As referees for WWE, Tim White and Dave Hebner both left a legacy on the wrestling canvas, but Matt Hardy remembers the late, legendary referees for how they were outside of the ring. On the latest episode of “Extreme Life With Matt Hardy”, Matt gives his thoughts on the recent passing of both men.
“From day one, Tim was just an absolute sweetheart, and he, later on, after he stopped refereeing, we’d do appearances with him,” Hardy said of White. “I knew we’d always be excited whenever we knew we had an appearance and he was like our chaperone or he was the guy that was representing us in the appearance for WWE.
“So Tim was a sweetheart, always a good guy, would always take care of you, would always look out for the best interest of the talent, and just the consummate professional in so many ways and just, what a great guy overall. Great sense of humor, funny jokes, but just a very warm, kind human being.”
Matt couldn’t help but recall the infamous double referee “Saturday Night’s Main Event” angle that went down between Hulk Hogan and Andre The Giant with Dave Hebner and his twin brother Earl playing a paid-off referee in ruling the match in favor of Andre.
“That was such a cool story,” Hardy said. “I remember that as one of the first big angles that I really got hooked onto. I thought it was so cool and such a big deal, and then Dave, once again, lived down in Virginia so we saw him quite a bit.
“Even after leaving WWE, when he was there and he was around even at TNA once in awhile and some of the indie shows we’d do there in Virginia, but the Hebners were always super kind to the Hardys. And I’m also very good friends with Earl’s son, Brian, who is also a referee as well. But yeah, the Hebners were great, and I have nothing but great things to say about both Dave Hebner and Tim White.”
Hebner passed away at the age of 73 on June 17, and White passed away at the age of 68, just two days later.
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