MTV Video Music Awards -- Stagehand Sues ... the Award for Best Fall Goes to...

You couldn't blame a stagehand from the MTV Video Music Awards for having stage fright -- the guy took a painful fall off a red carpet platform ... according to the lawsuit he just filed.

Barry Glenn Bass says he was part of a work crew on the 2012 award show at Staples Center ... when a stage collapsed, causing him to plunge six feet. In the lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, he says the stage had not been properly supported.

Bass claims he was hurt badly enough that he was unable to work and got saddled with medical bills. The suit doesn't specify his injuries.

He's suing MTV's parent company, Viacom ... and AEG, which owns the venue -- saying they were responsible for the "unsafe" conditions that caused his tumble.