The wrestling business is an extremely difficult profession to pick up right away. Wrestlers who train at schools learn the importance of the basics. One thing that wrestlers should try to figure out early in the game is how to create and execute a move set that does not result in too many mistakes. If you’re pulling off a move every night you wrestle, the chances are that you should know to deliver it without messing up too often. However, there is also the fact that perfection can’t always exist in the ring. No wrestler has gone their entire career without making at least a couple of small mistakes.
The combination of the physical action and the performance aspect can lead to wrestlers having an error go down during a match. Fans love watching the botches now online with many popular videos showcasing these moments. Some wrestlers would just happen to have mistakes in their matches more common than their peers. Meanwhile, there were also the wrestlers that had reputations for always executing with near perfection in the ring.
We will look at both sides when it comes to wrestlers both messing up and being almost flawless during their matches. Find out just which legends you love made mistakes and which did not. These are ten legendary wrestlers that constantly messed up their moves along with ten that looked flawless inside the squared circle.
20 Messed up: Jeff Hardy
Jeff Hardy is a legendary wrestler that will be remembered for his great daredevil moves. However, the nature of the high-risk moves often led to mistakes. Hardy is fondly viewed as a great at executing such maneuvers. That doesn’t mean he didn’t botch quite a bit during his younger years.
There are many mistakes in Hardy’s matches throughout the years. Quite a few of them resulted in him feeling more pain than he should have. One of the memorable errors came in an embarrassing Tables Match at Survivor Series 2002 when he teamed with Bubba Ray and Spike Dudley vs Rico and 3-Minute Warning. Rico was visibly upset with Jeff at one point in the match.
19 Was flawless: Randy Savage
Randy Savage was regarded as a nearly perfect professional wrestler during his time on top. WWE valued Savage as the second biggest star in the company behind Hulk Hogan. Savage took the profession seriously and always tried to execute to the best of his ability.
There weren’t too many high risks in Savage’s move set, but the elbow drop was one of the rare moves from the top rope at the time. Many great matches came from Savage with no flaws in the storytelling. The classic WrestleMania III match with Ricky Steamboat being such a masterpiece helped the industry move forward thanks to Savage’s genius.
18 Messed up: Kevin Nash
The career of Kevin Nash is remembered for his main event runs in WWE and WCW. Nash was one of the few wrestlers to win both the WWE Championship and WCW Championship during the Monday Night War era. There were many mistakes to come from Nash in the ring when executing his moves.
Nash once dropped The Giant aka Big Show right on his head with the Powerbomb finisher in WCW. Many feared Giant’s career would end, but it luckily was not too serious. Nash also sustained a few brutal injuries on his own. He did have a great career despite not being the smoothest in the ring.
17 Was flawless: Kurt Angle
Kurt Angle's in-ring work at his best was unlike anyone else of his time. Angle picked up the wrestling world quickly after Vince McMahon signed him after he won an Olympic gold medal. The legitimacy of Angle would allow him to win the WWE Championship within one year on the main roster during the most competitive time in WWE history.
Angle had incredible matches and pushed the limit to take his work to another level. The superb moments from Angle’s career feature classics against the likes of Shawn Michaels, Brock Lesnar, Rey Mysterio, and many others. Angle clearly was made for the wrestling industry as he was nearly perfect inside of the squared circle.
16 Messed up: Lita
The Women’s Division started to move forward in the early 2000s, thanks to Trish Stratus and Lita. Many ladies tried to show more action in the ring. The problem is most of them did not get the wrestling training as extensively as the ladies of today training at the Performance Center.
Lita tried to learn new moves on the fly, and it led to a lot of mistakes. The dives through the ropes would sometimes feature painful moments for Lita and her opponents. Lita is known for using the moonsault as her finisher. Most instances of her delivering the move led to huge success, but there were enough mistakes to show it wasn’t always perfect execution from the Hall of Famer.
15 Was flawless: Ted DiBiase
Ted DiBiase is among the most underrated wrestlers of the '80s. His heel work as the Million Dollar Man was as impressive as Hulk Hogan or Randy Savage was in the face role. DiBiase never winning the WWE Championship is one thing many fans wish they could have changed.
