"There was big heat now" - Vince McMahon's rule change caused WWE match to finish early (Exclusive)

Former WWE referee Nick Patrick has revealed that a Vince McMahon rule change once caused a match involving Christian to have a botched finish.

Patrick worked as a referee in WWE from 2001 to 2008. During that time, McMahon felt that too many referees only counted to two when WWE Superstars failed to kick out before a three-count. As a result, he implemented a rule which gave referees the power to count to three if a WWE Superstar took too long to kick out.

Speaking to Dr. Chris Featherstone on Sportskeeda Wrestling’s Inside SKoop, Patrick recalled how McMahon instructed another former referee, Teddy Long, to be more strict. The change of approach resulted in two-time WWE World Heavyweight Champion Christian abruptly losing a match.

“He [Vince McMahon] pulled Teddy aside because I think Teddy was one of the people that he saw something and it made him mad. So he goes, "Teddy Long, if they do that, count them out." A week later, he [Teddy Long] is out there working with Christian, and Christian went to cut it close and they counted him out. There was big heat now, and so now I show up and I’ve got his [Christian's] match and me and Teddy are hanging out, old buddies, laughing and joking, and Christian is like, "Oh man, I hope he doesn’t do the same thing to me.""

Watch the video above to hear more of Nick Patrick’s stories from his time as a referee in WWE. He also discussed a similar situation when he refereed a match between The Undertaker and JBL at a live event overseas.

Nick Patrick on the time he used the ‘X’ symbol in WWE

Booker T sustained an injury in a WWE live event match

WWE referees raise their hands above their head into an ‘X’ symbol whenever a WWE Superstar requires medical attention during a match.

On the topic of WWE Superstars not kicking out, Nick Patrick remembered how he once stopped his count during a Booker T match. He did not realize that Booker had suffered a legitimate back injury against Matt Hardy at a live event. The two-time WWE Hall of Famer planned to let Hardy win, but Patrick paused his count before he could count to three.