On his Something to Wrestle With podcast, JBL made a passionate and detailed case for why referees should be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, naming a list of candidates he believes are deserving of the honor.
Reacting to what Chioda said on Maven’s YouTube channel, JBL said, “I’m 100% with Chioda here. I think Chioda should be in the Hall of Fame. 100%,” JBL declared. “Earl Hebner should be in the Hall of Fame. Joey Marella should be in the Hall of Fame. [Jimmy] Korderas… Nick Patrick, my God, man. Charles [Robinson] should be in there as well.”
The former WWE Champion argued that referees are an integral part of the performance and often go underappreciated. “These guys are as important as the boys,” he said. “A good referee, you don’t think a good referee is important? Have a shitty referee, and you find out real quick how important a good referee is. These guys were awesome referees. 100% they should be in the Hall of Fame.”
JBL speculated that the reason referees have been historically excluded is because of Vince McMahon’s creative philosophy. “Vince did not want referees to have identities,” he explained. “Vince kind of just thought they were part of the background, but they should be [in the Hall of Fame].”
He then named his personal four favorite referees to work with: Brian Hebner, Earl Hebner, Nick Patrick, and Mike Chioda. He shared a story about Patrick’s professionalism, recalling a time he was knocked out during a match. “I don’t remember anything, the finish, anything. Nick goes, ‘Are you okay, kid?’ And I go, ‘No.’ He goes, ‘You know where you are?’ I said, ‘No.’ He goes, ‘I’m gonna call the finish to you.’ And he did. He called the whole finish to me.”
The conversation was prompted by recent comments from former senior WWE referee Mike Chioda, who also advocated for referees to be recognized. To date, no referee has received a standalone induction into the WWE Hall of Fame.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article, please credit Something to Wrestle With with an h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
