10 Great WWE Matches With One Notable Botch

9. Mickie James Vs. Trish Stratus (WrestleMania 22)

Before WWE decided to treat their female performers like people, this was widely considered to be the best women's match in WrestleMania history.

The culmination of the "crazed stalker" angle, James took on Stratus for her Women's Championship in what was a short, but well-paced, well-performed match.

Whilst this was the match that saw James win her first of nine world championships, unfortunately, most fans remember this match for two other reasons.

The first is that James decided to counter a Stratusfaction by grabbing Trish in the... well, there's no polite way to put this, so we're just going to say crotch.

This spot may have been edited out of the Network and all future DVD releases of this match, but it wasn't a botch. It was ill-advised, but it was definitely planned.

What wasn't planned was Mickie attempting to hit Trish with her own Stratusfaction and completely fluffing it. As you can see above, she completely misses the ropes she's supposed to bounce off and James wasn't experienced enough to cover this mistake convincingly.

Despite both of these dubious moments, the match still deserves a lot of recognition. It told a great story, crowned a new top star in James, and proved that women could have great matches in WWE, in spite of the company's best efforts.

Contributor
Contributor

Jacob Simmons has a great many passions, including rock music, giving acclaimed films three-and-a-half stars, watching random clips from The Simpsons on YouTube at 3am, and writing about himself in the third person.