Profile of Earl Hebner on Famous Like Me

Earl Hebner (born May 17, 1949, in Richmond, Virginia) was a professional wrestling referee best known as the senior referee for World Wrestling Entertainment and later in the same role on its RAW brand. As Senior Referee, Hebner officiated most main events.

Career

Hebner debuted as a referee during a WWF World Heavyweight Championship match pitting champion Hulk Hogan against challenger André the Giant, which aired live on February 5, 1988, on NBC's The Main Event. Hebner's twin brother, Dave, was the assigned official, but unbeknownst to Hogan, André's manager, Ted DiBiase, had bribed Earl to take his brother's place. Earl then counted André's pin against Hogan, even though Hogan's shoulders were clearly off the mat. As André and DiBiase were celebrating (with André quickly "selling" his title to an overjoyed DiBiase), Dave Hebner – whom DiBiase had locked in a closet prior to the match – ran to the ring and confronted Earl. Hogan turned around just in time to see the two brothers arguing and Earl knock down his brother. This match helped set up a 14-man elimination tournament at WrestleMania IV, where the winner would win the WWF Championship (since WWF President Jack Tunney declared the title "vacant" a week after The Main Event match as the WWF Championship "can not be bought or sold").

Hebner was hospitalised with a heart problem shortly before WrestleMania XII.

Perhaps the most infamous event in Hebner's career came during the main event of the 1997 Survivor Series in what has since been dubbed "The Montreal Screwjob". During a match for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship between champion Bret Hart and challenger Shawn Michaels, Hebner signaled for the timekeeper to ring the bell (signifying the end of the match) while Michaels had Hart in a Sharpshooter hold, even though Hart visibly had not submitted. Michaels was thus awarded the WWF Championship, which was not the match ending that Hart had anticipated. Hebner had, at the bequest of Vince McMahon, "screwed" Hart out of the title. The reason for the "screwjob" was that Hart, who was leaving the company a month later to join World Championship Wrestling (the nemesis of the WWF), was unwilling to lose the title to Michaels, or in Montreal. Though Hart claimed he was willing to lose to anyone but Michaels the next night on RAW, McMahon feared that Hart would leave the company with the title and take the title to WCW, thus breaking the lineage of the title. He therefore decided to forcibly remove the title from Hart by instructing Hebner - who had previously promised Hart "on his children's lives" that he would not betray him - to signal an end to the bout when Michaels had Hart in a submission hold. The fallout of the screwjob led to a large degree of antipathy towards Hebner, McMahon and Shawn, especially in Canada, where fans will often chant "You screwed Bret!" at the offending parties. In the same vein, Earl's son Brian, now a WWE referee on the SmackDown! brand, receives chants of "Your dad screwed Bret" at shows in Canada.

Hebner was involved in several storylines. He spearheaded the (kayfabe) referee's strike in 1999, resulting in referees being given the authority to defend themselves if physically provoked by wrestlers. In early 2000 he cost Triple H his WWF World Heavyweight Championship by quick-counting during a match between HHH and Chris Jericho following weeks of abuse by HHH. HHH eventually forced Hebner to reverse the decision, promising never to lay his hands on Hebner as long as he was a WWF employee. After Hebner had taken the title from Jericho and given it back to HHH, HHH "fired" him and promptly beat him unconscious. Hebner was reinstated by Linda McMahon two months later, replacing corrupt guest referee Shane McMahon during a title match between HHH and The Rock. In late 2001, during The Invasion, Hebner feuded with WCW Head Referee Nick Patrick.

Hebner was released from WWE on July 18, 2005, allegedly for selling WWE merchandise without permission. Hebner's brother Dave was also released on July 19 in connection with these events. These activities would have been conducted from a store that Earl Hebner had part ownership in, the St. Louis based Pro Shirt Shop. To avoid negative publicity, the controlling owner of the Pro Shirt Shop, Nick Ridenour, bought out Hebner's share in the company and released a press statement which claimed that the company only received merchandise from "licensed distributors".

Profile

• Height: 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
• Weight: 160 lb (73 kg)
• Professional Debut: 1978

Job Titles

• Former WWE Senior Referee
• Former WWE Raw Senior Referee
• Former WWE Referee
• Former NWA Referee

This content from Wikipedia is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Earl Hebner