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

#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.