Botch (professional wrestling)
Encyclopedia
To botch in professional wrestling
means to attempt a scripted move that does not come out as it was originally planned due to a mistake, miscalculation, or a slip-up. Most botches are harmless but embarrassing, such as a wrestler simply flubbing a line or missing a cue, or falling before his opponent's move actually connects. At times, however, a poorly timed or executed move has resulted in serious injury or even death.
, winner of the Tough Enough 2
competition, in one of her first TV matches (a tag team match with Christopher Nowinski
against Trish Stratus
and Bradshaw
on the July 8, 2002 edition of Raw
from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
), botched nearly every move that she tried or attempted to sell, the most infamous of which was a second-rope-bulldog by Stratus, which Gayda sold two seconds too late.
On April 26, 1976, Bruno Sammartino
suffered a neck fracture in a match against Stan Hansen
at Madison Square Garden
, when Hansen improperly executed a body slam. Bruno came back eight weeks later for a rematch.
wrestler D'Lo Brown
once botched a running sitout powerbomb on his opponent Droz
, resulting in Droz being paralyzed from the neck down (it should be noted, that this botch was mainly caused by a member of the audience tossing a beverage into the ring which D'Lo slipped on while holding Droz in the powerbomb position. Droz also did not cinch himself up at the waist as is the safety measure for powerbomb receivers). In other cases, the wrestler performing the move could be injured. Japan
ese wrestler Hayabusa
botched a springboard moonsault in a match against Mammoth Sasaki when his foot slipped on the second rope and he landed on his head, causing catastrophic damage to his spine and neck and paralyzing him.
An example of the worst case scenario is when a botch results in the death of a performer. This happened to wrestling trainee Brian Ong. In May 2001, Ong was training with Dalip Singh (better known as WWE's Great Khali) and took a flapjack from Singh. The move was botched, reportedly because Ong had grabbed Singh's shirt instead of pushing off Singh's back as he was instructed. Although he had made the mistake several times before without incident, this time Ong landed tailbone
first and his head was whipped back violently against the mat. The resulting impact was devastating, causing irreparable damage to his spine and brain stem. Coupled with a previous concussion, the move resulted in Ong's death a few days later.
and Owen Hart
, in which a botched piledriver left Austin with a broken neck and forced Hart to improvise an extended taunt/victory dance sequence until Austin was able to roll him up in a schoolboy pin, ending the match earlier than planned but with the desired winner. Hart died twenty-one months later as the result of a botched ring entrance stunt, crushing his chest from a seventy-nine foot fall. Sometimes, the remainder of a match will be canceled if a wrestler cannot continue or requires immediate medical attention.
If a wrestler is seriously injured (in a botch or otherwise) the referee
normally signals the need for immediate help by doing an "X" formation with his arms over his head. In recent years, as some professional wrestling fans have noticed this, the referee may sometimes perform the symbol in an attempt to indicate a kayfabe
injury to another performer, which will lead to the match being called off.
Other improvised endings result from actions that are ultimately harmless. These actions, such as a wrestler missing a cue, sometimes force other wrestlers involved with the match to come up with an alternative ending. One example was the ending of the Hulk Hogan
-Sid Justice
match at WrestleMania VIII
. The planned ending was to involve Papa Shango
running into the ring to break up Hogan's pin attempt. However, Shango missed his cue, forcing Sid to kick out of the pin attempt and manager Harvey Whippleman to jump onto the ring apron to interfere and prompt the disqualification, just as Shango ran into the ring to assist Sid with the intended double-team beating of Hogan.
