Rudy Charles Daniel Engler ( November 20 , 1977 ) is an American professional wrestling referee , better known by his ring name , Rudy Charles . He is currently under contract with World Wrestling Entertainment under his real name . Charles is best known for his time as a referee in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ( TNA ) , where he was the promotion ' s senior referee . Career . Charles trained as a referee under former United States Wrestling Association referee Mark Vance , who he met at a wrestling show in the Evansville Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Coliseum , and refereed his first match on July 6 , 1996 . In 1997 , Charles enlisted in the Indiana Army National Guard , and underwent four months of training . Charles joined TNA shortly after its inception in June 2002 , and was quickly named senior referee . In addition to working for TNA , Charles runs a high school football website , along with his brother . Rudy Charles was the wrestling referee for the season three premiere of Pros vs Joes . Rudy Charles has run several family oriented wrestling promotions in his hometown of Evansville , IN . He has run shows at the historic Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Coliseum ( former home to the USWA ) , the Vanderburgh County 4 - H Fairground ( home to the Frog Follies classic car festival ) and the CK Newsome Center , an urban community center for inner - city children . Rudy currently has a show on YouTube . com called " The Rudy Charles Talk Show " . His guests so far have been : former TNA / WWE referee Mike Posey , and wrestlers such as Mike Rapada , Mike Rapada Jr . , Steve - 0 , Matt Boyce , and Shawn Shultz . Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ( 2002 - 2009 ) . Charles was one of the few that had been with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ( TNA ) since its start in 2002 . Rudy was one of the first referees shown on the show , having to help hold Toby Keith back from entering the ring to fight Jeff Jarrett . Rudy ' s first trading card ( # 59 ) was released in 2004 by Pacific Trading Card Inc . Charles has come to have five other cards , three being in the latest TNA Trading Cards . On January 29 , 2009 , Rudy made his wrestling debut on TNA Wrestling , along with referee Andrew Thomas , in a handicap match against Booker T . In a backstage interview , Charles seemed confident and talked about his amateur wrestling background . Thomas was nervous , but Charles said to follow his lead . This was all short lived as Booker T hit Rudy with an Axe Kick and finished off Andrew Thomas with the Bookend for the pin , and forced Earl Hebner to make the count . In July 2009 , Charles left TNA . National Wrestling Alliance - ( July 2009 - October 2009 ) . On his debut in NWA , Shawn Shultz lost his NWA Heavyweight Championship and on various episodes , said that Rudy screwed his match . Also , Shawn along with his manager , Tony Lucassio , called Rudy a reject referee from another promotion in Orlando . Also , during NWA Main Event Tapings , as Rudy would come into the ring , fans would chant his name as he went into the ring . USA Championship Wrestling ( 2002 - 2013 ) . Since his debut in 2002 , Rudy Charles has made many appearances for USA Championship Wrestling . He is currently the promotion ' s senior referee . He has had run - ins with former TNA / WWE referee turned wrestler , Mike Posey . WWE ( 2013 - Present ) . In July 2013 Charles indicated on his Twitter account that he had signed with WWE and would be working WWE NXT tapings and would be present at the WWE Performance Center grand - opening . Charles made his WWE pay - per - view debut at Hell In A Cell on Sunday , October 27 , 2013 refereeing the Divas Championship , AJ Lee vs . Brie Bella . He seems to now be using the name Dan Engler . He was also spotted the following Monday night on RAW refereeing another Divas match , Natalya vs . Summer Rae in her debut match . Personal life . Charles is married to wrestler Matt Boyce ' s younger sister . The two started dating early in 2007 . She has been spotted at several house shows , and iMPACT ! tapings through the years . She has also appeared on several episodes of iMPACT .