Was Josh Barnett for real when he went after NJPW wrestler? AXS TV's Andrew Simon says yes

We all know pro wrestling is staged, but every now and then you’ll watch something and go, “Was that real?”

A case in point would be this incident involving former UFC heavyweight and current New Japan Pro Wrestling commentator Josh Barnett (via Twitter):

What you saw there was Jay White suplex Juice Robinson into the the ringside barrier, which then knocked the announce table into Barnett and the legendary Jim Ross. Then you see Barnett get up and go after White while a referee tries to calm him down.

It looks like a “shoot” (wrestling term for being unscripted), but what was it? Apparently it was. Ross went to the hospital later that night. Both he and Barnett have said that wasn’t part of the story line.

If you don’t believe those tweets and want to hear an actual explanation, check out a recent MMAjunkie Radio interview above with AXS TV CEO Andrew Simon.

The Blue Corner is MMAjunkie’s blog space. We don’t take it overly seriously, and neither should you. If you come complaining to us that something you read here is not hard-hitting news, expect to have the previous sentence repeated in ALL CAPS.

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