10 Times Wrestling Announcers Really F*cked Up

9. The Entire Royal Rumble 2011 Team

Triple H Michael Cole Tom Phillips
WWE Network

Cole wasn't so quick to notice something seven years earlier.

During the 2011 Royal Rumble, Alex Riley slipped during a spot with Cena and Kofi Kingston; the NXT protege failed to hold onto the ropes as planned and was thus eliminated from the match. Both Cena and Kingston stared at one another with a look that clearly said, 'Oh sh*t - what do we do now?'.

On commentary, Cole, Jerry Lawler, Matt Striker and guest announcer The Miz continued talking up Riley's cleverness as a reason why Miz had decided to mentor him the prior year. They did this for an alarming amount of time before someone finally spotted that Alex wasn't actually in the ring anymore.

Oops.

Christ knows how the foursome missed Riley's accidental elimination. The Rumble ground to a halt when it happened, and Cena's facial expression alone told the world that the bout's format had just been f*cked. Pay attention, guys!

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.