, under his ring name Mankind, was wrestling The Undertaker in a Hell in a Cell match. After Foley was tossed off of the top of the cell through the announcers table, the match was going to be stopped. However, as he was being stretchered out of the arena, Foley got off the stretcher, climbed back on top of the cell and continued the match. The Undertaker then delivered a chokeslam
to Foley on the roof of the cell, which caused one of the roof panels to give way. Foley plummeted to the mat below, both dislocating his shoulder and dislodging a tooth, caused by a chair falling with Foley and landing on his face, which punctured his upper lip and protruded through his nose. Despite suffering these injuries, Foley still finished the match. After this botch, Foley gained a legendary status among wrestling fans, and has since been dubbed "The Hardcore Legend" for this unplanned bump.
Also, sometimes, botches can lead to the accidental invention of new moves. For example, the diving headbutt was invented when Harley Race
botched a splash from the top rope, the DDT
was invented when Jake "The Snake" Roberts was accidentally tripped by his opponent on his head while applying a front facelock, and the powerbomb
was invented when Lou Thesz
accidentally botched a piledriver
.
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...
means to attempt a scripted move that does not come out as it was originally planned due to a mistake, miscalculation, or a slip-up. Most botches are harmless but embarrassing, such as a wrestler simply flubbing a line or missing a cue, or falling before his opponent's move actually connects. At times, however, a poorly timed or executed move has resulted in serious injury or even death.
Inexperience
A common cause of botches is inexperience. Jackie GaydaJackie Gayda
Jacquelyn Gayda-Haas is an American semi-retired professional wrestler and valet, best known for her work on World Wrestling Entertainment 's Raw and SmackDown! brands and in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling as a TNA Knockout...
, winner of the Tough Enough 2
WWE Tough Enough
WWE Tough Enough is a professional wrestling reality television program produced by WWE wherein participants undergo professional wrestling training and compete for a contract with WWE. There were two winners per season for the first three seasons, all of which aired on MTV...
competition, in one of her first TV matches (a tag team match with Christopher Nowinski
Christopher Nowinski
Christopher John Nowinski is an author and a former professional wrestler with World Wrestling Entertainment. Nowinski is renowned for being WWE's first Harvard alumnus, as he graduated with an A.B. in sociology. He is also recognized as the youngest Hardcore Champion in WWE history...
against Trish Stratus
Trish Stratus
Patricia Anne Stratigias , better known by her ring name Trish Stratus, is a Canadian professional wrestler, actress and television personality currently signed with WWE. She is also a former fitness model....
and Bradshaw
John Layfield
John Charles Layfield is a former American professional wrestler, a former commentator/host for mixed martial arts promotion Vyper Fight League and financial analyst for Fox News...
on the July 8, 2002 edition of Raw
WWE RAW
WWE Raw ) is a sports entertainment television program for WWE that currently airs on the USA Network in the United States...
from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
), botched nearly every move that she tried or attempted to sell, the most infamous of which was a second-rope-bulldog by Stratus, which Gayda sold two seconds too late.
On April 26, 1976, Bruno Sammartino
Bruno Sammartino
Bruno Leopoldo Francesco Sammartino is an Italian-American former professional wrestler, best known for being the longest-running champion of the World Wide Wrestling Federation , holding the title across two reigns for over 11 years in total, as well as the longest single WWE Championship reign...
suffered a neck fracture in a match against Stan Hansen
Stan Hansen
John Stanley Hansen, Jr. is an American former professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Stan Hansen. As a wrestler, Hansen was well known for his stiff wrestling style, which he attributes to poor eyesight, as he is nearly blind without glasses...
at Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
, when Hansen improperly executed a body slam. Bruno came back eight weeks later for a rematch.
Danger
Sometimes botches can be extremely dangerous and can end a wrestler's career or life. For example, WWEWorld Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
wrestler D'Lo Brown
D'Lo Brown
Accie Julius Connor better known by his ring name D'Lo Brown , is an American professional wrestler. Well known for his appearances with World Wrestling Entertainment, he is currently working as an agent for Impact Wrestling.Connor has held forty-eight championships in various promotions during...
once botched a running sitout powerbomb on his opponent Droz
Darren Drozdov
Darren Drozdov, is an essayist, former NFL player and retired professional wrestler who competed in the World Wrestling Federation in 1998 and 1999 under the ring names Puke and Droz....
