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Former WWE referee Nick Patrick has recalled how he almost brought an early end to a live event match between The Undertaker and JBL.
Having worked in the wrestling business since 1980, Patrick was among WWE’s most experienced referees when he joined the company in 2001. He recently revealed on Sportskeeda Wrestling’s Inside SKoop with Dr. Chris Featherstone that Vince McMahon wanted referees to be stricter with pinfalls.
Taking the WWE Chairman's words to heart, Patrick said he incorrectly counted to three after The Undertaker tombstoned JBL at a live event overseas.
“JBL actually took a tombstone, and I guess we were going for the deal like [Steve] Austin and those guys did where you hit the guy with the finish two or three times and then they kick out. But he [JBL] didn’t [kick out] with that tombstone and it was so close that he kicked out, and I didn’t really think he was going to kick out, so I wasn’t really trying to pull it, but if I had to I wouldn’t have been able to because it was that close and I counted it. When I counted it, JBL and Undertaker both looked at me like, ‘What was that?’ ‘That close! Two!’ I dug down into the well and pulled it back out again.”
Watch the video above to hear more of Nick Patrick’s stories about acclaimed stars like The Undertaker, JBL, Booker T, and Matt Hardy.
The Undertaker had an instruction for WWE referees
One of Nick Patrick’s former refereeing co-workers, Marty Elias, discussed his WWE career on Chris Jericho’s Talk Is Jericho podcast in 2020.
Elias, who officiated The Undertaker’s match against Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 25, revealed that The Deadman had special instructions for referees.
Elias stated that the WWE icon told referees not to get too close to him when they counted pinfalls. In The Undertaker's opinion, it was important for referees to respect his scary character by keeping their distance from him.
What do you think of these two noteworthy stories from referees? Sound off in the comments below.
Please credit Sportskeeda Wrestling and embed the video if you use quotes from this article.
