Nunzio Recalls How He Began Working As a Referee In WWE

Nunzio worked for a year in WWE as a referee two years after he was released, and he recently looked back on how it came about. Nunzio was originally released from the company in August of 2008, but returned in December of 2010 to referee at a house show, which led to a nearly year-long gig in the role. He ultimately left the company again in September of 2011..

Nunzio was asked in his appearance on Insight With Chris Van Vliet about how he ended up refereeing. He noted that he was called last minute due to a snowstorm in the New York area that resulted in the majority of the refs not being able to make it. Nunzio said that he didn’t feel entirely comfortable in the role, and that it “didn’t work out” for both sides. You can see the highlights below:

On Being Called To Referee For a WWE Show In 2010:

“So there was a blizzard and I live in Rockland County, which is literally 30 miles from Madison Square Garden. But on paper, it’s going to take you an hour and 10 minutes because of the traffic into Manhattan. So there was a blizzard, and Tommy Dreamer called me at like two, three in the afternoon, he’s like, ‘What are you doing?’ I’m like, nothing, you know, Blizzard. He called me out of the blue, but I was friends with him anyway.”

On It Taking Place At Christmas:

“December 26. He goes, ‘You think you can get to the Garden?’ At this time, there was maybe like three, four inches, not that bad yet. I think I was out actually in the city earlier before it started snowing and came home because I think I was doing security or something. I forget exactly what it was. He ended up calling me, and he’s like, ‘Can you get to the Garden? They need a referee.’ I’m like, all right, I’ll try. So I end up driving there, and I got there. I parked in the garage, and I went in there, and I was the only guy that showed up. Now I haven’t been in WWE in a couple of years, so I haven’t seen anybody. Dean Malenko was one of the agents. John Laurinaitis was there, and Vince McMahon was also there. He was there, and he never really comes to house shows. Even old times, when I was in MSG as a wrestler, he very rarely came to any house shows. I remember doing it that night. I think I was the only referee.

On Reffing All the Matches:

“I’m pretty sure I did, unless there was one other referee. I remember coming back to the curtain, and Vince McMahon thanked me for everything. He’s like, ‘What are you doing now?’ I think I was maybe doing security. My dad may have kind of been with Snapple. I’m like, ‘I’m just working, you know, doing things.’ You know, thank you very much. Blah blah blah. I was looking for Johnny and everybody, and everybody left. So I’m like, I guess I don’t get paid for this, it was fun. I had a good time. Sure enough, I go home like four days later. Johnny Ace calls me up. He’s like, ‘Hey, thank you very much. How was it?’ I said, Yeah, it was fine, I guess. He’s like, ‘How were the fans? Were they heckling you?’ I said. ‘Well, they were. I heard them saying, “Is that Guido? Was that Guido?” You could hear it.’ Not that the place was chanting my name, and then they started yelling my name a little bit. But nothing terrible. Anybody that called me, I didn’t look at them. He was like, ‘Would you think you’ll be interested in refereeing? We’ll put you on the road for three weeks, see how you like it, see if we like it, and if you’re interested.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, I’ll do it.’ So they put me on the road for three weeks. I went home. John called me up, and he’s like, ‘How’d you like it? We’ll sign you for a year, see how it goes.’ That’s what we did.”

On Referring For a Year After That:

“For a year, and then it didn’t work out for both parts; it just wasn’t my thing. I didn’t feel comfortable at times. Referees are very important. They’re the third man in the ring. You don’t realize their duties.”