Nick Patrick (referee)

Joseph Nicholas Patrick Hamilton Jr. (born November 9, 1959), better known by his ring name Nick Patrick, is a retired American professional wrestling referee. He is a former referee for World Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment. He has also served as head referee for former WWE developmental territory Deep South Wrestling until that company's closing, and is former head referee for Florida Championship Wrestling.

"Nick Hamilton" redirects here. For the British racing driver, see Nicolas Hamilton.
Nick Patrick
Nick Patrick during his time as a referee for WWE's SmackDown brand
Birth nameJoseph Nicholas Patrick Hamilton Jr.
Born (1959-11-09) November 9, 1959
Lakeland, Florida, U.S.
ResidenceGriffin, Georgia, U.S.
FamilyJody Hamilton (father)
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Nick Patrick
Billed height6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Billed weight220 lb (100 kg)
Debut1984
Retired2010

Early life

Hamilton is the son of wrestling legend The Assassin, who is better known in the wrestling industry as Jody Hamilton.[1] He grew up wanting to become a professional wrestler, but an injury ended his wrestling career very early. Hamilton became a referee because he loved the sport so much. He used the name Nick Patrick to make a name for himself without his father's help.

Career

Georgia Championship Wrestling/Jim Crockett Promotions/World Championship Wrestling (1980–2001)

He was a referee in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA)'s Georgia Championship Wrestling starting in 1980, then moved on to Jim Crockett Promotions and was retained when they became World Championship Wrestling (WCW). He eventually moved up to become the Senior Referee in WCW.

When the nWo formed in 1996, he joined and became their official referee. He would allow the nWo wrestlers to cheat and he would show a clear bias towards the nWo. Because of this, he was forced into a match against Chris Jericho at the World War 3 pay-per-view on November 24, 1996 in Norfolk, Virginia. Jericho had one arm tied behind his back and still defeated Patrick.

Patrick's biggest night with the nWo was refereeing every single match on the nWo Souled Out pay-per-view on January 25, 1997 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

His nWo tenure came to an end at Spring Stampede 1997. Scott Hall and Kevin Nash were scheduled to defend the WCW World Tag Team Title against The Steiner Brothers. Due to out-of-ring attacks and such, combined with Hall failing to show for the event, the title match eventually became a singles match between Nash and Rick Steiner. Nash was allowed to appoint a referee and he chose Patrick. During the match, Nash removed the padding over the turnbuckle and dropped Steiner's face on it. Nash covered an unconscious Steiner and Patrick quickly counted to three, awarding the contest to Nash. After the match, Nash kept performing the maneuver on Steiner. Patrick had a change of heart and attempted to get Nash to stop. Fellow nWo associate, Ted DiBiase, also had a change of heart and attempted, with Patrick, to get Nash to stop. When Nash refused, both Patrick and DiBiase left to get help for Steiner. Later that evening Patrick served as referee for the main event match between nWo member Randy Savage and Diamond Dallas Page, counting a proper pin for Page. After the match Nash came out and attacked Patrick, for all intents and purposes kicking him out of the nWo.

On the April 21, 1997 edition of Nitro, he unexpectedly appeared in the announce booth with Tony Schiavone and Larry Zbyszko. Wearing a green WCW polo shirt, he cut a promo explaining that he was sick of Eric Bischoff and the way the nWo did business. He explained that he never wanted to fight fellow referee Randy Anderson and asked for his job back. Both Schiavone and Zbyszko were skeptical, especially Zbyszko, who was intensely critical. They went to a commercial break with Patrick and Zbyszko arguing. The next week on Nitro, WCW executive J.J. Dillon announced that Patrick was being re-hired on a probationary basis. Patrick was a neutral referee from that point on and never sided with the nWo again.

