Veteran referee Charles Robinson has set the record straight on a well-known incident in which he was widely believed to have suffered a broken rib from a spear thrown by Goldberg. Speaking on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Robinson revealed that the entire injury story was a work that he came up with himself to help enhance the moment, and he even got Goldberg’s approval beforehand.
The spear occurred during what was billed as Goldberg’s final match on an episode of Saturday Night’s Main Event. The match took place over the summer on a broadcast on Saturday Night’s Main Event. The false injury report led to a wave of online criticism directed at Goldberg for being unsafe with the much smaller referee. Robinson acknowledged the intensity of the hit, stating, “Normally, he picks you up, lays you down, nice and soft. He went right through me.”
However, later reports of a broken rib were fabricated. “No, no, no,” Robinson clarified. “My girlfriend and I were in the movie. I said, ‘What can I do to put this over to make Goldberg feel good?’ I said, ‘Hmm, there’s an image of a broken rib online, so I just posted that.’ People were so mad at him for that.”
Robinson made sure to clear the plan with Goldberg before going public with the story. “I called him to tell him what I was doing,” he said. “And he goes, ‘That’s a great idea.’ So he didn’t mind.” While the injury was fake, Robinson did admit that the spear left him feeling its effects for over a week. “I was sore, seriously, for about 10 days, you know, coughing and stuff. They can’t do anything about a rib anyway, so why go get it checked?”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article, please credit Insight with Chris Van Vliet with an h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
