Randall "Pee Wee" Anderson (July 17, 1959 – May 5, 2002) was an American

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

referee and amateur wrestler who worked for the

National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and former professional wrestling governing body operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA ...

(NWA)'s

Jim Crockett Promotions Jim Crockett Promotions Inc. is a family-owned professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, restarted by Jim Crockett's son and Jim Crockett Jr's brother, David Crockett. Founded in 1931, the promot ...

and

World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling, Inc. (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of Nation ...

Professional wrestling career

Anderson was a childhood friend of

Arn Anderson Martin Anthony Lunde (born September 20, 1958), better known by the ring name Arn Anderson, is an American professional wrestling road agent, author, and retired professional wrestler. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a ...

. He started out training for a

career with Arn under the tutelage of Ted Allen. Anderson started working as a referee upon his graduation in 1978 in

Mid-South Wrestling The Universal Wrestling Federation was a 1986 re-branding of wrestler-turned-owner Bill Watts' Mid-South Wrestling promotion. Watts' goal was to elevate his promotion from a relatively smaller, regional-level business, to a national-level rival ...

. He also refereed in

Florida Championship Wrestling Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) was a professional wrestling promotion based on the former National Wrestling Alliance member promotion, Championship Wrestling from Florida, which operated from 1961 until 1987. From October 2007 to August ...

before arriving in the

(NWA)'s

in 1985. He quickly rose up the referee ranks and was the referee for several main event matches. In 1988, when

Ted Turner Robert Edward "Ted" Turner III (born November 19, 1938) is an American entrepreneur, television producer, media proprietor, and philanthropist. He founded the Cable News Network (CNN), the first 24-hour United States cable news, cable news ch ...

bought Crockett and renamed it

, Anderson stayed on. Anderson was the referee in charge of the main event six-man tag match at Bash at the Beach 1996 which saw the heel turn of

Hulk Hogan Terry Eugene Bollea (; born August 11, 1953), better known by his ring name Hulk Hogan, is an American retired professional wrestler. He is widely regarded as the most recognized wrestling star worldwide and the most popular wrestler of the 19 ...

and the formation of the New World Order (nWo). From 1996 to 1997, Anderson played a role in the "hostile takeover" of WCW by the nWo. He refused to work on the September 23, 1996, episode of ''Monday Nitro'' after nWo members took control of the broadcast.

Eric Bischoff Eric Aaron Bischoff (born May 27, 1955) is an American television producer, professional wrestling booker, and performer. He is best known for serving as Executive Producer and later Senior Vice President of World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and ...

and the nWo bullied him around. At

Souled Out Souled Out was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event promoted by World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in January from 1997 through 2000. The 1997 and 1998 WCW Souled Out PPV events were held on Saturdays due to the Super Bowl played ...

, nWo referee Nick Patrick was bumped and knocked out. Anderson came from the crowd to count the pinfall and award the tag team championship to the Steiner Brothers. Bischoff fired Anderson for interfering, but then decided to allow Anderson to wrestle Patrick to get his job back. Anderson defeated him by using a foreign object, from fellow WCW referee Jimmy Jett. Immediately following this match, Eric Bischoff reversed the decision and fired both Jett and Anderson. According to story line, Randy Anderson was reinstated and reffed his first match, after being fired, on the March 10th, 1997 episode of Nitro. Anderson continued as a referee in WCW until his battle with cancer forced him to retire in 1999.

Personal life

Anderson was an amateur wrestler in high school, winning a state championship in the 119-lb class.

Death

Anderson was diagnosed with testicular cancer at the age of 36. He was diagnosed after recognizing his symptoms while reading a medical magazine. Because of a

malignant Malignancy () is the tendency of a medical condition to become progressively worse. Malignancy is most familiar as a characterization of cancer. A ''malignant'' tumor contrasts with a non-cancerous ''benign'' tumor in that a malignancy is not s ...

tumor, he had to have his left testicle removed. Anderson died on May 5, 2002 as a result of the testicular cancer. He was 42 years old. Anderson was survived by his wife Kristy, daughter Montana, and son Chase.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Randy 1959 births 2002 deaths American male professional wrestlers Deaths from cancer in Georgia (U.S. state) Deaths from testicular cancer Professional wrestlers from Georgia (U.S. state) Professional wrestling referees

Professional wrestling career

Personal life

Death

See also

References