Ref Bump For Real: Little Naitch Injured at Royal Rumble

Now that’s a ref bump. WWE referee Charles Robinson is one of WWE longest tenured referees but on top of that he’s also one of the biggest Ric Flair fans in wrestling history. Robinson has been nicknamed Little Naitch due to his resemblance to Flair, as well as being such a huge fan. As a result, it was a major honor for him to referee the match where John Cena tied Flair’s World Title record. It wasn’t all great though.

In an interview with WWE.com, Robinson said he was actually injured shortly into the match. Robinson tore his plantar fasciitis (part of your foot which connects the heel to the toes) about seven minutes into the match (which ran about twenty four minutes) but finished the match anyway. Here are Robinson’s comments:

“I got hurt! I tore my plantar fasciitis like seven minutes into the match. So I’m limping around, trying to do the match — which was incredible — but what I was gonna do? Throw up the big “X” for myself?!”

You can read the rest of the interview here.

Of all the referees in recent history, Robinson has always been a consistent performer. There’s so much more to being a referee than just counting falls and checking for submissions and Robinson does it as well as anyone else. If nothing else he’s remarkable for looking the same as he did back in 1997.

Who is your favorite referee? What did you think of Styles vs. Cena? Let us know in the comments below.