Botches are a common occurence. Unfortunately, these aren't good to happen. It can have a tremendous effect. To be clear, a botch refers to a failed attempt to perform a scripted move or missing a line by mistake during a promo. Generally, a botch in WWE could happen by mistake, miscalculation and error or through mis-judgment.
To the naked eye, a particular action/result might be expected. However, backstage, things can get ugly. Everything in wrestling is scripted. When you go off script, there's no telling what can happen. There numerous occasions as to when these have happened.
Kurt Angle vs. Brock Lesnar (WWE WrestleMania XIX)
The main event of WrestleMania XIX is one of the great headlining bouts in the event’s history, with rising star, Brock Lesnar, dethroning established talent, Kurt Angle, to win his second WWE Championship. Looming over the bout is it's reputation for having one of the most unfortunate botches and at the finish of the match no less. Lesnar climbed the top rope to do a Shooting Star Press, a move he was able to pull off in developmental but failed to pull off the rotation; nearly breaking his neck in the process. With the move messed up, Angle and Lesnar had to scramble to an unplanned finish.
Ronda Rousey vs. Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair (WWE WrestleMania XXXV)
The landmark main event, the first time women headlined the show, had a lot of problems leading up to it; like an overwrought build where Charlotte Flair was shoehorned into the Becky Lynch/Ronda Rousey feud.
The match itself was very good and gave Lynch a much-needed win but, unfortunately, it was overshadowed by the botched finish where Ronda Rousey wasn't able to get both her shoulders down for a pin. It totally muddled Becky’s big moment.
Aleister Black vs. Lars Sullivan (NXT TakeOver: Chicago II)
Lars Sullivan’s last major match in WWE was at the second NXT TakeOver: Chicago, where he challenged Aleister Black for the NXT Championship in what was thankfully not the main event of the show (that was the Johnny Gargano/Tommaso Ciampa street fight). Sullivan and Black put on what’s likely the former’s best singles match ever, as the champ was forced to fight out from under the dominant monster heel. Unfortunately, the only thing most fans remember about this was the ridiculously botched Black Mass, where the timing was off and Sullivan had barely seemed like he was getting in position while Black delivered the kick.
Mickie James vs. Asuka (WWE Raw, 14 September 2020)
So much of Mickie James' last WWE run involved her being made fun of for her age. The first run was about her weight but the story around her shot at Asuka’s Raw Women’s Title had a solid story behind it; with the veteran James wanting to prove she’s still got it. The match was just as solid.
This is especially as Raw TV matches go but the outing got derailed by the referee thinking that James legitimately got knocked out and calling for the bell prematurely. The botched decision baffled viewers, the commentators and the wrestlers themselves, giving the match a surprising level of infamy.
Roman Reigns vs. Kevin Owens (Royal Rumble 2021)
Everyman babyface (good guy), Kevin Owens' late 2020/early 2021 title feud with Universal Champion, Roman Reigns, culminated with a Last Man Standing match at Royal Rumble that was full of fun plunder attacks, Owens jumping off of something high and an attempted murder via a golf cart.
Many fans failed to get behind it in the end thanks to an unfortunate mishap during a spot where Reigns was handcuffed, thus preventing him from standing up. The idea was that manager, Paul Heyman, would unlock the cuffs to help his client win but Heyman had so much trouble unlocking it that the referee actually had to stop the count, disrupting the entire premise of the match.
The 2005 Royal Rumble match (Royal Rumble 2005)
Typically a 30-man affair, the average WWE Royal Rumble has lots of moving parts, so there's a number of things that could go wrong. The 2005 edition had lots of things go right but one major thing went wrong - the finish. When it came down to the final two, Batista was meant to eliminate Cena but something went wrong and both ended up falling out of the ring at the same time.
This resulted in a draw. This forced backstage officials to come out, deliberately and the match was ultimately resumed; with Batista throwing Cena over the top rope.
In a hilarious sidenote, Mr. McMahon tore both quads slidding into the ring to sort out the mess.
Owen Hart vs. Steve Austin (WWE SummerSlam1997)
This is not only one of those matches where the botch ruined the bout but one that likely changed wrestling history. Owen Hart defended his Intercontinental Championship (IC) against Steve Austin in what was shaping up to be a very good match but a botched piledriver would legitimately injure Austin’s neck, sending the bout completely off the rails. Austin would limp to an IC Title win but would have to vacate due to his injury. Years down the line, neck issues would force him to retire fairly early in his career in 2003.
