Nick Patrick (referee) out Hebner to take over as referee during the "Winner Take All" elimination tag match. After he gave a normal "slow count" for The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin became enraged, knocked Patrick out, and brought Hebner back in as referee. After the Alliance angle ended, Patrick became an official WWF referee. At first he was a heel referee, refusing to count to three for face wrestlers as Steve Austin and Rock, and favoring wrestlers like Chris Jericho and Kurt Angle. After Wrestlemania, Patrick started portraying a down-the-middle, neutral referee once again. After the brand extension, Patrick was used as
Professional wrestling he does not resort to submission holds, but stills pummels his opponent to the point that he is completely out cold. To check for a knockout in this manner a referee would wave his hand in front of the wrestlers' face and, if the wrestler does not react in any way, the referee would award the victory to the other wrestler. A countout (alternatively "count-out" or "count out") happens when a wrestler is out of the ring long enough for the referee to count to ten (twenty in some promotions) and thus disqualified. The count is broken and restarted when