5 Wild In-Ring Wrestling Botches That Live In Infamy (& 5 That Are Forgotten)

While pro wrestling matches can be meticulously planned out, no amount of scripting can account for Murphy’s Law. Pretty much anything can go wrong at any time in a match and lead to a botch — the insider term for mistakes. Botches can include a wrestler tripping, mistiming a move, miscommunicating with their opponent, or even straight-up messing up a maneuver, which can lead to serious injury.

There are some well-known botches that have gone down in history — either because they were particularly devastating or egregious — but there are even more that have gone somewhat forgotten, only remembered by the most hardcore of fans. Let’s take a look at five of each, from WWE and beyond.

10 Infamy: Cameron Forgets How To Pin

The Move Itself Was Executed Just Fine

Match	Event	Date	Location
Naomi vs. Cameron	WWE Monday Night Raw	9/15/2014	Lafayette, Louisiana

From 2012 to 2014, Naomi and Cameron were The Funkadactyls, the backup dancers to the vaguely dinosaur-themed dancing babyface Funkasaurus, Brodus Clay. However, by 2014, the act was no more, and Cameron had turned heel on Naomi. During a brief match between the two on Monday Night Raw, Cameron ensured her dubious place in wrestling history by doing a split on top of Naomi’s back and demanding that the referee count the pin despite her opponent needing to be on her back. To make matters worse, Cameron actually turned Naomi onto her back before attempting the pin.

9 Forgotten: Alex Koslov Botches A Dive

The Rest Of The Wrestlers Sold The Dive Anyway

NJPW King of Pro Wrestling 2014: Alex Koslov dive botch in Time Splitters vs. The Young Bucks vs. Forever Hooligans

Match	Event	Date	Location
Time Splitters vs. The Young Bucks vs. Forever Hooligans	NJPW King Of Pro-Wrestling	10/13/2014	Tokyo, Japan

Die-hard wrestling fans often hail New Japan Pro-Wrestling as providing some of the best wrestling in the world, but even a promotion with high-quality matches isn’t immune to mistakes. In October 2014 — coincidentally, a month after the aforementioned Cameron botch — a three-way match for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship involved a spot where Forever Hooligans’ Alex Koslov attempted a top-rope move onto the rest of the competitors, but ended getting his foot tangled in the ropes. While his tag team partner Rocky Romero rushed to check on Koslov, their opponents instinctively fell down, selling the move that didn’t happen.

8 Infamy: Owen Hart Injures Steve Austin’s Neck

This Piledriver Changed The Course Of History

Owen Hart vs. Steve Austin piledriver botch

Match	Event	Date	Location
Owen Hart vs. Steve Austin	WWE SummerSlam	8/3/1997	East Rutherford, New Jersey

A year after the legendary “Austin 3:16” promo in 1996, Stone Cold Steve Austin was en route to being a wildly popular babyface, and was set to dethrone Owen Hart and become the new Intercontinental Champion at SummerSlam. Austin emerged from that match the winner, but it didn’t go quite as planned.

A botched piledriver caused Austin to sustain a pretty severe neck injury, forcing the two to improvise a different finish. As a result of his injury, Austin not only had to vacate the title, but ended up retiring from in-ring competition six years later due to the injury.

7 Forgotten: Edge Injures Jose Estrada’s Neck

An Unfortunate Botch In Edge’s WWE Debut

Match	Event	Date	Location
Edge vs. Jose Estrada	WWE Raw Is War	6/22/1998	Austin, Texas

Modern fans know Edge — now working under his real name, Adam Copeland, in AEW — as a WWE Hall of Famer and decorated champion, a career that’s overshadowed the unfortunate botch in his debut. In June 1998, Edge made his televised WWE debut, taking on former Los Boricuas member Jose Estrada. Unfortunately, the match only lasted a minute, as it had to be cut short due to a botched dive that caused Estrada to injure his neck, forcing the wrestler into an early retirement.

6 Infamy: Joey Mercury’s Face Explodes

A Jeff Hardy Ladder Spot Resulted In A Bloody Mess

Match	Event	Date	Location
Brian Kendrick & Paul London vs. Dave Taylor & William Regal vs. MNM vs. The Hardys	WWE Armageddon	12/17/2006	Richmond, Virginia

The four-way ladder match for Brian Kendrick and Paul London’s WWE Tag Team Championship at Armageddon 2006 is a real barn-burner, but it also features one of the gnarliest botches in WWE history. A botched ladder spot resulted in Joey Mercury of MNM getting his face broken by said ladder, turning into a bloody mess. It's a wild sight, but it also has a much darker side, as Mercury got addicted to painkillers as a result of the injury.

