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
New World Order (professional wrestling) as a test run for a permanent changeover of "Nitro" to an nWo-centric show, with the soon-debuting "Thunder" becoming the WCW-centric show. However, due to abysmal ratings following the twenty-plus minutes of the conversion of the set on live television, the plan was quietly dropped. Zbyszko later defeated Bischoff at Starrcade. Also at Starrcade, Hogan lost the title to Sting. Hogan originally pinned Sting, but confusion arose when Hart appeared at ringside and accused referee and former nWo member Nick Patrick of making a fast count. In reality, Nick Patrick was supposed to make it a fast count, revealing himself