, resulting in Droz being paralyzed from the neck down (it should be noted, that this botch was mainly caused by a member of the audience tossing a beverage into the ring which D'Lo slipped on while holding Droz in the powerbomb position. Droz also did not cinch himself up at the waist as is the safety measure for powerbomb receivers). In other cases, the wrestler performing the move could be injured. Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese wrestler Hayabusa
Eiji Ezaki
is a former Japanese professional wrestler better known as the masked Hayabusa , who worked primarily for Atsushi Onita's Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling promotion.-Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling :...
botched a springboard moonsault in a match against Mammoth Sasaki when his foot slipped on the second rope and he landed on his head, causing catastrophic damage to his spine and neck and paralyzing him.
An example of the worst case scenario is when a botch results in the death of a performer. This happened to wrestling trainee Brian Ong. In May 2001, Ong was training with Dalip Singh (better known as WWE's Great Khali) and took a flapjack from Singh. The move was botched, reportedly because Ong had grabbed Singh's shirt instead of pushing off Singh's back as he was instructed. Although he had made the mistake several times before without incident, this time Ong landed tailbone
Coccyx
The coccyx , commonly referred to as the tailbone, is the final segment of the vertebral column. Comprising three to five separate or fused vertebrae below the sacrum, it is attached to the sacrum by a fibrocartilaginous joint, the sacrococcygeal symphysis, which permits limited movement between...
first and his head was whipped back violently against the mat. The resulting impact was devastating, causing irreparable damage to his spine and brain stem. Coupled with a previous concussion, the move resulted in Ong's death a few days later.
Improvising endings to matches
In most cases, minor botches are simply glossed over as though they never happened. Serious botches resulting in injuries often result in improvised endings to matches; one famous example being the match between Stone Cold Steve AustinStone Cold Steve Austin
Steve Austin , better known by his ring name "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, is an American film and television actor and retired professional wrestler...
and Owen Hart
Owen Hart
Owen James Hart was a Canadian professional and amateur wrestler who worked for several promotions including Stampede Wrestling, New Japan Pro Wrestling , World Championship Wrestling , and most notably, the World Wrestling Federation , where he wrestled under both his own name, and ring name The...
, in which a botched piledriver left Austin with a broken neck and forced Hart to improvise an extended taunt/victory dance sequence until Austin was able to roll him up in a schoolboy pin, ending the match earlier than planned but with the desired winner. Hart died twenty-one months later as the result of a botched ring entrance stunt, crushing his chest from a seventy-nine foot fall. Sometimes, the remainder of a match will be canceled if a wrestler cannot continue or requires immediate medical attention.
If a wrestler is seriously injured (in a botch or otherwise) the referee
Referee (professional wrestling)
A professional wrestling referee is the official figure that makes sure that wrestling matches move smoothly in an attempt to maintain kayfabe. The referee also has the ultimate power in the ring...
normally signals the need for immediate help by doing an "X" formation with his arms over his head. In recent years, as some professional wrestling fans have noticed this, the referee may sometimes perform the symbol in an attempt to indicate a kayfabe
Kayfabe
In professional wrestling, kayfabe is the portrayal of events within the industry as "real" or "true". Specifically, the portrayal of professional wrestling, in particular the competition and rivalries between participants, as being genuine or not of a worked nature...
injury to another performer, which will lead to the match being called off.
Other improvised endings result from actions that are ultimately harmless. These actions, such as a wrestler missing a cue, sometimes force other wrestlers involved with the match to come up with an alternative ending. One example was the ending of the Hulk Hogan
Hulk Hogan
Terrance Gene "Terry" Bollea , better known by his ring name Hulk Hogan, is an American Semi-retired professional wrestler, actor, television personality, and musician currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ....
