Daniel Engler (born November 20, 1977) is 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 or ...

referee, better known by his former ring name, Rudy Charles, best known for his time as a referee in

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling Impact Wrestling (stylized as ''IMPACT! Wrestling''), is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment. Founded by Jeff and Jerry Jarrett in 2002, the promo ...

(TNA), where he was the promotion's senior referee. In July 2013, Engler joined

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vari ...

at their Performance Center as a referee for

NXT NXT may refer to: Professional wrestling * ''WWE NXT'', a professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that began in 2010 ** NXT (WWE brand), WWE's Florida-based brand and former developmental territory * ''NXT UK'', the British spin- ...

. He is currently signed to WWE on the Smackdown brand .

Career

Early career (1996–2002)

Engler trained as a referee under former

United States Wrestling Association The United States Wrestling Association (USWA) was a professional wrestling promotion based in Memphis, Tennessee. The company was founded when the Memphis-based Continental Wrestling Association merged with the Dallas-based World Class Wrestlin ...

referee Mark Vance, whom he met at a wrestling show in the Evansville Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Coliseum, and refereed his first match on July 6, 1996. In 1997, Engler enlisted in the

Indiana Army National Guard The Indiana National Guard (INNG) is a component of the United States Armed Forces, the United States National Guard and the Military Department of Indiana (MDI). It consists of the Indiana Army National Guard, the Indiana Air National Guard, a ...

, and underwent four months of training. Engler joined TNA shortly after its inception in June 2002, and was quickly named senior referee. In addition to working for TNA, Engler runs a high school football website, along with his brother. Dan Engler was the wrestling referee for the season three premiere of

Pros vs Joes ''Pros vs. Joes'' was an American physical reality game show that aired on Spike from 2006 to 2010. The show featured male amateur contestants (the "Joes") matching themselves against professional athletes (the "Pros"; mostly of retired male and ...

. Dan Engler has run several family oriented wrestling promotions in his hometown of Evansville, IN. He has run shows at the historic Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Coliseum (former home to the USWA), the Vanderburgh County 4-H Fairground (home to the Frog Follies classic car festival) and the CK Newsome Center, an urban community center for inner-city children. Dan currently has a show on YouTube.com called ''The Rudy Charles Talk Show''. His guests so far have been: former TNA/WWE referee Mike Posey, wrestlers such as Mike Rapada, Mike Rapada Jr., Steve-0, Matt Boyce, and Shawn Shultz.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2002–2009; 2011)

Engler was one of the few that had been with

(TNA) since its start in 2002. Dan was one of the first referees shown on the show, having to help hold

Toby Keith Toby Keith Covel (born July 8, 1961), known professionally as Toby Keith, is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor, and record producer. He released his first four studio albums—1993's '' Toby Keith'', 1994's '' Boomtown'', 19 ...

back from entering the ring to fight

Jeff Jarrett Jeffrey Leonard Jarrett (born July 14, 1967) is an American professional wrestler and promoter. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he also serves as Director of Business Development. Beginning his career in his father ...

. Dan's first trading card (#59) was released in 2004 by Pacific Trading Card Inc. Engler has come to have five other cards, three being in the latest TNA Trading Cards. On January 29, 2009, Dan made his wrestling debut on TNA Wrestling, along with referee Andrew Thomas, in a handicap match against Booker T. In a backstage interview, Engler seemed confident and talked about his amateur wrestling background. Thomas was nervous, but Engler said to follow his lead. This was all short lived as Booker T hit Rudy with an Axe Kick and finished off Andrew Thomas with the Bookend for the pin, and forced

Earl Hebner Earl William Hebner (born May 17, 1949) is an American retired professional wrestling referee who last officiated for All Elite Wrestling (AEW). He is best known for his time as senior referee for the World Wrestling Federation (now WWE) from 1 ...

to make the count. In July 2009, Engler left TNA. However, he again appeared for TNA Impact (now branded Impact Wrestling) on the Thanksgiving Day 2011 episode and featured in several segments alongside wrestler Eric Young as well as refereeing a match between Eric Young and

Robbie E Robert Strauss (born October 1, 1983) is an American professional wrestler and manager. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brand as a manager under the ring name Mr. Stone. He is best known for his time in Total Nonstop A ...

