REFEREE PROFILES

Referee: Dick Kroll Real Name: Birthday: Hometown: Marital Status: Trained by: George Tragos Debut: [The Sheik vs Backlund Gallery] [Referees Gallery]

Dick Kroll was a former amateur wrestler at New York University.. 1958: Dick Kroll decided to become a professional wrestler and trained for 3 months with George Tragos.. Dick Kroll wrestled in the Northeast territory under Vince McMahon Sr. and Joseph Toots Mondt.. 1960: Dick Kroll stops wrestling to become a referee.. Dick Kroll first bout as a referee was between Marvin Mercer and Tank Morgan.. ~~~It wasn't long before Dick Kroll was assigned to referee main events.. Dick Kroll first main event match was between Bruno Sammartino and The Great Antonio.. During that time, promoters did not employ referees, as the State Athletic Commission appointed them.. ~~~When the WWWF broke away from the NWA, Dick Kroll was one of the original referees in place for WWWF matches.. ~~~Dick Kroll was then appointed as top referee for the WWWFs monthly Madison Square Garden events.. Vince McMahon Sr. would request that Dick Kroll would maintain his role as lead referee for the MSG cards.. Dick Kroll remained as MSGs head referee from 1960 to 1985.. Dick Kroll was the referee for many historical matches, which include: Ivan Koloff WWWF Title win over Bruno Sammartino at MSG in 1971; Bruno Sammartino vs Pedro Morales at Shea Stadium in 1972; The first womens match ever held at MSG between NWA Womens Champion the Fabulous Moolah and Vicki Williams; Sammartino winning the WWWF Title from Stan Stasiak in 1973; The Infamous Iron Sheik/Bob Backlund WWF Title match at MSG in 1983; WrestleMania the WWF Ladies Title match between Lei Lani Kai and Wendi Ritcher; Because of his reputation for refereeing high profiled matches, Dick Krolls duties expanded beyond the Northeast region.. Dick Kroll longest ever match was the NWA World title match between Dory Funk & Jack Brisco, which went to a 90 minute draw.. Dick Kroll worked for other wrestling promoters over the years which included: ~~~Eddie Graham in Florida, Paul Boesch in Houston, Roy Shire in the San Francisco Cow Palace and Verne Gagne in the AWA.. Dick Kroll once took a major bump during a Pedro Morales/Blackjack Mulligan bout in the Boston Garden.. ~~~Pedro Morales dropkicked Mulligan, accidentally hitting Dick Kroll causing him to fall backwards over the top rope! Dick Kroll considers Bruno Sammartino, Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair as his favorites to work with.. Dick Kroll highlight of his career was refereeing a Lou Thesz match in Florida.. Late 1980s: WWF was no longer under the watchful eye of the State Athletic Commission & the referees became WWF employees.. Dick Krolls career was coming to and end and limited his work load by working matches at the Philadelphia Spectrum.. Mid 1990s: Dick Kroll retires from refereeing.. 1999: Dick Kroll comes out of retirement for an ECW card.. ~~~Paul Heyman notices Dick Kroll in the crowd and asked him if he'd like to work on the card..