During the G1 Special in San Francisco this past Saturday, Jim Ross was knocked to the floor following a spot where Jay White suplexed Juice Robinson into a ringside barricade. The barricade knocked the announce table into Ross, who was knocked to the ground.
As he was brought to his feet by the ringside crew, his broadcast partner Josh Barnett exclaimed, “You done fucked up now!” He then proceeded to chase White around the ring for a time.
It was unknown for a while whether or not this was a work. It would be odd to put the 66-year-old legend in such a predicament at that moment, but not completely out of place in professional wrestling.
For the record, the ‘bump’ I took at ringside at #G1SanFrancisco was not storyline driven matter nor was it discussed.
I think I broke a rib.
Couldn’t put my roller bag in the overhead today after a sleepless Sat night. pic.twitter.com/E9hd2FDsXi
— Jim Ross (@JRsBBQ) July 9, 2018
Not a work
— 𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝖂𝖆𝖗𝖒𝖆𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖗 (@JoshLBarnett) July 8, 2018
However, both Ross and Barnett have gone on Twitter to state that the incident was not staged or part of the intended broadcast and Ross suffered real injuries. F4WOnline reported that Ross was checked into a local hospital, where it was revealed he had bruised ribs and lungs. Ross has had to cancel a handful of commitments due to the injury this week.
You can see the incident again in the footage below.
.@JoshLBarnett has had enough! 😡#G1USA #NJPW @njpwglobal pic.twitter.com/4g6v7dfBwU
— AXS TV (@AXSTV) July 8, 2018
Ross can be heard asking for his hat and reassuring the crowd and audience at home that he’s alright. Barnett, however, is having none of it. Again, it’s unknown whether or not this is as legit as they say it is. Barnett could’ve been sticking up for his friend who was injured by the carelessness of Jay White and Juice Robinson, or they could be working towards a match between White and Barnett somewhere down the line.
That being said, we would still like to wish JR well.