John Cone (born November 16, 1974) is an American professional wrestling referee. He is signed to WWE as a referee, and appears on the Raw brand.[1][2] Cone also works in the corporate role of vice president of talent relations for WWE.[3]

Professional wrestling career

WWE (2006–2022)

Cone started refereeing independent wrestling matches in August 1996.[4]

Cone debuted as a referee for WWE in 2006, he refereed his last WWE match in 2022.

Vice President of Talent Relations (2022-Present)

Midway through 2022 Cone transitioned from in ring duties to taking on more backstage responsibilities. By the end of 2022 Cone had pretty much retired from being a referee and was promoted to Vice President of Talent Relations. A position he still holds to this day.

Video games

Cone's likeness appears as a referee in 2K Sports WWE 2K24.

Personal life

Cone was born in Kansas City, Missouri where he and his wife are owners of a Donut King.[1]

At WrestleMania 34, Cone's 10-year-old son, Nicholas, was “chosen” out of the audience by Braun Strowman to be his tag-team partner to challenge for the WWE Raw Tag Team Championship in a match refereed by Cone.[5][6] They won their match against The Bar, making Nicholas the youngest champion in any category in WWE history, but they relinquished the title the following night on Raw.[7] In 2019, it was claimed that Nicholas held a red belt in karate.[8]

Filmography

Web series

Year Title Role Notes
2017 Southpaw Regional Wrestling[9] Chip Henderson Referee
2020 UpUpDownDown'[4] Himself Referee (Playing UNO with Xavier Woods)

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "John Cone Profile". WWE. Archived from the original on January 4, 2012. Retrieved July 19, 2014.
  2. ↑ "WWE referee John Cone makes his dollars in doughnuts and pro wrestling". Archived from the original on 2016-03-12. Retrieved 2014-09-04.
  3. ↑ "WWE Releases Staff in Their Talent Relations Department". 22 April 2021.
  4. 1 2 John Cone UpUpDownDown Superstar Savepoint. UpUpDownDown, Xavier Woods. 4 January 2020. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
  5. ↑ "IDENTITY OF NICOLAS THE NEW RAW TAG TEAM CHAMPION | PWInsider.com". www.pwinsider.com. Retrieved 2018-04-10.
  6. ↑ "Braun Strowman's tag team partner is a WWE ref's son". SI.com. Retrieved 2018-04-10.
  7. ↑ Keller, Wade (April 9, 2018). "KELLER'S WWE RAW REPORT 4/9: The Day After WrestleMania 34 Edition with Reigns-Lesnar and Rousey fallout". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
  8. ↑ John’s second son Thomas was born in 2015. WWE (2019-03-28), Nicholas: Where Are They Now?, archived from the original on 2021-12-15, retrieved 2019-03-29
  9. ↑ "Southpaw Regional Wrestling: Who's Who In WWE's Comedy Special". 17 March 2017.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cone