10 Times WWE Stars Were Furious After Botches
Randy Orton
10. CM Punk vs. Jey Uso at Saturday Night's Main Event
During their match for the vacant World Heavyweight Championship on the November 1, 2025 segment of Saturday Night's Main Event, CM Punk’s frustration grew rapidly due to what he viewed as Jey Uso’s “substandard performance.” Uso looked blown up, struggled with basic timing, and botched a straightforward neckbreaker by over-rotating and landing chest-first instead of on his back. Punk immediately rose to his feet, stomped Uso in a shoot strike out of sheer irritation, and then executed the neckbreaker correctly. Still angered, Punk walked to the timekeeper’s area, grabbed a bottle of water, and poured it on Uso in an attempt to wake him up and get him back into rhythm.
9. Bret Hart vs. British Bulldog at SummerSlam 1992
At SummerSlam 1992, Bret Hart encountered an unexpected issue with Davey Boy Smith, who had not trained properly and was physically drained going into the match. When Hart applied a sleeper hold, Smith was supposed to stay in the hold longer to build tension, but instead he reached the ropes “a little too quickly,” breaking the spot before Hart wanted it. Already annoyed with Smith’s condition, Hart responded with two firm kicks to the side of Smith’s face before sending him off the ropes to redo the sleeper sequence the way he originally planned.
8. Rico and Jeff Hardy at Survivor Series 2002
During the six-man tag team tables match at Survivor Series 2002 in Madison Square Garden, Rico climbed the top rope for a moonsault intended to drive Bubba Ray Dudley through a table. The planned spot required Jeff Hardy to pull the top rope so Rico would crotch himself. However, Hardy was nowhere to be found at the critical moment. Stranded on the top rope with no movement from his partner, Rico loudly shouted, “Come on, Jeff. God damn it!” while buying time by pretending to lose his balance. Hardy eventually arrived and the sequence continued, but not before Rico’s irritation had become obvious to everyone in the arena.
7. Trish Stratus vs. Jackie Gayda on Monday Night Raw
On the July 8, 2002 episode of Raw, Trish Stratus teamed with Jackie Gayda, who had just come off Tough Enough and had very limited in-ring experience. As expected, the match quickly deteriorated. Nearly every planned exchange went wrong, including strikes, transitions, and a second-rope diving bulldog that was badly misjudged and became one of the most famously botched moves in Raw history. Stratus was visibly furious as the match fell apart around her, and by the end she was seething at the multitude of errors. Gayda was said to be extremely upset backstage due to how poorly the entire segment unfolded.
6. Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio at SummerSlam 2005
During their custody-of-Dominic ladder match at SummerSlam 2005, Eddie Guerrero placed Rey Mysterio beneath a ladder and was poised to climb up and retrieve the briefcase. This moment was specifically designed to cue Vicki Guerrero to run out and interfere. But she missed her cue entirely. With Eddie seconds away from grabbing the briefcase, Mysterio had no choice but to improvise by reaching up and dragging Eddie down, causing him to take a rough and awkward fall. Frustrated by both the landing and the missed timing, Eddie began shouting angrily at referee Charles Robinson, yelling, “Where the f*** was Vicki?” while pounding the mat repeatedly.
5. The Undertaker vs. Goldberg at Super Showdown 2019
At Super Showdown 2019, Goldberg’s night unraveled after he concussed himself by ramming into the ring post. Despite the injury, he attempted to continue, leading to a disastrous moment when he lifted The Undertaker for a jackhammer but dropped him directly on his head and neck. The move essentially became a brain-buster, narrowly avoiding serious injury. The Undertaker looked visibly shaken and furious, and the rest of the match was tense as he tried to safely navigate the remaining minutes despite the near-catastrophic mistake.
4. Shawn Michaels vs. Vader at SummerSlam 1996
In the SummerSlam 1996 main event, Shawn Michaels had designed a sequence in which he would leap off the top rope for an elbow drop, see Vader move out of the way mid-air, land on his feet, and transition. Vader, however, failed to move at all. Michaels was forced to land awkwardly with no opponent repositioning, making the planned spot look senseless. Michaels exploded immediately, kicking Vader in the face and yelling “Move!” in front of the entire audience. He later acknowledged that his reaction was unprofessional but insisted the mistake threw him off completely.
3. The Rock vs. Kurt Angle at No Way Out 2001
At No Way Out 2001, the finish of the WWE Championship match became chaotic when senior referee Earl Hebner failed to count a clear three after The Rock hit Kurt Angle with the Rock Bottom. Hebner insisted that Angle had somehow gotten his shoulder up, even though the replay showed otherwise. Upset that the planned finish had been disrupted, The Rock delivered another Rock Bottom and shouted, “Count the effing finish at Hebner!” He continued to show his frustration after the bell and refused to let Hebner raise his hand as champion.
2. Randy Orton vs. Drew McIntyre on SmackDown
On the September 12, 2025 edition of SmackDown, tensions flared when Drew McIntyre slammed Randy Orton in a way that made Orton’s leg bounce off the ropes unexpectedly. Orton immediately rolled out of the ring and began no-selling McIntyre’s follow-up punches, throwing his hands up and even gesturing to a ringside fan as if confused by what had just happened. Still irritated, he shouted, “Twenty-five goddamn years and no one’s ever slammed me against the goddamn ropes!” He expressed his displeasure for the rest of the match.
1. Randy Orton’s in the late 2000s
Randy Orton’s history includes several notorious outbursts connected to botches. During a 10-man tag match, he confronted Ken Kennedy after believing Kennedy had dropped him too high on his back and shoulders during a back suplex — a perception that contributed to Vince McMahon firing Kennedy, even though video evidence indicated the move was executed normally. Orton also erupted when Kofi Kingston forgot he was supposed to succumb to a running punt rather than an RKO, yelling “stupid, stupid” repeatedly before pinning him and effectively ending Kingston’s push. Another example came at WrestleMania 25, when Orton became irritated after the pyro failed to ignite both the first and second time he performed his mandatory sign-point following his 2009 Royal Rumble victory.
