Wrestlers are always looking to top each every time they step out into the ring, and that is especially true when it comes to gimmick matches. Talent are always placing in crazy spots that don't truly need to happen, putting their lives on the line for the entertainment of the audience.
They do it to put on the best matches possible, but it can lead to some issues when wrestlers take risks that they don't need to. Certain spots can be put in safely without being over the top, but that isn't the case for every match, as certain wrestlers (even in major promotions like WWE and AEW) throw in major risks when they're not necessary.
10 Sammy Guevara Spears Matt Hardy (AEW All Out, 2020)
Sammy Guevara's feud with Matt Hardy was a complete disaster from start to finish as it featured tons of botches and issues throughout it. However, the worst of the bunch came from their All Out match, which saw Matt suffer a very serious head injury as he ended up bouncing off concrete.
The two men brawled on top of a lift as Sammy then Speared Hardy off to the floor, which was supposed to go through a table. But there was nothing underneath to protect them, and then they overshot it, which meant Matt just hurt his head in a spot that wasn't needed. The fact that the match continued just made things worse.
9 Kane Rolls Zack Ryder Off The Stage (Raw, 2/13/12)
This storyline destroyed Zack Ryder's push, despite the fact he was one of the top stars at the company during this point in time. During an episode of Raw, Kane ended up pushing him off the stage while Ryder was in a wheelchair, which was certainly an impressive-looking bump.
Normally WWE would put some mats down underneath to protect the talent, especially since Ryder had no way of protecting himself. But that wasn't the case here, and instead, he just landed directly on the concrete, which was a bump he did not need to take.
8 Kurt Angle Wants To Break The Glass (King Of The Ring, 2001)
The King of the Ring match between Kurt Angle and Shane McMahon is an iconic one that nobody will forget, but it did see them take some unnecessary bumps. They had decided to go through the glass in the stage, which looked great, and WWE was supposed to gimmick it, so the bump would be easy.
That wasn't the case, and because they were tired and Angle was already injured it led to the bumps not working. They didn't go through the glass straight away, and that led to Kurt having to throw him several times, which saw Shane hurt himself.
7 Brock Lesnar Busts Randy Orton Open (SummerSlam, 2016)
WWE is always looking for slightly different finishes to its matches and at SummerSlam, 2016 they tried that out between Brock Lesnar and Randy Orton. This saw a technical knockout take place as Brock pummeled the Viper with legitimate elbow strikes to the top of his head.
This saw Orton's head bust wide open with tons of blood pouring out which created a visual that didn't truly work in a PG world. It was a risky spot as far as Orton's health goes, and wasn't truly necessary to the match itself.
6 Shawn Spears Hits A Chair Shot On Cody Rhodes (AEW Fyter Fest, 2019)
Chair shots to the head are something that have happened countless times in wrestling, especially during the Attitude Era. However, considering the knowledge everyone has about concussions they are not a bump that any wrestler needs to take, which is why this spot shouldn't have happened.
Shawn Spears nailed Cody Rhodes with a chair shot directly to the head without any protection taking place. The chair was supposed to be gimmicked, but things went wrong, and it ended with Rhodes getting badly bust open, which shouldn't have taken place.
5 Mankind Takes Multiple Shots To The Head (Royal Rumble, 1999)
Cody Rhodes only took one unprotected chair shot in his moment of madness, but at the 1999 Royal Rumble, Mankind took 11. Granted, people didn't know as much about concussions then, but it was still clearly not a good idea to have 11 unprotected shots to the head from a steel chair.
The fact that Mankind was handcuffed during all of this made the whole situation even worse, because there was no way of him being able to protect himself in the slightest. It's one of the scariest series of bumps in wrestling history and something that went past being entertaining.
4 Mankind Goes Through Hell (King Of The Ring, 1998)
The Hell in a Cell match between The Undertaker and Mankind is a legendary one, mainly because of the masked wrestler being launched off the roof. While some could argue that spot shouldn't have happened, at least he had a table to break his fall.
However, that should have been the end of the match as the spectacle was more than enough, and Mankind's body had withstood enough punishment. He should not have gone back up to then be put through the roof, only to bump down to the mat, which was a ridiculously dangerous bump, even though they didn't expect the steel to snap.
3 A Dangerous Dropkick (Bound For Glory, 2008)
TNA saw some crazy bumps take place over the years and at Bound For Glory in 2008 one of the wildest happened for no real reason. Sting and Samoa Joe were brawling on the stairs when Joe decided to leap from a barricade into the stairs to deliver a diving dropkick, which seems simple enough.
However, it led to Joe's back landing directly onto the stairs which was a serious bump to take for the sake of a dropkick. Considering all the fans were in the way, the move couldn't even be seen properly by the camera, which is why it wasn't worthwhile.
2 Major War Games Bump (NXT TakeOver: WarGames, 2019)
WarGames matches often lead to dangerous risks being taken, and there is often a huge spot taking place to finish it. In 2019, Tommaso Ciampa and Adam Cole were involved in that as they got to the top of the structure and leaped down, crashing through a table to finish.
The move saw Ciampa set Cole up for the Air Raid Crash, which was a blind bump that brought real risk. Considering Ciampa had just returned from a serious neck injury, this was something that wasn't necessary.
1 Taking A Flight (AEW Blood & Guts, 2021)
Darby Allin often takes some unnecessary bumps to pop the crowd and get a reaction, and that was the case at Blood & Guts. He wasn't even competing in a match, yet he still took an insane spot where Ethan Page and Scorpio Sky threw him down the stairs.
He went down several flights with nothing to protect him, as Allin fully committed to the bump which was a huge spot. It was an unnecessary bump to not even be in a match, which was a questionable decision.