Patrick created massive controversy over the WCW World Heavyweight Championship at Starrcade 1997 when he made a "fast count" in the Sting-Hollywood Hogan match; although that was the planned finish to the match, Patrick botched it by counting three at normal speed. Bret Hart stopped Patrick from giving Hogan the title, claiming the fast-count, and restarted the match claiming that he didn't want to see Sting get screwed like he was by Vince McMahon. After a subsequent rematch, the title was declared vacant. Patrick would referee another rematch for the vacant belt, taking over for Charles Robinson (who had been knocked out during the bout). Sting would win that match and WCW management upheld Patrick's ruling.

World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (2001–2008)

When WCW was bought by the WWF, he was one of three WCW referees who had their contracts purchased, along with Charles Robinson and Billy Silverman. He became a referee for The Alliance of WCW/Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) wrestlers trying to take over the WWF. He even had a match against Earl Hebner at the WWF Invasion pay-per-view on July 22, 2001 in Cleveland, Ohio. Patrick lost to Hebner and Mick Foley, the special guest referee, gave him "Mr. Socko" after the match.

During the time of the Alliance, Patrick would continue to play a heel referee, siding with the Alliance wrestlers over the WWF wrestlers. For example, during a WCW Championship handicap match between The Rock and Booker T and Shane McMahon at Unforgiven, Patrick would refuse to count when the Rock had Booker or Shane pinned down. At Survivor Series, Patrick knocked 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 Austin and Rock, and favoring wrestlers like Chris Jericho and Kurt Angle. After WrestleMania X8, Patrick started portraying a down-the-middle, neutral referee once again.

After the brand extension, Patrick was used as the head referee on the SmackDown! brand. Patrick officiated the World Heavyweight Championship match at ECW One Night Stand 2006 between champion Rey Mysterio and Sabu.

Patrick left the SmackDown! brand on February 9, 2007 and Mickie Henson took over as senior referee. Patrick remained with WWE, officiating matches in their new developmental territory, Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW).

Patrick returned to the SmackDown brand on February 8, 2008 and refereed a tag team match between Jesse and Festus and Deuce 'n Domino. However, he quickly disappeared again due to his injuries.

Patrick was released from the WWE on August 8, 2008 after seven months of inactivity due to a chronic back injury.[2]

Retirement (2009–2010)

On February 15, 2009, Patrick officially returned to wrestling when he was introduced as the on-camera commissioner of Rampage Pro Wrestling, an independent promotion based out of Warner Robins, Georgia. Patrick portrayed a neutral commissioner. Patrick refereed his first match since his WWE release at RPW's "Showdown" supercard at the Macon City Auditorium on April 10, 2009, officiating a no-holds-barred, hair vs. hair contest between Cru Jones and Dr. Johnny Gayton.

In April 2009, Patrick became RPW's television show director, replacing his father, Jody Hamilton, after the promotion released Hamilton due to financial cutbacks. The promotion re-hired Hamilton later in the year in October. In September 2009, Patrick became the promotion's legitimate general manager after the company fired Nigel Sherrod. When Patrick took over, he and Hamilton became the primary forces behind the booking.

In June 2010, the promotion was temporarily closed down due to internal disputes he and his father were having with others in RPW. The company decided to move forward, but not before firing everyone involved in the disputes, including Patrick and Hamilton. A few days later, Patrick signed on to become the general manager of Great Championship Wrestling, an independent promotion based out of Phenix City, Alabama. However, Patrick resigned from GCW after only two weeks.

Aside from occasionally officiating matches at Ron Gossett's Universal Championship Wrestling shows in Georgia, Patrick no longer has any involvement in professional wrestling.

Video games

Nick Patrick is featured in the WWE video game series with appearances in WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2007, WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2008, and WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2009.[3]

Job titles

References
  1. "Nick Patrick". Online World of Wrestling.
  2. "WWE releases six Superstars, referee Nick Patrick". WWE. 2008-08-08. Retrieved 2008-08-09.
  3. SVRUltimate (2008-08-11), Smackdown Vs. Raw 2008: Referee Brawl [Steel Cage] 1/2, retrieved 2018-03-11
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Mike Chioda		 WWE SmackDown Senior Referee
2003–2007		 Succeeded by
Mickie Henson
Preceded by
First		 WCW Senior Referee Succeeded by
none
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