Posted on 9/25/125 by Colin Vassallo
WWE referee Charles Robinson sat down with Chris Van Vliet
in Indianapolis, Indiana to discuss his legendary career in
both WCW and WWE, refereeing some of the biggest matches of
all time, being the first WWE referee to ref in 4 different
decades, his viral run at WrestleMania, taking a spear from
Goldberg, a shoulder block from John Cena, getting to work
with Ric Flair as Lil’ Naitch, being hospitalized after
getting bitten by a bat, the worst bump he ever took, and
more!
On being bitten by a bat:
“Sleeping, 2 am in the morning, hear a noise in the bedroom.
We have two cats. One’s named George, the other is Michael,
George Michael. So I got up, used my flashlight, saw the two
cats sitting there with their toys. I said ah, cats, they’re
just playing, having a good time. Well, there was a big
black blob right in the middle of the room, and we carry
black latex gloves as a referee. So I said, hey, they got my
glove. I better pick it up so they don’t choke on it. Being
the good cat dad that I am, I bent down, picked it up, and
that sucker bit me. Came down the chimney. So, five hours in
hospital, seven shots later, and no reflection [laughs]. I’m
a vampire.”
On the worst bump he has taken:
“Randy Savage elbow. But it wasn’t a ref bump. I was a
worker then, but that was the worst bump I’ve taken, the
elbow from Randy Savage. He put me in the hospital for 12
days. It was Ric [Flair] and I against Medusa and Savage,
and he came off the top with the elbow and Ric Flair wasn’t
going to take the elbow from Savage, so they let Little
Naitch. Cracked my sternum, collapsed my lung. So two hours
later, I went to my room and I said, Oh, man, I just can’t
breathe. Went to my room, two hours later, still can’t
breathe. I called Jimmy Hart, lifesaver. He called the EMTs.
They came to my room, said, ‘Hey, we need to put you in the
hospital.’ So that hospital, I won’t say what city, they
released me the next day to fly home to Charlotte, which
with a collapsed lung you’re not supposed to do that. So I
went straight to the hospital for 12 days. But Randy Savage
called me every day just to check on me.”
On the WrestleMania run:
“When I did the run to the ring for WrestleMania, that was
epic. I mean, there’s so many memes. It’s fantastic. But I
run down then Undertaker goes to choke slam me, and he’s
slippery, and I didn’t post right. He got me up off the
ground about six inches. Made him look so weak, and I felt
so bad for him.”
On the John Cena body check:
“With Cena, when I did it recently, I didn’t run as fast for
a reason, he didn’t want me to run past him. So he goes,
‘Just take it easy coming down the ramp.’ I saw the camera
guy, so I looked. I wasn’t looking at him, I was looking at
the camera guy. And then I kept going straight, and then,
boom, knocked me out of my shoes.”
On the Goldberg spear in his final match:
“I mean, normally he picks you up, lays you down, nice and
soft. He went right through me. [And he cracked your rib?]
Well, no, 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.”