-Sid Justice
Sid Eudy
Sidney Raymond "Sid" Eudy is an American professional wrestler, best known as Sid Vicious in World Championship Wrestling, and as Sid Justice and Sycho Sid in the World Wrestling Federation...
match at WrestleMania VIII
WrestleMania VIII
WrestleMania VIII was the eighth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It took place on April 5, 1992 at the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis, Indiana...
. The planned ending was to involve Papa Shango
Charles Wright (wrestler)
Charles Wright is an American businessman and former professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenure with the World Wrestling Federation throughout the 1990s and early 2000s under the ring names Papa Shango, Kama, Kama Mustafa, The Godfather, and The Goodfather .After leaving the wrestling...
running into the ring to break up Hogan's pin attempt. However, Shango missed his cue, forcing Sid to kick out of the pin attempt and manager Harvey Whippleman to jump onto the ring apron to interfere and prompt the disqualification, just as Shango ran into the ring to assist Sid with the intended double-team beating of Hogan.
Positive aftermath
Along with being dangerous and sometimes fatal, botches can also have a positive impact on one's career. One (in)famous example is when Mick FoleyMick Foley
Michael Francis "Mick" Foley, Sr. is an American semi-retired professional wrestler, author, comedian, actor, voice actor and former color commentator. He has worked for many wrestling promotions, including WWE, WCW, ECW and TNA. He is often referred to as "The Hardcore Legend", a nickname he...
, under his ring name Mankind, was wrestling The Undertaker in a Hell in a Cell match. After Foley was tossed off of the top of the cell through the announcers table, the match was going to be stopped. However, as he was being stretchered out of the arena, Foley got off the stretcher, climbed back on top of the cell and continued the match. The Undertaker then delivered a chokeslam
Chokeslam
A chokeslam refers to a type of body slam in professional wrestling in which the wrestler grasps their opponent's neck, lifts them up, and slams them to the mat. It is common in televised wrestling because it is simple and relatively safe, yet looks powerful on camera...
to Foley on the roof of the cell, which caused one of the roof panels to give way. Foley plummeted to the mat below, both dislocating his shoulder and dislodging a tooth, caused by a chair falling with Foley and landing on his face, which punctured his upper lip and protruded through his nose. Despite suffering these injuries, Foley still finished the match. After this botch, Foley gained a legendary status among wrestling fans, and has since been dubbed "The Hardcore Legend" for this unplanned bump.
Also, sometimes, botches can lead to the accidental invention of new moves. For example, the diving headbutt was invented when Harley Race
Harley Race
Harley Leland Race is a retired American professional wrestler and current promoter and trainer. During his career as a wrestler, he held the NWA World Heavyweight Championship 7 times...
botched a splash from the top rope, the DDT
DDT (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling a DDT is any move in which the wrestler has the opponent in a front facelock, and falls down or backwards to drive the opponent's head into the mat...
was invented when Jake "The Snake" Roberts was accidentally tripped by his opponent on his head while applying a front facelock, and the powerbomb
Powerbomb
A powerbomb is a professional wrestling throw in which an opponent is lifted up and then slammed back-first down to the mat. The standard powerbomb sees an opponent first placed in a standing headscissors position...
was invented when Lou Thesz
Lou Thesz
Aloysius Martin "Lou" Thesz was a United States professional wrestler and 18-time world heavyweight champion, most notably holding the NWA World Heavyweight Championship three times. Combined, he held the NWA Championship for 10 years, three months and nine days , longer than anyone else in history...
accidentally botched a piledriver
Piledriver (professional wrestling)
A piledriver is a professional wrestling driver move in which the wrestler grabs his opponent, turns him upside-down, and drops into a sitting or kneeling position, driving the opponent head-first into the mat. The most common piledrivers are the basic belly-to-back, or Texas piledriver, and the...
.
See also
- Glossary of professional wrestling terms
- Mass Transit incident (professional wrestling)