A popular place for botched moments are the Royal Rumble match eliminations:
Randy Savage
The Royal Rumble was only four years old at the time of this huge botch, so perhaps the Macho Man wasn't yet familiar with the rules. Only that reason can explain why Savage inexplicably eliminated himself in 1992 by jumping off the top rope to the outside.
He had already turfed out rival Jake Roberts from the match when he made the move to attack 'The Snake' some more. By WWE's own rules, he was now out as well, but Savage sneakily re-entered the contest without any protests from the referees.
Gorilla Monsoon attempted to explain on commentary that you can't eliminate yourself from the match - but considering that very thing had happened in Rumbles prior, the excuse fell flat.
Stone Cold
Before Steve Austin took over the mantle as the Rattlesnake, he arrived in WWE as the Ringmaster. However, his 1996 Rumble exit showed he wasn't quite the master inside the ropes his gimmick suggested. Having entered at number 24, Austin was meant to be involved in the finale of the match before a crucial mistake saw him eliminated early.
"I was supposed to be the fourth guy left, and my first year in the company, that's a pretty good push," Austin said on his podcast. "I was doing a spot. I believe it was with Fatu [Rikishi], one of the Samoans. Man, he had a lot of baby oil on and all the guys were oiled up so the ropes were very slippery."
"I was going to do a deal where he does something to me and I was going to take a bump over the top, hang onto the top rope and come back in the bottom [rope]. "Well zip, zip, boom, I lost my grip and fell out on my butt by the guardrail. I thought, 'Oh man, I'm the new guy in the company. They're trying to give me a little bit of a push here by being the fourth-last guy and I blow it."
Luckily for fans everywhere, the mistake didn't prove too costly as Austin became Stone Cold later that year and went on to win three Royal Rumble matches.
Alex Riley
The Miz's former protege was being groomed for a major push in WWE but his 2011 botch seriously hampered his career. Having come into that year's Rumble with the honour of eliminating John Cena, Riley inadvertently suffered a role reversal in the match.
After a spot in the corner in which 16-time champion Cena and Kofi Kingston threw him over the top rope, Riley missed the chance to grab the bottom rope on his way down and fell to the floor. Cena's look of stunned disbelief was obvious and referees later had to pass him secret messages to explain the contingency plan for his own elimination.
Has a wrestler ever won the Royal Rumble by accident? Yes and that honour goes to the Big Show - even if WWE still refuse to recognise him as the victor in their record books!
In an eerily similar scenario to Cena and Batista, the pair of The Rock and The Big Show found themselves tangled in a mess, except their feet didn't touch the mat at the same time. The planned finish was supposed to have Show carry Rock on his shoulders before the latter could pull down the top rope and use the big man's momentum to flip him over and out.
To their credit, the writers backstage turned the furore into a storyline and had Show prove that he was the rightful winner which led to a match at next month's No Way Out pay-per-view.
The record still shows Rock wrongly as the 2000 Rumble victor.
Drew McIntyre
Now, for the inspiration behind this post. In the now concluded Royal Rumble match of 2025, McIntyre was eliminated a little later than planned. Drew McIntyre was reportedly unhappy following the 2025 men's Royal Rumble match, with lingering questions surrounding the reasons behind his frustration. McIntyre was visibly upset as he stormed through the Gorilla position, expressing his discontent, although the specifics were unclear.
Pwinsider is reporting that McIntyre's elimination was supposed to happen earlier than it did but several factors disrupted the timing cues. Sources suggest that a spot would’ve seen McIntyre get tossed out before having a staredown with Damian Priest. This spot was supposed to occur before Logan Paul made his entrance.
The plan was for McIntyre to toss out Jey Uso as a teased elimination spot, after which Priest would eliminate Drew to kick off their feud leading into WrestleMania 41.
The report mentions that, "several sequences involving LA Knight, including one with Roman Reigns, took far longer than planned or expected." A production source stated that those in the ring needed a moment to regain their timing. Paul’s entrance then further delayed the sequence.
After Paul entered the ring, he and Knight executed their planned spots but Knight accidentally collided with McIntyre, Priest and Uso, interrupting their momentum and resulting in the awkward-looking elimination.
This explains why McIntyre was ranting backstage about someone, "having to get their moves in" at the expense of the stories being told in the Royal Rumble match.
To me, botches tend to happen more often than told. Just like everyone else, I believe that everything that happens is how it was supposed to go. To avoid further botches, I suggest further Choreography training to avoid angry outbursts and tantrums.