Danny Davis Dan Marsh is a former professional wrestling referee and wrestler most famous as Danny Davis of the World Wrestling Federation . He also competed in the WWF for several years as Mr . X , a masked wrestler . As a referee , Davis showed blatant favortism toward certain wrestlers , which eventually led to his removal as a referee . He then helped manage the Hart Foundation and began wrestling . He competed at several major WWF events , during which he won a six - man match at WrestleMania III and advanced to the semi - final round at King of the Ring 1987 . He was later reinstated as a referee and remained with the company until the mid - 1990s . Career . WWF Referee ( 1981 – 1987 ) . Dan Marsh started out in 1981 in the World Wrestling Federation as a referee under the ring name Danny Davis . He also wrestled from 1984 to 1986 as the masked Mr . X . The Mr . X character was a jobber who won very few matches . He wrestled some of the WWF ' s top stars , including former WWF Champions Pedro Morales and Bruno Sammartino . He also participated in the 1986 King of the Ring tournament . He was given a bye to the second round but lost his match to Billy Jack Haynes . His biggest win as Mr . X came on the October 28 , 1986 episode of " WWF Prime Time Wrestling " when he defeated fellow jobber Rudy Diamond . Starting in 1986 Davis was involved in several controversial matches in which he was thought to favor the heel ( villain ) wrestlers . Davis made fast pinfall counts and disqualified face ( fan favorite ) wrestlers with little or no provocation . WWF commentator Gorilla Monsoon accused Davis of accepting bribes , pointing to Davis ' wealth as evidence . Davis involved himself in a steel cage match between face Hulk Hogan and heel Paul Orndorff . When both wrestlers escaped the cage at the same time , Davis declared Orndorff the winner , while referee Joey Marella stated that Hogan won . As a result , the match had to be restarted , and Hogan eventually won . Davis ' refereeing style angered many of the fan favorite wrestlers and led to them physically attacking him . The wrestlers hit him or threw him when they got frustrated , which led to Davis disqualifying them . They also attacked him after some matches in which they felt that his officiated led to the heels winning unfairly . " Dangerous " Danny Davis ( 1987 – 1989 ) . On the January 26 , 1987 edition of Superstars , The Hart Foundation defeated the British Bulldogs for their first WWF Tag Team Championship . Danny Davis was the referee and allowed the Hart Foundation to use illegal double - team maneuvers in the match . As a result of the match , WWF President Jack Tunney stripped Davis of his referee duties . That same night , Davis was approached by manager Jimmy Hart about joining his stable of wrestlers . Davis joined up with Jimmy Hart and the Hart Foundation ( Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart ) and became " Dangerous " Danny Davis . He accompanied the Hart Foundation to the ring for their matches and often became involved by attacking the Hart Foundation ' s opponents from outside the ring or entering the ring to reverse pinfalls by placing Hart or Neidhart on top of their opponents . At the beginning of his suspension as a referee , Davis was involved in a scripted storyline in which he occasionally came to the ring and insisted that he would referee a match . This led to officials from the state athletic commission removing Davis from ringside . Davis appeared on Piper ' s Pit , an interview segment hosted by Roddy Piper to discuss his decisions as a referee . Davis refused to admit to any wrongdoing and was confronted by Marella , who criticized him . The segment ended with Piper attacking Davis . At WrestleMania III , Davis made his in - ring debut when he teamed up with the Hart Foundation to defeat the British Bulldogs ( Davey Boy Smith and Dynamite Kid ) and Tito Santana . Davis got the pin on Smith after he hit him in the head with Jimmy Hart ' s megaphone . His next major appearance was in the 1987 King of the Ring tournament . Davis defeated Tito Santana and Junkyard Dog before being eliminated in the third round by Randy Savage , who went on to win the tournament . During 1987 , Davis was booked in several series of matches : against Koko B . Ware , George Steele , and Jake Roberts . The feud with Ware included a match televised on the April 13 , 1987 episode of " Prime Time Wrestling " , which ended in a draw . Ware won most of the matches , but Davis won several matches after using foreign objects to attack Ware . Davis initiated a feud with Steele when Steele was facing Randy Savage in a lumberjack match , which is a match where the ring is surrounded by other wrestlers . Davis , one of the " lumberjacks " at ringside to ensure that neither competitor could escape , attacked Steele with the timekeeper ' s bell and helped Savage with the match . This feud culminated in a match on the November 28 , 1987 episode of " Saturday Night ' s Main Event " , in which Steele defeated Davis by disqualification after Davis kicked referee Joey Marella . Davis ' feud with Roberts began when Davis showed up unexpectedly on the Snake Pit , Roberts ' interview segment , while Roberts was interviewing Mr . T . Davis ran away after Roberts brought out Damien , his pet python . On the September 19 , 1987 episode of " WWF Superstars of Wrestling " , Davis attempted to steal Damien during one of Roberts ' matches , but Roberts chased him away again . Davis also had a rivalry with Mr . T , who was booked to enforce the rules during matches and thwarted Davis ' attempts to interfere . At the inaugural Survivor Series , Davis participated in the opening contest , joining The Honky Tonk Man , Hercules , Ron Bass and Harley Race , facing Randy Savage , Jake Roberts , Ricky Steamboat , Brutus Beefcake and Jim Duggan . Davis was the third man eliminated on his team , after Roberts performed a DDT on him . Roberts and Davis had a singles match the following month on " Prime Time Wrestling " . Roberts beat Davis quickly , placed Damien on Davis , and left the ring . As Davis ' feuds were winding down , he entered into a new feud with Sam Houston . Houston defeated Davis in their first encounter , but Davis was upset because his foot was on the ropes and the referee should not have counted the pinfall . This disagreement led to a series of angry promotional interviews and fights , as well as a series of matches that lasted several months . The following year , he competed in the battle royal main event at Royal Rumble 1988 . He was in the ring for the fourth - longest time but was eliminated by eventual winner Jim Duggan when Davis was thrown over the top ring rope to the floor . He also competed in the 20 - man battle royal at WrestleMania IV . He was thrown over the top rope by Paul Roma to be eliminated from the match . WWF Referee ( 1989 – 1995 ) . The " Dangerous " Danny Davis persona was eventually phased out , and in 1989 , Davis was reinstated as a " probationary " referee . His officiating style had become objective , and the crooked referee gimmick was dropped . He was involved in another controversial match at WrestleMania IX after Hulk Hogan used a foreign object to attack his opponents in a tag team contest . After Hogan ' s team won the match and the WWF Tag Team Championship , Davis came to the ring from backstage , disqualified Hogan , and returned the title belts to Money Inc . He worked for the WWF until 1995 . Legacy . Although Davis was not the first crooked wrestling referee , he is often mentioned as a prototype of a corrupt official , which is a storyline that has been used by several wrestling promotions . One year after Davis was banned from referee duties , the twin Hebner brothers ( Dave and Earl ) were involved in a controversy when Earl took Dave ' s place and showed favoritism to André the Giant , helping him to win the WWF Championship . In a similar manner , Eric Bischoff and Vince McMahon , the heads of World Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment , respectively , have used the gimmick of evil owners in storylines . Davis ' s fame as a wrestler and referee led to him appearing in the 1989 line of Classic WWF trading cards . Davis has continued to wrestle occasionally and currently wrestles on the Massachusetts independent wrestling scene . He competes for the World Wrestling Alliance , where he is the current WWA Champion . He also occasionally acts as a referee for wrestling matches in Massachusetts .