Professional wrestling is one of the most stressful jobs in the world. Not only do you have to put your life in the hands of another person whose mistakes could cost you your career (or worse), but everything you do has to be executed perfectly. And even then, things can still go wrong.
When a wrestler does make a mistake, it can be either something small and laugh-inducing, or something serious and terrifying. There usually isn’t any milieu between these two extremes. We’ve seen wrestlers botch moves many times in the ring. From Wade Barrett & The Miz mistiming a neckbreaker to Sycho Sid breaking his leg off of a dive, in-ring botches have led to everything from laughter to a standing applause from the audience in appreciation for the risks the wrestlers were putting themselves through for our entertainment.
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Then there are the out of ring botches.
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Promos and non-wrestling segments are usually done to hype up an upcoming match or event, so a lot of work needs to be put in by the wrestlers to make sure they get their message across properly to the viewers. But even in wrestling, in that highly-scripted environment, things can go wrong. A wrestler can flub their lines, say the wrong thing, or get so caught-up in the moment that they forget what to say entirely.
We’ve seen this recently with Mick Foley and Goldberg, for example. The two of them forgot what to say in their promos and stood around awkwardly trying to keep the segment going. These were somewhat humorous, but they’re nowhere near as infamous as these ten out-of-ring botches we’re going to look at below.
#10 Gene Okerlund Curses During An Interview
This is a thirty-second video featuring Gene Okerlund trying to hype up an upcoming match. Okerlund, as you may recall, is one of the most recognisable voices in WWE history, and was there for many legendary moments. But even he wasn’t immune to making mistakes.
Just as he was about to start the interview segment, a poster behind him fell down with a loud thud. It was close and loud enough for Okerlund to completely tune out from what he was doing, turn around, and yell ‘F--K IT!’ on TV. It wasn’t bleeped or censored. The segment ended abruptly, with commentator Jesse Ventura not even trying to ignore what he had just heard.
It was a funny moment from the otherwise serious Okerlund and served as an ironic summary of the Ultimate Warrior’s career
Okerlund: “Gentlemen, as you know, the Ultimate Warrior--“
(poster drops)
Okerlund: ‘F--K IT!’
#9 Hulk Hogan’s Epic Line Screw-Up On SmackDown
This was the reason why SmackDown was originally a taped show.
Hulk Hogan’s promos have, for the most part, been fantastic throughout his career. He’s been known to whip a crowd into a frenzy with very little effort and keep them on his side throughout any match. But even Hogan was capable of mistakes.
Here, Hogan tries to go do a long-winded rebuttal to Vince McMahon’s promo, but as he gets to the end, he flubs his lines completely. He seems completely incapable of saying the words ‘right guy at the right place at the right time’. Instead, he stutters a few times and ends up muttering words like ‘the right gay..guy’.
It was an awkward promo that left both Hogan and Vince looking weird. They both stood there as Hogan tried desperately to remember his lines, and looked relieved once the promo was over.
Clearly, he wasn’t on top of his game on this night.
#8 Sid Vicious’ Famous ‘Brains’ Promo
This is one of those times when a promo’s meaning gets lost in translation.
Sid was trying to tell his Kevin Nash he was worth only half of what Sid was worth. In an attempt to drive that point home, Sid said, with a completely straight face, ‘I have half the brain that you do’.
Cue a gobsmacked Kevin Nash staring at Sid, trying hard not to laugh, while Scott Hall doesn’t even try to sell the segment and just starts laughing noticeably. Even the commentators couldn’t control themselves and started laughing.
Lesson learned: always make sure your promo doesn't have any double-entendres.
#7 Tony Schiavone Saves RAW And Kills WCW
Unlike other botches on this list which are here due to incorrect execution, this botch is more famous for its consequences.
A long-standing part of WCW’s war against WWE during the Monday Night Wars was for WCW to spoil the then-taped RAW for viewers watching WCW live. On one fateful night, January 4th, 1999, Tony Schiavone did what he was told to do once again: spoil RAW. Only this time it blew up in his face royally.
Under Eric Bischoff’s orders, Tony Schiavone told the WCW audience that Mick Foley was going to be winning the WWE Championship, ending the announcement with the sarcastic phrase, “that’ll put some butts in the seats.”
Immediately, an estimated 600,000 homes switched from Nitro to RAW, which led to RAW gaining another victory in the ratings war. WCW would never reach beyond a 5.0 rating after that. Essentially, WCW botched their long-term success with this announcement. Instead of using it to their advantage, they encouraged fans to tune into RAW, and those viewers never looked back.
