10 Wrestlers Who Couldn't Hide Their Anger At A Botch

4. The Rock Chews Out Earl Hebner

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WWE

Earl Hebner isn't the brightest of bulbs. Just look at his old Twitter account.

"You can't abuse me I will make U look like A sh*t head in front of 10 000 people," is one such tweet. If dril posts that, he's clearing likes in the five figures.

Though a tremendous, tenured and well-respected official, he was bound to f*ck up at some point, and that he did during the Rock Vs. Kurt Angle main event at No Way Out 2001.

It was a blistering headliner. Deep into the stretch, Angle stomped on Rock's ankle to get out of the corner after working on it all match. Rock's selling was tremendous. He conveyed the sharp pain, which is altogether harder than fatigue. But he evaded the charging clothesline, sent Angle into the corner, and hoisted him up for the Rock Bottom. This was the finish.

Hebner didn't count it.

Per a recent episode of his podcast, Angle revealed that Hebner got confused. He knew that a second Rock Bottom was the finish, but forgot that it had happened midway through the match.

Re-watch the end of the match closely, and you'll see Rock pause, sit up, and look Hebner dead in the eye after executing the third Rock Bottom. He's facing away from the hard camera, but the gap between delivering the move and mounting the pun is noticeable.

"Count the motherf*cking finish!" is what he said, and Hebner duly did.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!