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TNA Wrestling has announced that there will be a second person inducted into their Hall Of Fame this year - veteran referee Earl Hebner.
It is unknown why TNA are inducting a second person into the HoF this year. TNA co-founder Jeff Jarrett was inducted after this year's Slammiversary event. This was to promote TNA's partnership with Jarrett's new company Global Force Wrestling. Hebner will follow the tradition of all other inductees by entering the Hall the night before Bound For Glory. He will join Jarrett, Sting, Kurt Angle, Bully Ray and Devon.
Hebner will be the first ever referee inducted into a Hall Of Fame, being the most well-known one of all time. Both he and his twin brother Dave called many major matches with Jim Crockett Promotions before making their WWF debuts in a controversial match. Having accepted a bribe from the 'Million Dollar Man', Earl posed as his own brother and helped Andre the Giant beat Hulk Hogan for the WWF Heavyweight Championship, even though Hogan was never actually pinned. Both Hebners would continue to be featured in WWE's biggest matches, with Earl in particular regularly being used in story lines.
Earl reached the peak of his notoriety at Survivor Series 1997, even though he did not actually do anything. Even though Vince McMahon had promised Bret Hart that he would not have to lose the WWF Heavyweight Championship to Shawn Michaels, Earl agreed to call a false submission on Bret and declare Michaels the new champion. However, McMahon himself made the official call before Earl did. Since then, Earl is still met with "You Screwed Bret" at wrestling events.
The Hebner brothers were released from the WWE in 2005 after claims that they had illegally sold licensed WWE merchandise. They both part-owned a t-shirt company in their native St. Louis. Earl's son Brian, who was also a referee, was released some time later for unrelated reasons. Both Earl and Brian would join TNA Wrestling, with Earl being heavily used in story lines. He would often be used to re-enact major story lines from the past that involved bad referee decisions.
His daughter Katie Hebner briefly appeared as Gail Kim's sister "Katie Kim" in 2012, and claimed she was training to become a wrestler.
In addition to refereeing, Hebner also privately sells his own t-shirts, many of which bare slogans relating to the Montreal Screwjob. Hebner also had a match at the WWE InVasion PPV in 2001 against fellow referee Nick Patrick.
It is unknown why TNA are inducting a second person into the HoF this year. TNA co-founder Jeff Jarrett was inducted after this year's Slammiversary event. This was to promote TNA's partnership with Jarrett's new company Global Force Wrestling. Hebner will follow the tradition of all other inductees by entering the Hall the night before Bound For Glory. He will join Jarrett, Sting, Kurt Angle, Bully Ray and Devon.
Hebner will be the first ever referee inducted into a Hall Of Fame, being the most well-known one of all time. Both he and his twin brother Dave called many major matches with Jim Crockett Promotions before making their WWF debuts in a controversial match. Having accepted a bribe from the 'Million Dollar Man', Earl posed as his own brother and helped Andre the Giant beat Hulk Hogan for the WWF Heavyweight Championship, even though Hogan was never actually pinned. Both Hebners would continue to be featured in WWE's biggest matches, with Earl in particular regularly being used in story lines.
Earl reached the peak of his notoriety at Survivor Series 1997, even though he did not actually do anything. Even though Vince McMahon had promised Bret Hart that he would not have to lose the WWF Heavyweight Championship to Shawn Michaels, Earl agreed to call a false submission on Bret and declare Michaels the new champion. However, McMahon himself made the official call before Earl did. Since then, Earl is still met with "You Screwed Bret" at wrestling events.
The Hebner brothers were released from the WWE in 2005 after claims that they had illegally sold licensed WWE merchandise. They both part-owned a t-shirt company in their native St. Louis. Earl's son Brian, who was also a referee, was released some time later for unrelated reasons. Both Earl and Brian would join TNA Wrestling, with Earl being heavily used in story lines. He would often be used to re-enact major story lines from the past that involved bad referee decisions.
His daughter Katie Hebner briefly appeared as Gail Kim's sister "Katie Kim" in 2012, and claimed she was training to become a wrestler.
In addition to refereeing, Hebner also privately sells his own t-shirts, many of which bare slogans relating to the Montreal Screwjob. Hebner also had a match at the WWE InVasion PPV in 2001 against fellow referee Nick Patrick.