#6 Mark Henry Cannot Open The Cage Door
Mark Henry has been billed as the World’s Strongest Man for over a decade. Too bad no one told the steel cage.
In his big return segment, Henry came down to the ring and wanted to attack Batista, who was inside a steel cage with MNM. It looked like WWE was trying to do a re-hash of Kane’s WWE debut when he ripped the cell door off its hinges. Except for this time, Henry couldn’t even get the lock off the chain on the cage door.
This video clip ended up highlighting three long minutes of Mark Henry desperately trying to find his way into the ring. His image as World’s Strongest Man was shattered almost instantly after he couldn’t even break a single chain with his mammoth strength.
#5 Lex Luger’s T-Shirts Are Too Tight
There’s something funny about Lex Luger’s promo here. He does flub his lines on a few occasions as he tries to sell an upcoming PPV, and then goes nuts over the fact that he can’t get his own shirt off. From the way he yells ‘the t-shirts are too tight’ to the ridiculous expressions on his face, it’s simply funny to listen to him try and make all of this work.
This segment has since become legendary among internet wrestling fans, both for Lex Luger’s botched t-shirt spot and his facial expressions. Those two things alone make this a must-see out-of-ring botch for any wrestling fan.
4. Jake Roberts’ Hysterical Drunk Promo At Heroes Of Wrestling
Heroes of Wrestling was arguably the worst wrestling PPV of all time. From top to bottom, it featured terrible wrestling, arguably worse commentary, and one of the most hilarious and ridiculous promos ever.
Jake ‘the Snake’ Roberts arrived at this show completely drunk. He was so out of it that he started cutting the most ridiculous and nonsensical promo ever cut by a wrestler. He kept making random gambling references while pulling his own hair and staggering about. He even tried to start a ‘DDT’ chant, which got only 1 fan to respond to.
If you want to see a wrestler try and cut a serious promo while completely drunk, this is the clip for you. You’ll definitely laugh at the nonsense spewing from Roberts’ mouth, and then you’ll be happy to know just how far he has come from that infamous moment in time.
3.Booker T’s infamous Promo On Hulk Hogan
Back the 1990s, Booker T was teaming with his brother Stevie Ray as Harlem Heat. On this particular occasion. Booker got way too invested in a promo and calls Hulk Hogan...well...the one word you never call a black person.
There are a few different elements that make this one of the funniest and most enduring promo botches in wrestling history. The sheer suddenness of Booker’s choice of language definitely must’ve taken many people off-guard. But the initial shock was the compounded with absolute hilarity as Booker facepalms immediately after realizing what he had said on live TV.
This segment has since become a staple of the now-world-famous Botchamania series, having been lampooned and referenced several times by fans and even other wrestlers. It really was that funny.
2. The Undertaker Gets Set On Fire
While most of the segments covered so far have been funny in hindsight, this is a botch we have to take more seriously.
Basically, the Undertaker no-sold fire. For real.
As had been the case for years, the Undertaker’s entrance music on this night featured dark, purple arena lighting, tons of mist...and enormous pyrotechnics. Columns of fire would rise from the ground around the Undertaker to give his entrance even more of a supernatural flavor. But something went horribly wrong here.
The pyrotechnician mistimed the flames, causing them to strike the Undertaker not once, not twice...but thrice. In this video, you can see the flames shooting up so suddenly that ‘Taker barely has any time to react. Within less than 3 seconds, he had been turned three times.
But instead of seeking medical attention, he continued his entrance (albeit walking faster, for once) and then did the match as scheduled, despite suffering first and second-degree burns on his body.
And people wonder why the Undertaker’s so well-respected in wrestling.
1. The Shockmaster
It’s the most (in)famous out-of-ring botches of all time. It set the standard for wrestling gone wrong, and was so hilariously bad that even WWE mocked it on their own website.
For those that don’t know the story, the Shockmaster (played by Fred Ottman, better known as Tugboat/Typhoon in WWE), was supposed to make a huge, dramatic debut by smashing through a wall while pyrotechnics amplified the magnitude of the moment.
However, there was a 2x4 of plywood framing the set that wasn’t there when Ottman had practiced the segment beforehand. So when he went to do the spot for his actual debut, he fell forward due to that 2x4, with his glittered Stormtrooper helmet rolling off in the process.
There was no way this segmetn could be salvaged. Sid tried his best to sell the character as much as he could, but the botch was so hilariously bad that even Ole Anderson, the character doing the Shockmaster’s voice from another room, was still laughing before he read his lines.
This segment has withstood the test of time and still stands out as the greatest wrestling botch to never take place inside an actual wrestling ring.
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