Cone started refereeing independent wrestling matches in August 1996. He worked for Harley Race World League Wrestling from 1999 to 2006 and got his big break when a WWE official attended a match he refereed. During that time John actually trained to be a wrestler and had about 24 matches across 12 shows. His wrestling name was 'Johnny Angel'
World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE (2006–present)
Cone tried out for WWE and was quickly signed. He was sent to WWE developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling and later Deep South Wrestling. Cone refereed the main event of WrestleMania 33 on April 2, 2017 between The Undertaker and Roman Reigns. This was his first WrestleMania main event. On April 17, 2017 episode of Raw, as Cone refereed the main event between Braun Strowman and Big Show, the match ended in a no contest when the ring collapsed. Cone was seen holding the ropes before the ring collapsed, having nothing else to hold on to and ended up tumbling out of the ring. He was escorted to the back by other officials and received treatment while he was being interviewed about what he saw before the ring collapsed. He confirmed that they went to the top rope and next thing he knows is that he was tumbling out of the ring as the trainer was seen putting ice on Cone's neck. He did not appear on the April 24 episode of Raw and returned on April 30 at Payback to referee the Bayley vs. Alexa Bliss match for the Raw Women's Championship which Bliss won.
Personal life
Cone and his wife, Lauren are the owners of Donut King, located in Kansas City. At WrestleMania 34, Cone's son, Nicholas, was chosen out of the audience by Braun Strowman to be his tag team partner to challenge for the WWE Raw Tag Team Championship. They won their match against The Bar, making Nicholas the youngest champion in any category in WWE history, but they relinquished the title the following night on Raw. It was revealed that Nicholas holds a red belt in karate.
In other media
Cone appears as a referee in the video gamesWWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010, WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2011 and WWE 2K15, and as a back up referee in WWE 2K16. In 2009, Cone appeared in the documentary KC on the Mat: The History of Professional Wrestling in Kansas City. Cone is the referee for the WWE Game Night series on WWE's YouTube channel.
