seven with Steve Austin. Rock was due to go over after hitting his finisher but things didn’t go exactly to plan, with the ending spoiling a thrilling bout.

The ending had Rock throwing Angle into the turnbuckle and hitting a Rock Bottom. This was supposed to lead to the winning pinfall but when Rock covered Angle referee Earl Hebner stopped counting at 2, despite Angle not moving and his shoulders being firmly planted on the mat. This ticked off ‘The Great One’, who had to right there and then call an audible to Angle on the mat to get up and take one more Rock Bottom for the 1-2-3. Rock was crowned new WWF Champion but was irked and refused to let Hebner raise his hand with the title after the match.

Kurt Angle recently went over what exactly happened on his podcast:

“I distinctly remember that Earl probably thought that was the first Rock Bottom. I believe we hit a Rock Bottom earlier in the match and Earl forgot. So, the finish was supposed to be the second Rock Bottom and Earl thought the second one was the first. So, that’s why he hesitated on the count. Dwayne, The Rock, was pissed. He picked me up, Rock Bottomed me, and looked Earl in the eye and said, ‘Count the mother f**king finish.’ He was pissed. Earl’s was going to get it when we got back to gorilla. But, Dwayne was mad at the time, but when he got backstage, he cooled off and he didn’t really yell at Earl or anything. We all make mistakes. Things like this happen. You just have to move forward and continue on with the match. That’s what Rock did. He took the initiative to Rock Bottom me again and get the win. That’s an experienced wrestler.”