WWE Men in the Shadows: The 10 Most Notorious Referees | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors

Posted by Reinaldo Massengill on Wednesday, July 31, 2024

Armstrong is a former wrestler who had some success with some NWA territories in the early '80s. He also wrestled for WCW, but he hung up his boots to become a referee for them in the early 2000s. He then joined TNA and was eventually hired by WWE in 2006.

He quickly became a senior referee and officiated many high-profile matches, including the WrestleMania 25 main event between Randy Orton and Triple H, who battled over the WWE Championship. Armstrong was also the referee in the classic Undertaker/Triple H encounter at WrestleMania 27.

At the 2009 Breaking Point pay-per-view, he played a role in a screwjob angle to prevent The Undertaker from winning the World Heavyweight Championship against CM Punk. The Deadman had the match won with his Hell's Gate submission move, but the match was restarted after Teddy Long reminded the ref the move was banned. Then, a stunned Undertaker was put into CM Punk's Anaconda Vice, but Armstrong quickly called for the bell despite The Phenom never actually submitting him.

In the following days, Armstrong declared on TV he only did what was asked by his boss. Then, the next month, on the October 23rd episode of SmackDown, another screwjob was planned by CM Punk, again with Armstrong as accomplice. The roles were reversed this time, with The Undertaker as the defending Champion, but the plan failed, and Punk fell to the reinstated Hell's Gate.

The week after, CM Punk was granted a match against the poor referee, who was squashed in just a few minutes.

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