Charles Robinson has spent all these years as a wrestling referee worrying about a bat being used as a weapon, but it would be the flying creature that actually got him.
The legendary ex-WCW and current WWE referee revealed Wednesday morning that a bat bit him and he landed in the hospital.
“Great way to start the morning. 2:00am and got bit by a bat,” Robinson wrote in an Instagram post featuring a photo of him in a hospital bed and a video of him receiving medicine. “That’s right a bat! 4 hours later in the ER and six shots. #animalattacks #hospital.”
Robinson, 61, appeared to be taking it in all in stride.
The photo he posted of himself in the hospital bed featured him in a silly pose with his tongue out, while he also posted a photo of the bat with the all-caps caption: “BAD BAT!!!”
“This is the culprit that got me. Such a cutie! #bat #animal,” Robinson wrote with the photo, which showed the bat’s”s fangs.
This scare followed Robinson suffering a cracked rib while refereeing the main event of a July “Saturday Night’s Main Event” between Goldberg and then-world heavyweight champion Gunther.
Goldberg accidentally — in storyline — speared Robinson during the match, and Robinson posted an X-ray showing the cracked rib.
“Thanks @goldberg95! Never fear…I am ALL MAN and I can’t be kept down!” Robinson wrote. “I will return for @wwe #smackdown next week in #SanAntonio! #wrestling #nofear
Robinson made his name in WCW in the late ’90s and early 2000s, especially during his run as Ric Flair’s chosen referee, going by the nickname Lil’ Naitch.
He eventually moved to WWE — then known as WWF — after it purchased WCW, and he now works for the “Smackdown” brand.
Wrestling content creator Chris Van Vliet reported earlier this year that Robinson became the first WWE referee to call matches across four decades.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
