Vince McMahon & 9 Other Special Guest Referees For WWE World Title Matches
"You know something...I'M going to be the guest referee." These were the words spoken by Vince McMahon during WrestleMania 15 to answer the question of who was going to referee the "Stone Cold" Steve Austin-Rock WWE Championship main event; McMahon ultimately did not end up officiating the match.
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The guest referee can be an interesting wildcard to a match especially when it is centered around a world championship. It can be anyone from a fellow wrestler to a manager to a General Manager to a celebrity. Sometimes they know to call it down the middle but other times there is a motive.
10 Vince McMahon
Although Mr. McMahon did not get to referee the world title match at WrestleMania 15, he did have the opportunity the prior year at Over The Edge 1998. McMahon officiated the Falls Count Anywhere WWE Championship match between Steve Austin and Dude Love which Austin won to retain.
Years later Mr. McMahon would once again wear the zebra stripes for a world title match. On the first Raw of 2016, McMahon was the guest referee for the WWE Championship match between Roman Reigns and Sheamus that Reigns would win after 2 referees stepped in on top of McMahon.
9 Shane McMahon
Vince McMahon's son Shane was a WWE official years before he was presented on camera as the son of the boss. Like father, like son, Shane would find himself officiating world championship matches in the guest referee capacity just like his father. Shane first did at Survivor Series 1998 in the WWE Championship tournament final, calling for the "submission" decision for The Rock to win over Mankind. Shane was referee again at Over The Edge 1999, performing a fast-count to have The Undertaker win the WWE Championship from Steve Austin.
Shane was the referee at Backlash 2000 in the WWE Championship match between The Rock and Triple H, though it was Earl Hebner that counted the pinfall that saw Rock win the title. Shane would guest official mid-tier title matches later in his WWE career but due to his track record, if Shane officiates a world title match, a title change can be expected.
8 Triple H
Another track record that is substantial is the McMahon family overseeing the officiating duties of a world title match. Vince and Shane did so in the '90s but it would not be until the 2010s that Vince's son-in-law Triple H was the referee for a championship contest. That duty for Triple H came at SummerSlam 2013 in the WWE Championship main event match between Daniel Bryan and John Cena.
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Bryan shockingly won the match to become WWE Championship and after a post-match celebration and Money in the Bank cash-in tease by Randy Orton, Triple H would perform another shocker by performing a Pedigree on Bryan. Orton cashed in his contract and the subsequent title match was officiated by Hunter as well.
7 The Rock
It is said that a great professional wrestling referee goes unnoticed during a match. If that is the case, The Rock is the absolute worst referee in professional wrestling history for his work on SmackDown in late September 1999, being the guest referee in the WWE Championship match between Triple H and The British Bulldog.
The match ended in a no-contest but The Rock stole the show and then some. 2 infamous Rock moments occurred in this match with one coming when Bulldog attempted to pin Triple H with The Rock counting into a microphone, "1...2...IT DOESN'T MATTER IF THE ROCK COUNTS TO 3!" Moments later, Rock would perform The People's Elbow on Bulldog after sliding across the ring in his shoes.
6 John Cena
Like others on this list so far, John Cena is someone who has been a challenger, champion, and referee in a world title match. Cena was forced into the latter role at Survivor Series 2010 in the midst of the Nexus storyline which arguably hit its peak this night. Cena joined The Nexus a month prior after losing to the group's leader Wade Barrett.
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Barrett propositioned Cena as dastardly as he could at Survivor Series, appointing him as the guest referee for Wade's WWE Championship match against Randy Orton; if Barrett lost Cena would be fired. Orton won the match and as a result, Cena was fired (in storyline).
5 Mick Foley
A man called on many times to be a guest referee, Mick Foley is not afraid to keep the combatants in line. For that aforementioned Rock-Austin WrestleMania 15 WWE Championship match, Mick Foley was the guest referee. Foley would once again be guest official for the top prize in June 2003 at Bad Blood in Triple H's World Heavyweight Championship defense against Kevin Nash inside Hell in a Cell.
Foley would be called on to be the guest referee for the WWE Championship match between John Cena and Edge on Raw in February 2006 which Cena won, igniting the feud between Foley and Edge. More than a decade later, Foley was requested once again to be the guest referee inside Hell in a Cell in the Universal Championship match between Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman which ended in a no-contest.
4 "Stone Cold" Steve Austin
Certain matches require a special referee or enforcer, one that will seriously take no crap and keep the order intact no matter what. When those times came, the man called upon was "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. Steve was booked to be the special guest referee for a few world title matches.
Austin officiated the Six-Pack Challenge for the vacant WWE Championship at Unforgiven 1999 that was won by Triple H. 8 years later at Cyber Sunday in 2007, Austin was the guest referee for the World Heavyweight Championship match between Batista and The Undertaker, won by Batista to retain. The following year at Cyber Sunday, Austin once again officiated Batista's World Heavyweight Championship match only this was a title win over Chris Jericho.
3 Shawn Michaels
No stranger to world championships and controversy, not necessarily in that order, Shawn Michaels was involved in a number of significant world championship matches as a referee. Michaels infamously was the guest referee for the SummerSlam 1997 WWE Championship main event match between Bret Hart and The Undertaker which saw Bret win the title by pinfall after Michaels struck 'Taker in the head with a chair inadvertently. Michaels would officiate the Ironman match at Judgment Day 2000 between Triple H and The Rock which was memorable for the wrong reason due to Shawn's shorts.
Nevertheless, Triple H won the match and became WWE Champion. Years later in January 2005 at the inaugural New Year's Revolution event which was held in Puerto Rico, Michaels was the special guest referee for the Elimination Chamber main event match for the vacant World Heavyweight Champion, won by Triple H. Many more years later at Hell in a Cell in 2013, Shawn was the guest referee for the Hell in a Cell WWE Championship main event match which saw Randy Orton retain over Daniel Bryan. Michaels was also the special guest referee in the first SmackDown main event in August 1999, helping Triple H retain the WWE Championship over The Rock.
2 AJ Lee
The love triangle storylines can be hit-or-miss but the one in 2012 had exceptional wrestling as a fallback. This triangle was formed by WWE Champion CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, and AJ Lee. Bryan was sniffing after Punk's WWE Championship that year after losing the World Heavyweight Championship thanks in part to AJ, Bryan had his singles match opportunity against Punk at Money in the Bank 2012.
AJ Lee was once again involved in Bryan's championship business as she was the guest referee for the match and the bout was also no disqualifications. AJ took a bump during the match but would later return, counting the pinfall victory and title retention for Punk after delivering a back superplex through a table on Bryan.
1 Clay Matthews
Celebrities and professional athletes have played roles in professional wrestling for decades in roles ranging from small in impact to major. An example of the latter is Mike Tyson's involvement at WrestleMania 14 for the WWE Championship match between Shawn Michaels and Steve Austin as the special guest enforcer, also being the one who counted the pin.
That was one memorable example but a forgotten moment came on SmackDown in February 2011 that took place in Green Bay. The main event was for the World Heavyweight Championship between Edge and Dolph Ziggler which started off with Vickie Guerrero as the special guest referee. With Guerrero out at ringside later in the match, out on the stage came Green Bay Packers linebacker Clay Matthews who had just won the Super Bowl with the Packers a few days prior. Matthews came down to the ring and counted the pinfall for Edge to retain over Ziggler.
