Earl Hebner Earl William Hebner ( May 17 , 1949 ) is a professional wrestling referee currently working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , and the twin brother of Dave Hebner . He is perhaps the most famous professional wrestling referee today , best known from his time as the senior referee for the World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment and later on in the same role on their " Raw " brand from 2002 - 2005 . As Senior Referee , Hebner officiated most main events during his time with the company from 1988 - 2005 . He played an extremely prominent role in the inaugural " The Main Event " card in 1988 , in which André the Giant controversially " defeated " Hulk Hogan for the WWF Championship , as well as the infamous " Montreal Screwjob " during the main event of the 1997 " Survivor Series " . He also participated in an on - screen angle in mid to late 2000 where he became biased against the McMahon - Helmsley Faction for constantly and deliberately defying his authority as a referee and attacking him , ultimately culminating with his kayfabe firing from WWE . Career . Early career . Hebner officiated matches for Jim Crockett Promotions during much of the 1980s . He was the referee during the famous " I Quit " match at " Starrcade 1985 " between Tully Blanchard and Magnum T . A . as well as the final match of the Bunkhouse Stampede tournament in January 1988 . World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment ( 1988 – 2006 ) . Just days after that match , Hebner debuted in the World Wrestling Federation as a referee during a WWF Championship match pitting champion Hulk Hogan against challenger André the Giant , which aired live on February 5 , 1988 , on NBC ' s " The Main Event " . In the storyline , Hebner ' s twin brother Dave Hebner was the assigned official , but unbeknownst to Hogan , André ' s manager Ted DiBiase had bribed an unknown to get plastic surgery to look like Hebner ( Earl and Dave are identical twins , so this was easy to pull off ) . Earl then counted André ' s pin against Hogan , even though Hogan ' s shoulders were clearly off the mat . As André and DiBiase were celebrating ( with André quickly " selling " his title to an overjoyed DiBiase ) , Dave ( whom DiBiase had locked in a closet prior to the match ) ran to the ring and confronted Earl . The two brothers argued , and then they fought each other in the middle of the ring . Hulk Hogan , figuring out that Dave ' s " evil twin " had jobbed him out , picked Earl up and gorilla press slammed him over the ropes and onto the aisleway ( missing DiBiase ) . This match helped set up a 14 - man elimination tournament at " WrestleMania IV " , since WWF President Jack Tunney declared the title " vacant " a week after " The Main Event " match as the WWF Championship " cannot be bought or sold , " where the winner would win the WWF Championship . Vince McMahon paid both Hebners a bonus of $ 2 , 500 USD for participating in the angle . Meanwhile , the WWF continued to build heat for Earl Hebner through a kayfabe " investigative report " published in the promotions ' flagship publication , " WWF Magazine " . The article claimed , through a fictional backstory , that Dave had " been plagued by the misdeeds of his brother Earl " throughout their childhoods , citing such examples as Earl ' s cheating in school and , while posing as Dave , doing such things as bullying fellow students and abandoning Dave ' s pretty girlfriend on a sidewalk in a slum district at night . The report continued by noting that , despite Dave ' s appeal of the controversial ending to the Hogan - Andre match at " The Main Event " , Tunney had to uphold the decision since Earl was a licensed referee in Indiana ( the match took place in Indianapolis ) ; and that , as a result of Earl ' s cooperation , he became a " very rich " man thanks to a payoff by DiBiase . However , the " evil twin " referee storyline was quickly dropped when Dave was apparently injured in the aftermath of the Hogan - Andre " Main Event " match ; in a 2001 interview with the " WWF RAW Magazine " , Dave claimed to have suffered broken ribs as a result of Earl kicking him as part of the angle , forcing Dave out of action until after WrestleMania IV . The storyline was then shifted to have Earl come clean , and he was the referee when Randy Savage won the Tournament final at WrestleMania IV against Ted DiBiase for the WWF Championship . The Montréal Screwjob . The most infamous event in Hebner ' s career — and possibly in the history of professional wrestling in North America — came during the main event of the 1997 " Survivor Series " in what has since been dubbed the " Montréal Screwjob . " During a match for the WWF Championship between then - champion Bret Hart and challenger Shawn Michaels , Hebner signaled for the timekeeper to ring the bell ( signifying the end of the match ) while Michaels had Hart in a Sharpshooter hold — Hart ' s long - established signature move — even though Hart visibly had not submitted . Michaels had thus " won " the WWF Championship . This was not the match ending that Hart had asked for . Hebner had , at the behest of Vince McMahon , " screwed " Hart out of the title . The reason for the " screwjob " was that Hart , who would be leaving the company one month later to join rival promotion World Championship Wrestling , was unwilling to lose the title to Michaels in Canada . Though Hart said that he was willing to vacate the title the next night on " RAW " , McMahon feared that Hart would leave the company with the title , take the belt to WCW , and disrespect it as Madusa had done in 1995 with the WWF Women ' s Championship , throwing the belt into a garbage can during a live " Nitro " show . He therefore decided to forcibly remove the title from Hart by instructing Hebner ( who had previously promised Hart " on his children ' s lives " that he would not betray him ) to signal an end to the bout when Michaels had Hart in a submission hold . The fallout of the screwjob led to a large degree of antagonism towards Hebner , McMahon , and Michaels , especially in Canada , where fans often chant " You screwed Bret ! " at the offending parties . In the same vein , Earl ' s son Brian Hebner , a former WWE referee on the " SmackDown ! " brand and current TNA Wrestling referee , received chants of " Your dad screwed Bret ! " at shows in Canada . However , on Right After Wrestling , hosted by Arda Ocal and Jimmy Korderas , Earl stated that he has since spoken with Bret and they have buried the hatchet , in regards to the ' Montreal Screwjob ' Later WWE career . Hebner was involved in several storylines . He spearheaded the ( kayfabe ) referee ' s strike in 1999 , resulting in referees being given the authority to defend themselves if physically provoked by wrestlers . In early 2000 , he cost Triple H his WWF Championship by quick - counting during a match between Triple H and Chris Jericho following weeks of abuse by Triple H . Triple H eventually forced Hebner to reverse the decision , promising never to lay his hands on Hebner as long as Hebner was a WWF employee . After Hebner took the title from Jericho and gave it back to Triple H , Triple H " fired " Hebner and promptly Pedigreed him and beat him unconscious . Hebner was reinstated by Linda McMahon thirteen days later , replacing corrupt guest referee Shane McMahon during a title match between Triple H and The Rock at Backlash 2000 and counting the fall when The Rock covered Triple H for the pin . Hebner was also the first referee to be a playable character in a wrestling video game as he was included in the roster of " WWF No Mercy . " During the The Invasion angle in late 2001 , Hebner became involved in a feud involving WCW referee Nick Patrick . Patrick was a biased referee who often helped The Alliance achieve victories over their WWF opponents . Hebner defeated Patrick in a match at WWF Invasion . Hebner was released from WWE on July 18 , 2005 , allegedly for selling WWE merchandise without permission . Hebner ' s brother Dave was also released on July 19 in connection with these events . These activities would have been conducted from a store that Earl Hebner had partial ownership in the St . Louis based Pro Shirt Shop . To avoid negative publicity , the controlling owner of the Pro Shirt Shop , Nick Ridenour bought out Hebner ' s share in the company and released a press statement which claimed that the company only received merchandise from " licensed distributors . Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ( 2006 - present ) . On February 12 , 2006 , Hebner debuted for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling at the " TNA Against All Odds 2006 " pay - per - view . He officiated the main event , which saw Canadian born Christian Cage defeat Jeff Jarrett for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship . During the match , commentators Mike Tenay and Don West alluded to the Montréal Screwjob on several occasions , urging Hebner not to call for the bell when Jarrett placed Cage in a sharpshooter . Despite the concerns of the commentators , Hebner was an impartial referee . However , he once again caused controversy based on his actions at the " TNA Slammiversary 2006 " pay - per - view . During the King of the Mountain match , he assisted Jeff Jarrett in winning the match by pushing a ladder over with Sting and then - champion Christian Cage on it . This led to the new head of management Jim Cornette taking the belt from Jarrett as the show ended , leaving the status of the belt in question as to who would be the champion . On the June 22 episode of " TNA Impact ! " , Cornette vacated the title . On the June 30 episode , he awarded the title to Jarrett , but fired ( kayfabe ) Hebner . Hebner was then reinstated by Cornette due to Jarrett ' s polygraph test saying that Hebner was not involved . Earl currently serves as a referee for TNA . Hebner was punched in the face by Jeff Jarrett and was kayfabe injured . At No Surrender he replaced original referee Slick Johnson for the TNA Knockout Tag Team Championship match because of what happened at Victory Road . TNA Wrestling had their own version of the Montreal Screwjob , in this case , it was a TNA World Heavyweight Championship match on the January 21 , 2010 episode of TNA Impact ! between Kurt Angle and defending champion A . J . Styles . Previously to this match , Angle and Styles had fought at the TNA pay - per - view Genesis , which was also for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship except the stipulation was that if Angle were to lose , he would never get another shot at the title in 2010 . In this match , Ric Flair interfered causing Styles to retain his title . Hulk Hogan , now running TNA with Eric Bischoff somewhat controversially to some fans , said that due to Flair ' s interference in the match at Genesis , Angle would get another match at the title on Impact ! and if Flair were to interfere , Styles would be stripped of the title and the title would be awarded to Angle . During the match , Angle put his signature move , the Ankle Lock on Styles , but Styles reversed it and used the Ankle Lock on Angle which resulted in the " Screwjob " when referee Earl Hebner called for the bell although Angle did not submit , similar to The Montreal Screwjob . On the January 28 episode of " Impact ! " Earl confessed to screwing Bret Hart and Kurt Angle for the money . Hulk Hogan then suspended him indefinitely . On the March 8 Monday night edition of " Impact ! " Hogan decided to give Hebner a second chance and had him referee the main event of the evening , a tag team match , where Hogan and Abyss faced A . J . Styles and Ric Flair . In May 2012 , Hebner signed a contract extension with TNA , which will keep him with the promotion through 2013 . In July 2012 , Hebner started a romance storyline with Madison Rayne , as part of which , he started helping her win matches , including one for the TNA Women ' s Knockout Championship on August 12 at Hardcore Justice . In response to this situation , Knockouts Executive Brooke Hogan announced that Hebner would no longer referee the Knockouts matches . On April 17 , 2014 , Hebner was reinstated as Knockouts referee , when Madison Rayne defeats Velvet Sky in a Street Fight . On June 19 , 2014 , Heber was involved in the TNA World Heavyweight Championshp bout between Kenny King and Eric Young , but after King ' s loss , MVP fired Hebner and make him get rid of his uniform , to the disgust of his son , Brian . Outside of wrestling . Hebner played himself in the episode " Sixteen Candles and Four - Hundred Pound Men " of " Boy Meets World " . Stock footage of one of his WWF matches was also featured in the motion picture " Encino Man " . He has a twin brother , Dave who is also a wrestling referee as well as a promoter .