The biggest badass currently performing in WWE seems to be referee Tom Castor, who finished calling a wrestling match after sustaining a broken leg. Although the injury had to be incredibly painful, it may have even looked worse than it felt, as photos of the incident show the leg break to be quite brutal. Still, clearly an absolute professional in every sense of the word, Castor felt it was his job to count the pinfall in the match to declare a winner, even though he could no longer stand. Only after the bell rang was he escorted from the ring and presumably transported to a nearby hospital.

Castor's injury did not happen on WWE programming, but at a live event for the company's NXT subdivision on Thursday. He was officiating a match between NXT North American Champion The Velveteen Dream, who was defending his title against challenger Tyler Breeze. At some point during the fight, Castor's leg completely snapped, sending him to the ground close to the end of the finish. Rather than calling for help, however, Castor rolled over and managed to count out Breeze who had been pinned, declaring The Velveteen Dream the winner.

While the focus of any given wrestling match would be on the two competitors, the referees play a vital role in the production of each show. Wearing earpieces, the refs can serve as a direct line of communication between those in charge backstage and the performers in the ring. Referees are also responsible for making sure wrestlers are safe from further injury, putting an end to the match if someone is ever rendered unable to physically compete. As we have seen, however, most wrestlers will charge ahead and finish their scheduled matches even with painful injuries, unless they are unconscious or completely debilitated.

While this is a strange thing to see happen with a referee, it's not entirely unusual for WWE performers to continue competing in the ring after sustaining broken limbs. While fans would certainly understand stopping a match if a wrestler is inflicted with a legitimate injury, many wrestlers take great pride in completing the match before seeking help. Former WWE superstar Hardcore Holly knows that better than most, having finished wrestling matches with broken bones on two separate occasions. Brock Lesnar once accidentally broke Holly's neck with a botched powerbomb, but Holly still went through with the planned finish. In another match Kurt Angle also broke the poor guy's arm with a moonsault gone wrong, but Holly refused to end the fight early.

That Castor was able to finish the match in such horrific pain proves how seriously he takes his role in World Wrestling Entertainment. Hopefully, he can be back in the ring counting pinfalls once again after he makes a full recovery from this nasty injury. Considering how tough Castor clearly is, I'm surprised he's only calling matches and not competing as a wrestler. You can take a look at Castor's graphic injury below, just be warned that it's unsettling to see and not for the faint of heart.