5 Forgotten: Rob Van Dam Crushes Triple H’s Throat

A Frog Splash Went Wrong In An Elimination Chamber Match

Match	Event	Date	Location
Triple H vs. Booker T vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho vs. Kane vs. Rob Van Dam	WWE Survivor Series	11/17/2002	New York City, New York

The first-ever Elimination Chamber match in 2002 saw Shawn Michaels emerging as the new World Heavyweight Champion after defeating Triple H, but “The Heartbreak Kid” wasn’t involved in this notable but somewhat forgotten botch. Before he was ultimately eliminated by Booker T, Rob Van Damhad the opportunity to execute his signature Five-Star Frog Splash on defending champion Triple H. However, the high spot went wrong, as RVD landed awkwardly on the champ, driving his knee into Trips’ throat.

4 Infamy: The Entire Finish Of Royal Rumble 2005

A Freak Injury Followed A Botched Finish

Match	Event	Date	Location
2005 Royal Rumble	WWE Royal Rumble	1/30/2005	Fresno, California

With a lineup of 20 to 40 competitors, the Royal Rumble by its very nature has a ton of moving parts, so there are a lot of chances for things to go awry. But a Rumble has never gone awry quite like it did in 2005. The finish was supposed to involve finalists Batista and John Cena getting eliminated at the same time, but with Batista narrowly edging out Cena for the win. That didn’t work out, however, as both men hit the floor at the same time.

The match was ultimately restarted with Batista tossing out Cena, but not before an absurd freak injury went down. As WWE officials rushed to the ring to figure out how to rectify the bungled finish, Vince McMahon managed to tear both of his quads while trying to enter the ring.

3 Forgotten: Roderick Strong Eats A Nasty Styles Clash

Roddy Was Part Of A String Of Botched Styles Clashes

AJ Styles Styles Clash on Roderick Strong

Match	Event	Date	Location
AJ Styles vs. Roderick Strong	ROH Wrestling	2/1/2014	Nashville, Tennessee

AJ Styles’ shocking departure from TNA in 2014 resulted in “The Phenomenal One” not only becoming a star in New Japan Pro-Wrestling, but also returning to his old stomping ground, Ring of Honor. There, in his debut match, he took on ROH staple Roderick Strong in a singles match on the promotion’s weekly show, putting away Strong with his signature Styles Clash. However, the move went wrong, as Strong was planted awkwardly on his head. Roddy wasn’t severely injured, but the moment was one of many incidents involving the move, which resulted in at least one broken neck.

2 Infamy: Brock Lesnar Botches A Shooting Star Press On The Biggest Stage Possible

Lesnar Attempted The High-Flying Move On Kurt Angle

Match	Event	Date	Location
Kurt Angle vs. Brock Lesnar	WWE WrestleMania 19	3/30/2003	Seattle, Washington

WrestleMania 19 was a standout show in the history of the event, main eventing with “next big thing” Brock Lesnar defeating established star Kurt Angle to win the WWE Championship. Unfortunately, the finish didn’t go quite as planned. With Angle on the mat, Brock opted for a Shooting Star Press, a move he regularly pulled out during his days in developmental. Of course, on the biggest stage possible and in front of the largest crowd possible, the move went wrong, and Brock practically landed on his head, forcing Lesnar and Angle to scramble to a finish.

1 Forgotten: The Great Sasuke Botches A Springboard

Jushin Thunder Liger Immediately Razzed His Opponent In Response

Match	Event	Date	Location
The Great Sasuke vs. Jushin Thunder Liger	NJPW Super J Cup ~1st Stage~	4/16/1994	Tokyo, Japan

While a guy the size of Brock Lesnar botching a high-flying move seems obvious, even known high-flyers can make mistakes. In the semifinals of the 1994 Super J Cup tournament, The Great Sasuke messed up a move in a botch that might be well-known to die-hard Japanese wrestling fans, but maybe not to the average Western fan. While on the apron, Sasuke attempted a Springboard maneuver on Jushin Thunder Liger only to slip on the ropes and fall face-first in the ring. Liger sarcastically clapped in response, but Sasuke recovered, cleverly taking advantage with a Hurricanrana pinning combination to get a surprise win.