The basics were executed by DiBiase and he still found a way to leave everyone captivated. DiBiase always delivered his moves to perfection. There were no moments when DiBiase made you feel like he was out of his element. WWE valued that in him, and it led to him creating a legacy as an all-time great.
14 Messed up: Sabu
Sabu's in-ring style in the '90s featured moves that wrestling fans had never seen before. Sabu put his body on the line every night. There were chairs, tables, barbed wire, and many other foreign objects that played a part in his moves. Sabu, sadly, would hurt his body badly through the years trying to make this style work.
ECW was known for having more botches than other promotions due to the difficulty of risks involved in the matches. Sabu jumping on the ropes and trying to deliver death-defying dives often resulted in mistakes. There were also the times he sustained injuries that came from things going wrong.
13 Was flawless: Lance Storm
The smoothest ECW wrestler that never made any mistakes with his moves during matches was Lance Storm. Unlike most of his peers in the extreme promotion, Storm was known for his technical wrestling skills. We rarely saw Storm make any errors with the moves that he chose to use.
A past interview with Storm featured him saying that he did not add moves to his set or experiment with moves that he didn’t believe he could pull out often. Storm would continue adding to that reputation with the impressive in-ring work in WWE and WCW. It makes sense that Storm is now one of the top trainers in the wrestling world.
12 Messed up: Batista
Not every successful wrestler can perfectly and easily deliver moves every time out. Batista had a tremendous career in WWE with the rise in Evolution, great run as a top champion and the returns since then. Fans are still waiting to see if Batista comes back for WrestleMania 35 before his eventual retirement.
Batista is beloved for the great moments, but he had quite a few memorable botches in his career. In his fairness, Batista did have a lot of matches with wrestlers known for mistakes like The Great Khali and Mark Henry. These moments still happened, and Batista has a hit list of errors in the ring.
11 Was flawless: Ricky Steamboat
The skillful matches from Ricky Steamboat in the '80s and early '90s inspired many of the wrestlers that changed the industry. Steamboat pulled off fun moves and created an in-ring style for bigger promotions that showed wrestling did not have to be slow all the time. Chris Jericho, CM Punk and a few other legends found inspiration from the Dragon.
The work from Steamboat would go down without a hitch. No one could say that Steamboat was moving too fast or risking it when all his maneuvers went down flawlessly. Steamboat is still viewed as an icon to those that have appreciated his great matches.
10 Messed up: Trish Stratus
Trish Stratus did not mind risking it in the ring when it came to pushing the Women’s Division forward in a progressive manner. The popularity of Stratus during the wilder storylines with Vince McMahon allowed her to create a change in the Women’s Division at the time. Trish’s popularity influenced the fans to give the women’s matches a chance and they were beloved.
While she became quite competent despite starting out with no in-ring experience, Stratus did not always go through her moves without any errors. Stratus had quite a few botches in her many matches. Moves that would feature impeccable timing like bouncing off the ropes for her bulldog led to a few memorable errors.
9 Was flawless: Shawn Michaels
Shawn Michaels might very well be the most flawless wrestler in the ring if we pretend the return of Crown Jewel ever happened. The in-ring work from Michaels throughout his career led to many masterpieces in WWE. Michaels is the most popular answer when the active wrestlers and fans are asked about the greatest of all-time.
Quite a few Michaels matches would have him delivering moves that no one would ever expect in a WWE ring. Michaels did these wild moves and made basic moves look great in the ring. Everything looked easy when Michaels did it due to his talent being on such another level.
8 Messed up: Sycho Sid
WWE fans know him as Sycho Sid. WCW fans know him as a Sid Justice. Wrestlers knew him as the man they were afraid to face due to the mistakes that came from him. Sid achieved great success as both WWE and WCW wanted to push him thanks to his size.
However, he was never the smoothest wrestler in the ring or on the microphone. Sid had a few memorable botches in his career using the Powerbomb finisher. One standout memory had Sid struggle to Powerbomb Brian Pillman in the short cage during a War Games match. Sid also almost ended his career landing on his leg off the top rope in WCW.
