harvey wippleman wwe 1
Photo Credit: WWE

Harvey Wippleman Reflects On His Transition From A Manager To A Referee In WWF

Harvey Wippleman has had quite a career in the world of professional wrestling.

WWE Legend Harvey Wippleman (aka Downtown Bruno) recently sat down with WrestleZone Managing Editor Bill Pritchard to discuss a wide variety of subjects. Wippleman was a manager in WWF, but he eventually transitioned to working as a referee.

Wippleman couldn’t pinpoint whose idea it was to make him a referee in the WWF, but it was something he was very comfortable with.

“Well, I can’t exactly say exactly whose idea it was, but I’ll say this,” Harvey Wippleman teased. “When my managing career started transitioning out, I was still working behind the scenes and whatnot. But as you may or may not be aware, WWE had a working relationship with the Memphis organization, which is my home organization, where I basically got my first break and got my feet wet in the business. Well, on my off days when I wasn’t on the road with WWE, I would referee. I was a senior referee actually for the USWA, the Memphis organization. So basically, roughly, I couldn’t tell you exactly how it came about.”

“Different WWE guys would come down in Memphis sometimes and make appearances and whatnot. And they knew I refereed there and apparently, there was an opening. I don’t know if one of the referees got fired or quit, or just they needed extra referees or something. So, they just started putting me out there as a referee on occasion. It wasn’t anything full-time, but I refereed when they needed me to. So, I hate to give such a vague answer, but I don’t really know all the whys and wherefores, but that’s basically how it came about.”

You can check out the complete interview in the video embedded below:

READ MORE: Downtown Bruno Separates Fact From Fiction On Young Rock

What do you make of Harvey Wippleman’s comments? What are some of your favorite moments of his professional wrestling career? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.

If you use any of the quotes above, please credit WrestleZone with a link back to this article for the transcription.

TRENDING