Jim Korderas is a referee who is best known for working in the WWE for 22 years before
being released in 2009. At WrestleMania IV, The Honky Tonk Man was in a singles match
against Brutus Beefcake for the WWF Intercontinental Championship. Midway through match, Brutus
Beefcake had a sleeper hold manoeuvre locked on The Honky Tonk Man who was on the verge
of passing out, meaning he was in danger of losing the match by submission and therefore
would lose his WWF Intercontinental Championship. However, Jimmy Hart (who was The Honky Tonk
Man’s manager at the time) did not want that to happen so he got up on the ring apron
to create a distraction. After the referee had a few words to Hart he then turned his
back to Hart and that’s when Hart proceeded to hit referee Jim Korderas in the back of
the head with his trademark microphone. Korderas was legitimately knocked unconscious. Most
referees get stick for being “knocked out” after a little push
but little did they know, Korderas was legitimately knocked out. Numerous referees could be seen
attending Korderas while Brutus Beefcake was cutting Jimmy Hart’s hair. As a result,
Korderas had to be physically assisted out of the ring.
Former WWE referee Jack Doan joined the WWE back in 1991 and worked with the WWE until
his release in 2013. In a tag team match involving The Heavenly Bodies, referee Jack Doan suffered
stretched ligaments in his knee after Gigolo Jimmy Del Ray accidently clipped him during
the match. He was subsequently out of action for a month. But that wasn’t the only injury
he suffered. During the 1998 Royal Rumble Match, a near 300-pound man by the name of
Phineas Godwinn was eliminated over the top rope by Mark Henry, however, as he was thrown
over the top rope he inadvertently kicked referee Jack Doan in the back of the head.
This left Doan with a legitimate concussion.
Former WWE employee Tim White worked with the WWE as a referee and as a producer on
the Smackdown brand. He also worked as Andre the Giant’s assistant in addition to his
referee duties in the 1980s and 1990s. During a Hell in a Cell match between Triple H and
Chris Jericho at Judgement Day 2002, referee Tim White suffered a shoulder injury after
Triple H threw Chris Jericho into him. In this clip shown, you can see referee Tim White
catapulting into the steel cage as a result of the impact and landing awkwardly onto the
hard mat below. Tim White did indeed make his return to refereeing duties at WrestleMania
XX in the match between Chris Jericho and Christian. However, White ended up re-injuring
his shoulder during the final three count of the match. This actually forced him to
end his referee career.
One of the more famous and more recognizable referees in the WWE is Charles Robinson a.k.a.
Little Naitch. On an episode of WCW Monday Nitro, the late great Macho Man Randy Savage
and his partner Madusa was in a tag team match against Ric Flair and Charles Robinson. Towards
the end of the match, Randy Savage delivered his diving elbow drop to Charles Robinson
which actually resulted in Robinson cracking several vertebrae and collapsing his lung.
That wasn’t Robinson’s only injury though. In 2014 during a WWE tour in Saudi Arabia,
Robinson suffered cuts and slashes to his hand from an accident while setting up the
ring which almost cost him his thumb! The guy has been through a lot as you can tell.
Even as far as having a singles match against The Great Khali. You can guess how that ended…
Khali absolutely squashed Robinson which was quite hard to watch in a way! Can I just say
but what a sell by the way!
Tommy Young is a professional referee who refereed for WCW and is known particularly
for his lively expressions in the ring. Tommy Young actually started out as a wrestler for
Ed Farhat (better known as The Original Sheik) before later starting his referee career in
Pedro Martinez’s National Wrestling Federation. But it was while he was in WCW where he suffered
a career-ending injury. In 1989, while refereeing in a match between Mike Rotunda and Tommy
Rich, referee Tommy Young broke his neck after his head bounced off the rope after Tommy
Rich threw Young out of his way. He recalled the dreadful incident in an interview saying:
"What happened was that when Rich shoved me he also raised his foot, which was about as
big as this table, and he tripped me. I lost my balance, and when I lunged to grab the
ropes to protect myself I missed, and went through the ropes. The middle rope hit me
right between the eyes and my neck just snapped. Everything jammed together. I heard this God-awful
sound when I fell. Then I heard this humming noise. I knew I was in real trouble no pain
but I couldn't feel anything from my neck down. And I thought, 'Oh my God, I'm in big
trouble."
This injury led him to end his full-time career
as a referee.