Dangerous Danny Davis

Crooked referee (1986-1987) Starting in 1986, Davis was involved in a storyline that saw him act biased in some matches and had him involved in several controversial matches in which he was thought to favor the heel (villain) wrestlers. To push the idea that he was a crooked referee Davis would often make fast pinfall counts in the side of heel wrestlers and disqualified face (fan favorite) wrestlers with little or no provocation. WWF commentator Gorilla Monsoon accused Davis of accepting bribes, pointing to Davis' wealth as evidence as a means to make the fans dislike Davis. As a result of the match, WWF president Jack Tunney stripped Davis of his referee duties. That same night, Davis was approached by manager Jimmy Hart about joining his stable of wrestlers. Davis joined up with Jimmy Hart and the Hart Foundation (Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart) and became known as "Dangerous" Danny Davis. He accompanied the Hart Foundation to the ring for their matches and often became involved by attacking the Hart Foundation's opponents from outside the ring or entering the ring to reverse pinfalls by placing Hart or Neidhart on top of their opponents.

Davis' next major appearance was in the King of the Ring 1987 tournament. Davis defeated Tito Santana and Junkyard Dog before being eliminated in the third round by Randy Savage, who went on to win the tournament. During 1987, Davis was booked in several series of matches: against Koko B. Ware, George Steele, and Jake Roberts. The feud with Ware included a match televised on the April 13, 1987 episode of Prime Time Wrestling, which ended in a draw. Ware won most of the matches, but Davis won several matches after using foreign objects to attack Ware. This feud culminated in a match on the November 28, 1987 episode of Saturday Night's Main Event XIII, in which Steele defeated Davis by disqualification after Davis kicked referee Joey Marella. Davis' feud with Roberts began when Davis showed up unexpectedly on the Snake Pit, Roberts' interview segment, while Roberts was interviewing Mr. T. Davis ran away after Roberts brought out Damien, his pet python. On the September 19, 1987 episode of WWF Superstars of Wrestling, Davis attempted to steal Damien during one of Roberts' matches, but Roberts chased him away again. Davis also had a rivalry with Mr. T, who was booked to enforce the rules during matches and thwarted Davis' attempts to interfere. Roberts and Davis had a singles match the following month on Prime Time Wrestling. Roberts beat Davis quickly, placed Damien on Davis, and left the ring.

As Davis' feuds were winding down, he entered into a new feud with Sam Houston. Houston defeated Davis in their first encounter, but Davis was upset because his foot was on the ropes and the referee should not have counted the pinfall. This disagreement led to a series of angry promotional interviews and fights, as well as a series of matches that lasted several months and saw the two trade victories. He also competed in the 20-man battle royal at WrestleMania IV. He was thrown over the top rope by Paul Roma to be eliminated from the match. Davis' last PPV match was at the Survivor Series once again teaming with Honky Tonk Man, Ron Bass and this time with Bad News Brown and Greg Valentine against Beefcake, Ultimate Warrior, Jim Brunzell, Sam Houston and Blue Blazer. Davis was quickly eliminated by Beefcake in a sleeper hold less than two minutes into the match.

Referee (1989–1995) By early spring 1989, Davis ended his alliance with Jimmy Hart and became a jobber to the stars, but by fall of 1989, he requested to be reinstated as a referee promising not to favor the heels or cheating, President Jack Tunney accepted his request and Davis was reinstated as a referee. He worked for the WWF until October 1995.

Late career (2002–2010) Following eleven years of inactivity as a wrestler, Danny Davis made a return to the ring for Jersey All Pro Wrestling on October 26, 2001. On the "JAPW Class of 2001" event, he was defeated by Mafia (Dan Maff). Davis then joined the World Wrestling Alliance in November 2002. On January 10, 2003, at a WWA card in Norwood, MA Davis defeated Fred Curry Jr. to win the WWA Heavyweight Championship. After successfully defending the title against Curry, Josh Daniels, and Kurt Adonis, Davis finally lost the title to Aaron Stevens on May 23, 2003. Danny Davis would continue to appear in the promotion for the remainder of the decade and won their championship on two other occasions. Following the cessation of World Wrestling Stars (the final name for the WWA), Davis wrestled a handful of times for other promotions. His final match came on September 28, 2013, at the NECW Throwback Throwdown event held by New England Championship Wrestling. There, Danny Davis wrestled Johnny Idol to a time-limit draw.

Legacy Although Davis was not the first person to portray the crooked wrestling referee character, he is often mentioned as a prototype of a corrupt official, which is a storyline that has been used by several wrestling promotions. One year after Davis was banned from referee duties, the twin Hebner brothers (Dave and Earl) were involved in a controversy when Earl took Dave's place and showed favoritism to André the Giant, helping him to win the WWF Championship. WCW would later use Nick Patrick as a heel referee, who sided with the NWO faction and eventually joined the NWO himself. TNA would use the gimmick with Earl Hebner, who would show favoritism towards Madison Rayne, with whom he was having an implied relationship. WCCW would use the gimmick with Harold Harris, who would show favoritism towards Devastation Inc. during their feud with Eric Embry. In a similar manner, Eric Bischoff and Vince McMahon, the heads of World Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment, respectively, have used the gimmick of evil owners in storylines.

Davis's time as a wrestler and referee led to him appearing in the 1989 line of Classic WWF trading cards. Davis has continued to wrestle occasionally and currently wrestles on the Massachusetts independent wrestling scene. He competed for the World Wrestling Alliance, where he was the WWA Champion. He also occasionally performs as a referee for wrestling matches in Massachusetts. At WWE's WrestleMania XXX event, Davis made his first appearance in the company since 1995, appearing in a backstage segment with WWE legends Sgt. Slaughter, "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase, and Ron Simmons. Davis was wearing a referee shirt in the cameo.

Championships and accomplishments New England Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame Class of 2010 World Wrestling Alliance WWA Heavyweight Championship (2 times) WWA United States Championship (1 time) Wrestling Observer Newsletter Worst Feud of the Year (1987) vs. George Steele

Published works