5 WWE matches that went off-script

On Monday Night RAW this week, the WWE RAW Women's Championship was on the line. Asuka defended her title against Mickie James in a great rematch from their NXT Women's Title bout we saw at NXT TakeOver: Toronto.

Unfortunately, this bout was overshadowed by the botched ending. It saw the referee call for the bell while James was attempting to escape the Asuka Lock. The WWE Universe was shocked, as were the competitors. Reportedly, the referee thought that James had been injured, which was why he made that decision.

The finish left us wondering about other matches that didn't exactly go according to plan, either ending with the wrong person winning or the planned finish of a match not working out correctly. Today we'll take a look at five moments where WWE matches went off-script.

We're starting the list off with a match that took place 12 years ago. It didn't just see a botched ending, but saw an employee fired because of it.

#5 Mark Henry/Matt Hardy vs. The Miz/John Morrison - WWE ECW 2008

Back in 2008, Matt Hardy and Mark Henry were feuding over the ECW Championship. On their way to SummerSlam that year, they were placed in a tag team match against John Morrison and The Miz. Near the end of the match, Hardy caught Morrison with an avalanche Side Effect.

Hardy got the pin, picking up the win for him and Henry. However, something was wrong, as Morrison had clearly kicked out before the three count. According to reports around the time of the match, The Miz had missed his cue, as he was supposed to break up the pin.

Unfortunately, this led to the firing of referee Wes Adams. Many in WWE at the time apparently felt that Adams was an unfortunate victim of circumstance

#4 Chris Jericho vs. Neville - WWE Monday Night RAW

A great match-up between two Superstars cut short by a nasty injury

Both of these wrestlers are now performing for All Elite Wrestling. However, back in 2016, both men were members of the WWE roster. PAC, under the name Neville, was taking on Chris Jericho on Monday Night RAW.

Everything was going well, with The Man That Gravity Forgot putting up a strong performance against the former Undisputed Champion. Unfortunately, Neville suffered a serious ankle injury, which forced Jericho to take action.

Jericho went to cover Neville early, hoping to quickly get him to the back to receive medical treatment. However, referee Charles Robinson hadn't noticed the injury. Knowing the planned finish, didn't count the pin even though Neville didn't kick out.

This led to a shoving match between Jericho and Robinson, which quickly saw the former get disqualified. The two were seen arguing for minutes, with Jericho upset at Robinson for not noticing Neville's injury.

Robinson would eventually appear on Talk is Jericho. He revealed to the WWE Universe that the situation was all water under the bridge soon after. However, it was definitely a situation that fans couldn't help but notice.

#3 Sheamus vs. John Cena - WWE TLC 2009

Sheamus had one of the greatest rookie years in WWE history. Maybe not as great as Ronda Rousey or Kurt Angle, but the Celtic Warrior put his name on the map in a short time. He captured the WWE Championship a mere 166 days between his main roster debut and WWE TLC.

As great an accomplishment as that was, it would've helped Sheamus' run had he not won the title off of what appeared to be a fluke. In fact, the finish of the match was so strange, many believed that he wasn't supposed to win.

At WWE TLC 2009, Sheamus faced John Cena for the WWE Championship in a Tables Match. It was actually a pretty exciting war between the two men. Seriously, go back and check it out when you get a chance. The issue came at the end of the night. There were two tables set up, one inside and one on the floor.

The plan, apparently, was to have both men fall through each table, leading to a murky finish but still having Sheamus's hand raised at the end. However, that didn't happen. Cena was clearly setting up to fall through the table in the ring, but the table on the floor was left on its side.

When Cena fell through his table, Sheamus attempted to do the same, falling off the turnbuckle to the outside. However, since it wasn't set up properly, it led to an awkward landing. Sheamus had a short reign with the WWE Championship. Almost forgetful. One has to wonder if this victory would've had more of an impact on the memory of the WWE Universe had it happened correctly.

#2 WWE Royal Rumble 2005

Yes, another John Cena match in WWE. This time, though, we're going all the way back to 2005, just before his meteoric rise into the man fans madly cheer and/or boo every time he steps foot inside a squared circle.

Leading up to the 2005 Royal Rumble, RAW and SmackDown were building up two new faces of their brands at the same time, something that's somewhat of a rarity in today's WWE.

Batista was the meathead powerhouse of Evolution, but was on the verge of breaking away. Cena had captured the hearts of the younger generation of fans with his rapping gimmick and time with the WWE United States Championship.

It all came to a head at the 2005 Royal Rumble, with both Superstars, about to break out into legends in the company, were the last two men in the match. Batista had set Cena up for a Batista Bomb, but he fought his way to the ropes. Then, Cena managed to bring Batista over the top and to the floor with them.

Cena and Batista hit the floor at the exact same time. Going back and looking at slow-motion replays, they'd landed in sync with one another.

This led to referees from both brands raising the hands of their respective competitor before Vince McMahon came to the ring, visibly upset. As if this botched finish wasn't bad enough, McMahon also managed to blow out both quads on his way to the ring. It saw him sitting in the corner like a spoiled child while the events played out before him.

The match was restarted and Batista slammed Cena with a spinebuster before dumping him to the floor. Batista was always meant to win, of course, but it was a heck of a detour that we had to take thanks to sheer dumb luck.

#1 The Montreal Screwjob - WWE Survivor Series 1997

It's impossible to do a list like this without bringing up The Montreal Screwjob. Arguably the most infamous match to ever take place in WWE, Shawn Michaels faced Bret Hart at Survivor Series in 1997.

Hart was on his way out of the company, but was the WWE, then WWF Champion. Vince McMahon had tried to talk Hart into dropping the title to Michaels at Survivor Series. However, The Hitman, after years of bad blood between himself and Michaels, just couldn't do it. He definitely couldn't do it in Montreal of all places.

Hart had promised to come back the next night on RAW to handle it. Whether he'd hand the title over to Vince or drop it to someone else, no one is entirely sure. However, that was the deal that he'd worked out with Vince. That wasn't the plan that the boss wanted to go through with, though.

After all, he'd had his former wrestlers appear on WCW the day after contracts expired with the chance to cut scathing promos on WWE. Notoriously, Medusa had gone to WCW still with the WWF Women's Championship and dumped it into a trash can on screen.

Vince just couldn't trust Bret Hart. It was that simple, and it led to, of course, one of the worst moments in Hart's career. During the match with HBK, Michaels locked Hart in the Sharpshooter. McMahon demanded referee Earl Hebner call for the bell, and he did, claiming that Hart had submitted.

The rest is history. Hart left to join WCW while WWE found their greatest heel in Mr. McMahon.

Edited by Alex Turk