John Cone is an American professional wrestling referee currently working for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).
Career[]
Cone started refereeing independent wrestling matches in August 1995. He worked for Harley Race's World League Wrestling from 1999 to 2006 and got his big break when a WWE official attended a match he refereed. Cone tried out for WWE and was quickly signed. He was sent to WWE developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling and later Deep South Wrestling. John was one of the first referees to work for all three WWE brands ECW, SmackDown, and Raw. Since signing with WWE, John has refereed in 15 countries and on 5 continents.
John has said he is most proud of his performance in the boxing match between Matt Hardy and Evander Holyfield, which took place in August 2007 in front of a sold-out crowd at Madison Square Garden. Other notable moments include:
- Two trips to Iraq for WWE Tribute to the Troops.
- Money in the Bank Ladder match at WrestleMania XXIV.
- New York City Parking Lot Brawl between John Cena and JBL at the Great American Bash 2008.
- Money in the Bank Ladder Match at WrestleMania XXV.
- Hardy vs. Hardy "I Quit" match at Backlash 2009.
- CM Punk Cashed in his Money In The Bank Contract with Cone at Extreme Rules 2009.
- John Morrison vs Drew McIntyre (WWE Intercontinental Title match) on Smackdown in late 2009.
- Christian vs Ezekiel Jackson (Final ECW Championship match) in early 2010.
- Legacy Triple Threat match at WrestleMania XXVI (Cone wore gloves due to a cut on DiBiase).
- Jack Swagger vs Randy Orton (World Heavyweight Championship) Extreme Rules 2010.
- Edge vs Christian (Commercial Free RAW from Toronto) in May 2010.
Cone and his wife, Lauren, live in Kansas City, Missouri. In 1996, he and his wife bought Donut King, a family run donut shop. In July 2008, Donut King was voted the "Best Doughnut Shop" by the Northland Tribune Newspaper. To this day he still owns it and from time to time can be found there talking wrestling and selling donuts.
In 2009 Cone was featured in the documentary, KC on the Mat: The History of Professional Wrestling in Kansas City.
Cone was featured in the WWE Magazine, and the Kansas City Star newspaper. He was also interviewed on local television station KSHB-TV 41's Midday News.
He is the father of former Raw Tag Team Champion Nicolas.
