3 WWE refereeing errors that were real and 2 that were scripted

Being a WWE referee is a tougher job than some people might think. Granted, modern-day officials are not involved in as many big incidents as they used to be, but one mistake from a referee can alter the direction of a match outcome or storyline.

Back in the Attitude Era, referees would inadvertently get attacked on almost every show, which often led to villainous Superstars winning matches in controversial fashion. Nowadays, those kinds of finishes still exist but they are nowhere near as common as they once were.

The job of a referee is made even more difficult by the fact that Vince McMahon does not want them to know how matches are supposed to end, meaning occasional botches are inevitably going to happen.

In this article, let’s take a look at three WWE refereeing errors that were real, as well as two that were scripted.

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#5 Real: Earl Hebner (Kurt Angle vs. The Rock, WWE No Way Out 2001)

The WWE No Way Out 2001 card was absolutely stacked. Every match featured a current or future WWE Hall of Famer and the show was headlined by a WWE Championship match between Kurt Angle and The Rock.

This was the final pay-per-view before WrestleMania X-Seven, which meant The Rock had to win the WWE Championship to set up his ‘Mania main event against “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. Angle, meanwhile, was set to lose his title and go on to feud with Chris Benoit in the build-up to the next PPV.

In the closing stages of big PPV matches, it is not uncommon for WWE Superstars to kick out of their opponent’s finisher. However, in this case, The Rock was supposed to win the WWE Championship after hitting Angle with his go-to finishing move, The Rock Bottom.

At least, that is what should have happened. Instead, referee Earl Hebner decided to stop counting his pinfall after the 2-count (01:30 in the video above), presumably because he expected the match to continue after a kick-out from Angle. That kick-out never came, though, and Hebner’s hand laid awkwardly above the mat, leaving The Rock and the WWE fans to wonder why he did not complete the 3-count.

The Rock hit another Rock Bottom on Angle, who has since confirmed that the incident was a botch from Hebner, and the referee counted to three and awarded the WWE Championship to “The Great One”.

#4 Scripted: Charles Robinson (The Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar, WWE SummerSlam 2015)

In a match billed as “Too Big for WrestleMania”, The Undertaker defeated Brock Lesnar in controversial circumstances at WWE SummerSlam 2015.

At the time, Lesnar seemed unstoppable. He conquered The Undertaker’s undefeated streak at WrestleMania 30 just 16 months prior to their rematch, while he hit John Cena with 16 suplexes during a dominant win over his long-term rival at the previous year’s WWE SummerSlam event.

The closing stages of WWE SummerSlam 2015 (18:30 in the video above) saw The Undertaker submit to Lesnar’s Kimura Lock. Referee Charles Robinson did not see “The Deadman” tap out, so he was bemused when the bell sounded at ringside to signal the end of the match.

This, of course, was all part of the storyline. Robinson shouted, “That’s not your job!” to people at ringside and he allowed the match to continue. Moments later, The Undertaker caught Lesnar with a low-blow and made him pass out to the Hell’s Gate submission.

Had Robinson seen The Undertaker tap out in the first place, Lesnar would have won the match and another rematch at WWE Hell in a Cell 2015 would probably never have happened. But, as this was definitely scripted, ‘Taker walked away with his first one-on-one win over “The Beast” in a televised match.

#3 Real: Jack Doan (CM Punk vs. Jack Swagger, WWE RAW)

The other examples in this list are from high-profile WWE PPV matches, but Jack Doan’s refereeing botch took place in a relatively low-stakes match on RAW.

In January 2012, CM Punk prepared for his WWE Championship match against Dolph Ziggler at the Royal Rumble by taking on Jack Swagger in a non-title encounter. If Punk won, Swagger and Vickie Guerrero would be banned from ringside at the Rumble.

From the 01:55 mark of the video above, you can see that Punk climbed to the top rope and pinned Swagger following an elbow drop. “The Best in the World” was not known for winning matches in this way, so it came as a surprise when the referee counted to three and signaled for the end of the match.

It is clear from the replays that Swagger got his shoulder up before the 3-count, while Punk even tried to lock in his Anaconda Vice submission on the former WWE World Heavyweight Champion immediately after the pinfall.

You only have to watch and listen to the reaction of Punk and WWE’s announce team to know that this was a genuine botch and not a scripted finish.

#2 Scripted: Chad Patton (Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns, WWE Greatest Royal Rumble)

It had been speculated for almost a year that Roman Reigns was going to defeat Brock Lesnar in the main event of WrestleMania 34 to win the WWE Universal Championship for the first time in his career.

With the outcome seemingly obvious, many WWE fans hijacked the main event by chanting about Superstars who were not even in the match. Then, in a surprising finish, Lesnar pinned Reigns to retain his title.

Later that month, the two WWE Superstars went one-on-one again in a steel cage match at WWE’s first major event in Saudi Arabia, the Greatest Royal Rumble.

Once again, it looked as though Reigns was going to emerge with the WWE Universal Championship, but another unexpected outcome meant the storyline continued all the way to SummerSlam.

The Greatest Royal Rumble finish saw Reigns spear Lesnar through the cage, sending both men to the outside of the ring. Lesnar’s back landed first, but the cage prevented him from making contact with the ringside floor.

“The Big Dog” actually touched the floor first, which meant he should have won, but referee Chad Patton declared Lesnar as the winner.

Patton took to Twitter to post an in-character statement on what many WWE fans originally thought was a real botch.

I understand i made an incorrect decision & want to apologize. During the #UniversalTitle match at #WWEGRR, i saw Brock Lesnar go thru the cage first and was concerned for the health and safety of both superstars.

— chad patton (@chadpattonwwe) April 30, 2018

Four months later, Reigns defeated Lesnar in the main event of SummerSlam 2018 to finally win the WWE Universal Championship.

#1 Real: Rod Zapata (WWE WrestleMania 35 main event)

The most important match in the history of women’s wrestling took place in 2019 when Becky Lynch defeated Ronda Rousey and Charlotte Flair in WrestleMania’s first all-female main event to become WWE RAW Women’s Champion and WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion.

While nobody can have any complaints about the quality of the Triple Threat match, the finish (31:30 in the video above) certainly left a lot to be desired.

Lynch finally earned her big moment by pinning Rousey to win both titles, but it was clear to viewers at home that “The Baddest Woman on the Planet” had her shoulder up and that referee Rod Zapata should not have counted to three.

Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp reported after the show that WWE Chairman Vince McMahon pulled Zapata to one side and fined him for the botched finish to the main event.

Sportskeeda’s Tom Colohue confirmed following WrestleMania 35 that the original finish was supposed to see Flair tap out to Lynch.

"I've been told by different people, in different positions within WWE, that that [Lynch submitting Flair] was the plan. It sure looks like they've just botched the main event of WrestleMania… Accidents happen. The ref's continued a count after a kick-out. He hasn't delayed between the 2 and 3 like they're supposed to and Becky hasn't let go in time for Ronda to kick out."

It is worth noting that, as of the time of writing, Rousey has not competed in WWE since WrestleMania 35, so it is not known how this incident affected WWE’s original storyline plans after the event.