7 Was flawless: Dusty Rhodes
Flashy and high-flying moves aren’t always needed to create a compelling performer. Dusty Rhodes had incredible matches in the '80s without having to do many risky moves. The maneuvers we would see from Rhodes always went through without any errors.
People in the wrestling business used to criticized Rhodes for not being in the peak condition like most of the other top stars at the time. Rhodes showed that he was still a complete professional with the moves he delivered always with efficiency. The legacy of Dusty is still strong and alive today with new fans finding his work to realize just how great he was.
6 Messed up: The Ultimate Warrior
The Ultimate Warrior was one of the few wrestlers that could mess up often in the '80s and still get a push. Fans fell in love with Warrior due to how unique he was. The face paint, intense persona and general mystique of Warrior won over many fans of the '80s.
Warrior was viewed differently from his peers. Quite a few wrestlers have complained about having to work with Warrior due to the lack of safety in the ring. Warrior's poor execution led to injuries to both himself and his opponents. Warrior may not have been pushed as hard in future eras with so many mistakes.
5 Was flawless: Mr. Perfect
The WWE name of Mr. Perfect for Curt Hennig was more than just a moniker. Hennig was one of the all-time great in-ring workers in wrestling history. In-ring work was not valued as much in the '80s and early '90s or Perfect would have been a bigger Superstar for WWE.
The matches from Hennig were perfect on his end. There were many different moves to come from Perfect that he made look so beautiful. Other wrestlers loved working with him because it was a night off. They never had to worry about Perfect making a mistake or hurting them. Good luck finding any moves from Hennig on Botchamania.
4 Messed up: Goldberg
Goldberg became a mega-star for WCW towards the end of the Monday Night War. WCW may have fallen even earlier if Goldberg did not emerge as the new face of the company. The problem is that Goldberg took his character of an unbeatable monster of a wrestler too seriously.
Many wrestlers complained about Goldberg treating the matches as real by delivering his moves at their full painful potential. Goldberg injured quite a few wrestlers he opposed, from minor to serious incidents. Bret Hart’s career ended due to stiff kick Goldberg landed on his head. The mistakes from Goldberg came due to no one in WCW management setting him aside and telling him to change things.
3 Was flawless: Eddie Guerrero
The legacy of Eddie Guerrero is stronger than ever. Guerrero went from an underrated mid-carder for most of his career into a main event Superstar at the end. One thing that helped Guerrero was that just about every wrestler loved working with him. Countless wrestlers have named Eddie as their favorite, or one of their favorite opponents.
Guerrero was given the chance to get a WWE Championship reign by defeating Brock Lesnar, of all people. There were very rarely any mistakes by Eddie during his matches. There was even an instance of yelling at his wife Vickie Guerrero for almost forgetting a spot in one of his matches. Eddie was a perfectionist when it came to his wrestling matches.
2 Messed up: Rob Van Dam
Rob Van Dam was a one-of-a-kind (no pun intended) athlete that pulled off incredible moves in the ring. However, these moves weren’t secure enough to pull off easily and safely every night. Van Dam loved the high-risk side and did not care about the risks making him look bad.
Quite a few wrestlers, like Ric Flair, Triple H, and Lance Storm hated working with RVD due to the potential dangers in his moves. Triple H even felt the wrath of this when Van Dam landed poorly on his throat, of all things. Fans loved watching RVD despite his mistakes, but other wrestlers paid the price.
1 Was flawless: Bret Hart
Bret Hart took professional wrestling seriously due to growing up in the business as the second-generation performer son of Stu Hart. The discipline instilled in Bret during his training would ensure that he never wanted to disrespect the craft or put his peers in bad hands.
Hart’s most prideful accolade from his career is that he never injured someone in a match. The nickname of the Excellence of Execution paid homage to Bret delivering his moves with perfect precision. Hart always delivered his moves with complete perfection and never hurt anyone that he faced. Many pundits would claim Bret was the closest thing to a flawless worker in the ring.