Many WWE fans will remember Tim White as a referee — a career which he took up following the death of Andre the Giant, for whom he was an agent. White played a part in some notorious moments and matches, namely being the referee who oversaw the historic Undertaker and Mankind Hell in a Cell match.
In 2002, his refereeing career would come to an abrupt end during a Hell in a Cell match between Triple H and Chris Jericho, in which White injured his shoulder. Despite a very brief comeback in 2004, he had to hang up the black and white striped shirt and retire once again. He remained employed by WWE, however, and was part of a series on television and WWE.com, which followed White’s post-refereeing career, but it was a questionable series to say the least.
Tim White Supposedly Shot Himself Live On PPV
In 2005, a series of skits began taking place. SmackDown interviewer John Matthews would interview Tim White at his bar – which many fans would recognize as being used during various APA segments in the past. Starting at the Armageddon PPV event, White appeared dejected and saddened, whilst Matthews was ignorant to the clear signs that White wasn’t happy. As the first segment went on, it became more and more alarming.
White drank excessive rounds of alcohol, explaining how the match which saw the end of his career between Jericho and HHH had ruined his life ever since, despite it being three years prior. Even with the depressing nature of the segment, it was going relatively fine. That was until White reached down below the bar and drew out a shotgun. As the camera veered away, a shot was heard ringing out. It had appeared that former WWE official, Tim White, had shot himself.
Tim White’s Suicide Attempts Became A Weekly WWE Series
Fans would have to wait until the next segment was released to find out his fate, where it was revealed that White had botched the shooting, instead firing the bullet into his foot. It wasn’t long before White proceeded with a second attempt, swallowing rat poison. When that failed, White tried to hang himself yet the rope would break, squandering his attempt, and so on.
If this were something explained to a new fan, or even an old fan who had repressed the sight of Tim White attempting suicide on WWE programming, they would assume it was false, a lie, or a sick joke. Alas, this became a recurring segment on WWE’s official website, and was named ‘The Lunchtime Suicide Series’. The question would likely be asked of, ‘why lunchtime?’ Well, that was due to the release time of each episode, which was sent out into the public domain every Thursday lunchtime, free and accessible to anyone of any age.
WWE Fans Weren’t Happy With The Series
The series was rightfully met with disgust, shock, and above all, complete and utter confusion. This came from absolutely nowhere and didn’t serve any purpose to weekly TV. Whilst it's true that supplementary online content is a good thing, providing more forms of media for fans to digest, this was far from harmless and was tone-deaf on the part of WWE.
That may be why it came to an end eventually, as White finally didn’t try to end his life on the final episode, though the ending did see White shoot Josh Matthews instead of himself. Thankfully it was no more, but that doesn’t change the fact of it happening in the first place, and it poses the question of who even okayed the decision to move forward with creating this content. The dark humor hit well at times, but it was simply far too insensitive, especially when considering that it was completely pointless.
WWE Has A Long And Storied History Of Controversy
In what was technically a good thing to come out of the skits, Tim White and others involved enjoyed filming and creating the content. It’s without question that White performed well in the role, despite the bizarreness of it, and Matthews too played his part effectively.
It isn’t clear whether WWE anticipated the original skit to be met with the outrage it received, and whether the original plan was to have the segment be serious. The outpouring of protest regarding the segment was considered to be the reason that WWE presented them as comedy bits going forwards.
The company is no stranger to controversial, terrible, and downright toe-curling storylines, with the infamous Katie Vick angle, The Club holding Big E’s testicles in a jar, and the awful Dr. Heinie and Jim Ross surgery segment. The company have simmered down with stories as ridiculous as that, but recent dealings with Saudi Arabia, a wave of releases during a pandemic, and a disregard for putting on entertaining TV has seen the company met with constant criticism.