10 Disturbing Wrestling Bumps That Nearly Went Badly Wrong

The hazards are real.

Spike Seth Rollins
WWE

Why doesn't WWE run 'Don't Try This At Home' videos much anymore?

The company targets impressionable young minds, and crushing somebody's spine into what most closely resembles a ring apron seems fairly dangerous.

"Michael Cole says that's the hardest part of the ring! I win!"

Yes, this is entertainment.

Well, if force-feeding the top babyface dog food with no reprisal because he has no friends counts as entertainment. Does The Fiend shaving Daniel Bryan's hair count as entertainment? What about Lana making it uncomfortably clear that she didn't want the sex Rusev was intent on having? Is it funny because men are horny? Is it entertaining to buy a ticket to a show, only for the advertised attraction not to take place? You know, the thing you paid for? What about some guy baby-talking to a cage? It's funny because it probably isn't a baby. Get it? Hey, maybe it is a baby! Imagine that! A terrifying monster of a man keeping a baby in a cage. That's just wacky enough to work!

But the hazards are real.

On this evidence, that PSA is still very much needed; technically, these bumps did go wrong, very wrong, but didn't somehow result in career-ending injury...

10. Nick Jackson's Awful Tumble

Spike Seth Rollins
Scott Lesh

At AEW All Out, the Young Bucks battled the Lucha Brothers in absolutely insane Escalera De La Muerte ladder match.

It was worked perfectly within its theme of brotherly chemistry and the bond it creates: at various points, in inspired spots, competing brothers found themselves operating in inadvertent synergy. This put over the dynamic by very unique means, and informed the drama of the rubber match premised, simply, as a final, pulsating battle to decide the better team. These sequences deranged the senses to an extent that the match was made entirely unpredictable.

The match was richer than the insta-reaction suggested, but this near-miss was always going to reinforce the old narratives of danger and "spot-fests". In one of few established ladder match tropes - elsewhere, this was an unbelievably creative advancement of the genre - Pentagón Jr. scouted Nick Jackson ascending the ladder and sought to punish him with the old teeter-through-a-table spot.

Only, the "through" part didn't materialise; Nick fell just short of the table stack, absorbing in the process a sharp and drastic blow to the cranium.

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Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and surefire Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!