. Despite not appearing since, he has referee'd in TNA's subsidiary project

Ring Ka King Ring Ka King (English: King of the Ring) was an Indian professional wrestling brand of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA, now known as Impact Wrestling). Filming for the promotion's television product began in December 2011 with the backing ...

Independent circuit (2009–2013)

On his debut in NWA, Shawn Shultz lost his NWA Mid-America Heavyweight Championship. On various episodes, Shultz said that Rudy screwed his match. Shultz and his manager, Tony Lucassio, called Dan a reject referee from another promotion in Orlando, noting his time in TNA. Dan Engler made his

Ohio Valley Wrestling Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) is an American professional wrestling promotion and former developmental promotion based in Louisville, Kentucky. The company is currently run by Al Snow and Matt Jones and Louisville mayor elect, Craig Greenberg. ...

(OVW) debut as the special guest referee of a match between heel referee Chris Sharpe and OVW senior official Ray Ramsey in December 2009. He has refereed several matches in OVW since. Rudy Charles was the referee for the All Wheels Wrestling TV Pilot taping in Orlando, FL on June 29, 2011.

WWE (2013–present)

In July 2013 Engler indicated on his Twitter account that he had signed with

and would be working

tapings and would be present at the

WWE Performance Center The WWE Performance Center is the official professional wrestling school system of the American professional wrestling promotion WWE. The promotion currently operates two Performance Center locations, which serve as training facilities for WWE ...

grand-opening. Engler made his WWE pay-per-view debut at

Hell In A Cell Hell in a Cell is a professional wrestling steel cage-based match which originated in 1997 in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It features a large cell structure, a five-sided cuboid made from open-weave steel mesh chain-link fen ...

on Sunday, October 27, 2013 refereeing the Divas Championship,

AJ Lee April Jeanette Mendez (born March 19, 1987) is an American author and retired professional wrestler. She is best known for her time in WWE under the ring name AJ Lee. She is currently an executive producer and color commentator for WOW – Wo ...

vs.

Brie Bella Brianna Monique Danielson (née Garcia-Colace; born November 21, 1983), known professionally as Brie Bella, is an American professional wrestler and TV personality. She is currently signed to WWE working as an ambassador. She and her twin N ...

. Engler worked under his real name Dan Engler. He was also spotted the following monday night on ''Raw'' refereeing another Divas match,

Natalya Natalya (russian: Наталья) is the Russian form of the female given name Natalia. The name Natasha (russian: link=no, Наташа), being originally a diminutive form of Natalya, became an independent name outside the Russian-speaking state ...

vs.

Summer Rae Danielle Louise Moinet (born November 28, 1983) is an American professional wrestler, model, actress, ring announcer, and former American football player. She is best known for her time in WWE, where she performed under the ring name Summer Ra ...

in her debut match. On the March 14, 2016 episode of ''Raw'', Engler was injured after being hit in the leg with a production crate by

Triple H Paul Michael Levesque (born July 27, 1969), better known by the ring name Triple H, is an American business executive, actor, and retired professional wrestler currently serving as the chief content officer for WWE. He is widely regarded as ...

during a backstage brawl between him and a returning

Roman Reigns Leati Joseph "Joe" Anoa'i (born May 25, 1985) is an American professional wrestler and former football player. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Roman Reigns. He is the leader of The B ...

. He required 13 stitches and 3 sutures to close the wound. In June 2016, he appeared as one of the seven referees for the

Cruiserweight Classic The Cruiserweight Classic, formerly the Global Cruiserweight Series, was a professional wrestling tournament and WWE Network event produced by WWE. All participants were billed at a weight of 205 lbs or less to determine the inaugural WWE Cruis ...

References

Former TNA Referee makes WWE debut at Hell in a Cell

Rudy Charles at NXT Taping

WWE hires Former TNA Referee Rudy Charles

Rudy Charles issues statement regarding his release

Big Update on TNA's Rudy Charles "Quitting" the Company

Rudy Charles talks about his release from TNA

TNA's Rudy Charles Speaks To TNAHeadlines.com!

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Engler, Dan 1977 births Living people Sportspeople from Evansville, Indiana Professional wrestling referees