Botch (professional wrestling)

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, a miscalculation, or a slip-up. Most botches are harmless, such as a wrestler falling backwards before his opponent's foot actually touches his face, inciting the fans to chant "You fucked up!". But some botches are extremely dangerous and can end a wrestler's career on the spot; for example, former WWE wrestler D'Lo Brown once botched a powerbomb on his opponent Darren Drozdov, resulting in Drozdov being paralyzed from the waist down. Botches can even end a wrestler's life; Owen Hart died during a WWE pay-per-view event when he fell nearly 80 feet into the ring when a safety harness supporting him during his ring entrance failed. The only reason TV viewers did not see Hart's death was because the director had cut away to a pre-taped promo.

Some of the most memorable botches were:

• Kevin Nash did his trademark Jacknife powerbomb on Paul Wight (then known as The Giant, now known as The Big Show), but could not perform the move properly due to Wight's weight and dropped him on his neck.

• Japanese wrestler Hayabusa botched a moonsault bouncing off the ropes and landed on his head, severely injuring himself.

• Chris Benoit botched a German Suplex on Sabu (some fans believe it was Sabu who botched the move by flipping himself too far) and the latter broke his neck. This incident earned Benoit the nickname "The Crippler".

• Triple H performed his finishing move, the Pedigree, on jobber Marty Garner. Garner thought Triple H was attempting a suplex and assisted him by jumping. Triple H dropped him on his head almost vertically.

• Owen Hart performed his Owendriver finisher, a belly-to-belly piledriver in which Hart fell into a sitting position, on Stone Cold Steve Austin. Austin, mistakenly thinking that Hart would fall to his knees, took the bump improperly and broke his neck. This was the turning point of Austin's career; the continuing pain from this injury eventually led to his current semi-retirement.

See also: professional wrestling slang