10 Times Wrestling Referees Really F**ked Up!

6. The Biggest Botch In WCW History

The huge Starrcade 1997 main event between Sting and Hollywood Hogan over the WCW World title was monumentally screwed up thanks to referee Nick Patrick.

The ending was supposed to go down like this: Hogan would land the Led Drop of Doom on Sting and the crooked referee in the match Nick Patrick would make a fast count before Sting had a chance to kick out. Then Bret Hart would hit the ring, punch Patrick’s lights out, restart the match and Sting would hook the Scorpion Deathlock on Hogan and make him tap out to all-around cheers from the crowd.

A version of this happened, but with a severely altered narrative. After Hogan hit the big leg on Sting, Nick Patrick counted at a regular pace, making it look like Hogan clearly and cleanly won the match. So when Bret hit the ring and took out Patrick and demanded the match be restarted and Sting won, it looked to anyone watching like Hogan was decidedly screwed out of the title.

The lack of a fast count came from Patrick being unsure what to do. Prior to the match Sting told him to make the fast count and Hogan told him to count normally. Patrick feared he would be fired after the PPV went off the air from the slip-up, with Eric Bischoff coming up to him and asking “Nick, what the f**k?”.

Patrick has since spoken on the finish:

“What happened was two people, Sting and Hulk, they were the two franchise guys and the two franchise guys were butting heads at that point in time. One guy came up to me and told me to fast count it to get some heat and give him an out and the other guy said ‘Don’t fast count it. Keep it nice and slow.’ And so the person that was in charge evidently didn’t want to make a call, didn’t want to pick a side, and made themselves scarce all night long to where I couldn’t find them to ask them ‘Hey, what do you want me to do?’”