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WWE normally attempts to shy away from showing accidents, or botches, on screen, but over the weekend fans saw one end the King of the Ring Tournament! In the finals at King and Queen of the Ring, Gunther pinned Randy Orton while the Viper had one of his shoulders off the mat.
Normally if a botch happens to be caught on camera during a live show, they, like most promotions, prefer to ignore those embarrassing moments while showing replays. You'd be hard-pressed to see those errors mentioned after the match. However, following the event, Triple H addressed the entire situation! While we may not be getting a rematch this week, The COO hinted that both men would want to settle the score when the time comes.
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Thanks to that botch, WWE has managed to lay the groundwork for a feud between the future WWE Hall of Famer and the King General. It's not the first time WWE's managed to turn a failed spot or moment into a storyline, and sometimes those accidents become iconic in the annals of pro wrestling.
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#5. Hardcore Holly shoots into a WWE Title match after a broken neck: WWE SmackDown September 12th, 2002
Brock Lesnar's first stint with WWE lasted for only a few years. From 2002-2004, the Beast Incarnate dominated the roster, laying out some of the greatest wrestlers in the promotion's history. Six months into his two-year run, Lesnar accidentally broke Hardcore Holly's neck.
While Brock picked Holly up for a powerbomb on an episode of SmackDown, Holly was unable to get up, leading to Lesnar accidentally dropping him right on his neck. Holly would be out of action for thirteen months. It's a heavily debated moment, with many fans claiming that Holly was sandbagging the young WWE Superstar. However, in an interview with Holly by All Things Wrestling Radio back in 2018, Holly stated that it couldn't be further from the truth:
"Things happen, and it just happened. The timing was off, and it wasn’t malicious, it wasn’t intended to happen, and Brock and I are good friends in and out of the ring,” said Holly. “So, we had a good working relationship. I enjoyed working with him. After it happened, he felt bad, and he called me after my surgery and he’d check on me periodically and see how I was doing. So, for these people that think they know what happened, they don’t." H/t courtesy of 411Mania
After over a year away, Holly returned at Survivor Series 2003, siding with Team Angle in an attempt to get revenge on Lesnar. Soon after, he'd get his shot at the WWE Champion at Royal Rumble 2004. Holly attempted to take Lesnar out before the bell rang for their match on January 25th that year, but Lesnar shook off the assault and destroyed Holly in six and a half minutes.
Three weeks later, Lesnar would lose the title to Eddie Guerrero at No Way Out.
#4. Randy Orton's outburst pays dividends almost a decade later: WWE Monday Night RAW January 11th, 2010
Nowadays, both Randy Orton and Kofi Kingston are veterans of the WWE locker room. These two Superstars are steering the younger generation down the right path, passing their wisdom onto those around them. Watching any interviews or other videos with Orton shows just how level-headed he is nowadays. It's interesting to see, especially if you compare him to his younger self.
Young Randy Orton was by many reports a hot-headed, arrogant, kid who demanded respect from everyone even if he hadn't earned it. That may seem harsh, but the man himself has stated this on a handful of occasions, most recently on an episode of ImPaulsive. In 2010, Orton's attitude was at an all-time high, and we saw that play out on live TV.
During a triple threat on RAW with Kofi Kingston and John Cena, Orton was set to win the bout by dropping the former with the dreaded Punt Kick. As Legacy laid out John Cena, Orton measured Kingston who...began to get to his feet. Orton pushed Kofi down again, but once again the young Superstar started to rise to his feet.
Orton can be heard in the video above shouting expletives as he pounds the mat to transition to the RKO. After hitting it, he screams, "Stupid! Stupid!" Now, before this match, Kofi was being booked as a future main eventer, and it's rumored that he was supposed to win Money in the Bank that year. However, this botched finish allegedly led to Kofi's quick plummet to the bottom of the roster. He'd eventually work his way back into the mid-card, but it would take nearly a decade for Kofi to sniff the WWE Championship again.
Oddly enough, by the time that moment came back up, Kofi Kingston was the one holding the WWE Championship, and the Viper was chasing. The "Stupid" moment was brought up several times throughout their feud, and their pre-match hype package revolved around that single moment.
KofiMania saw Kofi Kingston overcome Vince McMahon's old-school ways, winning the WWE Title despite all the roadblocks the former Chairman put in his way. But it was his feud with Randy Orton, leading to a victory at Clash of Champions 2019, that saw Kofi finally overcome that moment and prove that he was, indeed, on Orton's level.
It's a good thing his title reign ended with dignity and he didn't get trounced in under ten seconds on a random episode of SmackDow--oh... Well, we'll always have KofiMania.
#3. When the wrong woman won: WWE Monday Night RAW August 20th, 2012
In August of 2012, WWE held a battle royal to determine the next challenger for Layla's Divas Championship. What happened next would lead to the beginning of a push for someone who wasn't even supposed to win the match.
This was already a botched bout before the bell rang, as Kelly Kelly and Beth Phoenix were advertised for the match. Neither Kelly nor Phoenix were seen when the battle royal began. Instead, Aksana, Alicia Fox, Eve Torres, Natalya, Rosa Mendes, Tamina Snuka, and Kaitlyn battled for a shot at Layla. Originally, Eve Torres was supposed to leave with her head held high and her arm raised.
