Special enforcers can become regular referees if the original inside referee becomes (kayfabe) permanently incapacitated. Otherwise though, the enforcer generally has no decision-making power, and is really put in the match to physically force wrestlers to obey the rules or physically remove interfering wrestlers from ringside. Keep collections to yourself or inspire other shoppers! Keep in mind that anyone can view public collections - they may also appear in recommendations and other places. Find sources: "Referee"professional wrestling– news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR ( March 2014) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) Though rare, it is not unheard of for normal referees to engage in storylines where they become biased against or in favor of particular wrestlers in a manner usually reserved for special referees, Danny Davis being an example. Also, one of the more famous examples of this is the case of Earl Hebner in 2000, who became biased against then-dominant heel Triple H out of spite towards Triple H constantly abusing him during their matches. This culminated on the April 26, 2000, edition of Raw is War, where Hebner counted as fast as he could while Chris Jericho was pinning Triple H with the WWF Championship on the line. A more recent example is Scott Armstrong, a referee who was in cahoots with The Authority during the years of 2013 through 2016, often making fast counts when it was advantageous to members of the Authority and often coming out during ref bumps during matches where Authority members were competing. Middleton, Marc. "AEW Makes Improvements To Medical Protocols Following Recent Injuries, Chris Nowinski - AEW News". Wrestling Inc. Webcapacity Inc . Retrieved November 28, 2020.

In Impact Wrestling, referees have switched between the striped shirts and the "boxing referee" attire on occasion. Former WWE referee shares a story about a rib that was played on him, why he feels its a good thing he was fired by the company This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Most professional wrestling promotions have a kayfabe rule that referees do not make decisions based on anything they do not personally witness. Because of this, distracting or incapacitating the referee is often an element of a match, especially in standard matches where a wrestler is liable to lose a match by disqualification for performing an illegal move. Distraction or incapacitation of the referee is usually a precursor to the villain wrestler either performing a normally illegal move without any consequence, or outside interference in the match (a run in). Less commonly, the heroic wrestler might appear to win the match by pinfall or submission if not for the referee being distracted or incapacitated. These pre-planned temporary injuries to the referee are known as " bumps". [7]Keep collections to yourself or inspire other shoppers! Keep in mind that anyone can view public collections—they may also appear in recommendations and other places.