Fans were concerned for WWE referee Charles Robinson after he seemingly suffered an injury during Goldberg's last match in July 2025.
However, he faked it all, as he told Chris Van Vliet (via Cultaholic Wrestling). The picture of a broken rib that he posted was from online, and luckily, Goldberg was okay with it.
“Normally, he picks you up, lays you down, nice and soft. He went right through me,” Robinson said of Goldberg. “My girlfriend and I were at the movies. 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.”
Granted, Robinson was “sore” after the match. “I was sore, seriously, for about 10 days, you know, coughing and stuff,” he revealed. “They can't do anything about a rib anyway, so why go get it checked?”
Charles Robinson's fake WWE injury
It has been a rough year for Robinson, who was also rammed into by John Cena earlier in the year. During Goldberg's retirement match against Gunther, the “Ring General” sidestepped a spear attempt by Goldberg.
Robinson ate the spear instead. It was brutal, and it led to speculation that the referee was injured. Luckily, he appears to be okay and not injured.
Over his career, Robinson has had the honor of officiating several high-profile matches. Goldberg was retired by Gunther at the July 2025 edition of Saturday Night's Main Event.
The match was the main event of the show. Gunther defeated Goldberg by technical submission in what was the latter's final wrestling match in his illustrious career.
Currently, Robinson is the lead referee on the Friday Night SmackDown brand. He has been with WWE since 2001 when it was still WWF.
Before that, he was part of WCW. Robinson served as a heel referee as part of the Alliance stable, which was led by Shane and Stephanie McMahon.