Unfortunately for Eve, it wasn't in the cards for her that night. Near the end of the match, it was down to her and Kaitlyn. As Eve Torres fought to throw Kaitlyn over the top rope, Kaitlyn escaped, sending her over with a clothesline instead. Eve was supposed to catch herself on the apron and win out, but her feet slipped instead, sending her crashing down to the floor.
In an interview with Ring The Belle, Kaitlyn recounts the moments following that match. You can check the full interview in the video above:
"It's so hard to watch because in that moment I was like, 'Oh my God, I'm gonna get fired.' That reaction from Layla was 100% real. She was like, 'This b****!'" -Kaitlyn [3:18-3:29]
Watching the match back, you can see that nobody around that ring expected that. Their expressions were priceless. They were less "Oh wow I don't believe it" and more "Oh this wasn't supposed to happen." Kaitlyn almost falls backward in disbelief, and the camera cuts to Layla's face as she's stunned by the moment.
Kaitlyn would not get her title match with Layla as Aksana would attack her on the night of her opportunity, leading to Eve Torres winning the title anyway. We'd learn eventually that Torres was the one that instructed Aksana to do so, and Kaitlyn would spend months getting revenge on Eve and finally taking the Divas Championship that she'd earned when she bested the champ on the 20th anniversary of RAW on January 14th, 2013.
#2. Owen Hart defangs The Rattlesnake: WWE SummerSlam 1997
Stone Cold Steve Austin was leading WWE through one of its greatest periods in the promotion's history in 1997. The Attitude Era was riding high, and it was the Rattlesnake's aggressive attitude towards his boss and his unpredictable nature that continued to draw fans back week in and week out.
In the summer that year, Austin began a heated rivalry with Owen Hart after he and Shawn Michaels of all people bested Hart and the British Bulldog for the WWE Tag Team Titles in May. While the championships were vacated when Michaels was suspended, Austin would win the belts in a match against the Hart Dynasty with surprise partner Dude Love. Austin would then go onto SummerSlam 1997 to challenge for Hart's Intercontinental Championship.
About fourteen matches into their intense clash, Owen spiked Austin with a sit-out piledriver. Austin clearly was not okay following the move, as he struggled to lift his arms off the mat. As Owen bought time by chirping with the fans, Austin managed to roll onto his knees and roll-up Hart with one of the worst pins you'll ever see. It's understandable, considering that Austin's neck was severely damaged.
Depending on who you talk to, or what year you speak to Austin, either his neck was broken or his spinal column was bruised. Regardless, it forced him to take time away, and due to the injury, Austin was forced to vacate both the Intercontinental Title and WWE Tag Team Titles.
While Austin remained on the shelf, he would appear on episodes of RAW looking to be cleared to get revenge on Hart, who had begun wearing "Owen 3:16 I Just Broke Your Neck" shirts. By Survivor Series that year, Austin had been cleared and once again faced Hart for the Intercontinental Championship. After overcoming a career-threatening injury, Austin put Owen down and won his second Intercontinental Championship.
#1. The Night The Man was made: WWE Monday Night RAW November 12, 2018
It's an obvious one, sure, but impossible to deny. It may go down as the greatest botched spot in pro wrestling history as far as what WWE managed to do afterward. Becky Lynch had recently turned heel in the Fall of 2018. She was reaching Stone Cold levels of pops around that time, and despite WWE trying to force fans to boo her, she soon turned into a mega babyface.
This new, cocky, frustrated Becky Lynch was a character change that fans loved, but there was always an issue regarding keeping that momentum on her. Heading into Survivor Series 2018, she was set to face RAW Women's Champion Ronda Rousey in a match she would surely lose. Ronda was on a dominant run, putting down multiple former champions, and it was clear WWE was about to feed their most popular star to Rousey to keep that train going.
In comes Nia Jax, who several months prior was RAW Women's Champion. She'd also turned heel close to this event, aligning with Tamina to form the Samoan Slaughterhouse. Nia had also won a title shot against Rousey and looked to dominate in the women's Survivor Series match that year to prove her domination before snapping Rousey like a twig and regaining her gold.
Six days before that event, SmackDown invaded RAW, leading to a massive brawl between the two women's rosters. Becky even got her hands on Rousey, trapping her in the Dis-arm-her as SmackDown's ladies rushed the ring. Eventually, Becky would join the fray, where she'd catch a stray punch to the nose, shattering it on live TV.
She fought through the pain, leading her roster on a rampage before escaping through the crowd when Rousey appeared. Not only was the picture of Becky Lynch smiling through a shattered face a star-making moment, but the injury actually saved Becky Lynch's match with Ronda Rousey for a later date.
Instead, Charlotte Flair would fill in for Becky, and Flair would lose via DQ at the event. Thanks to that punch, Nia Jax helped create the true image of The Man and managed to keep Lynch's momentum and popularity at a high by avoiding a catastrophic loss too early on.
