10 Worst Botches In AEW History
2. Matt Sydal - All Out 2020
People don't realise how difficult a Shooting Star Press is to pull off. This isn't a simple case of climbing to the top rope and jumping off, oh no. This most spectacular of moves is a backflip from a standing position, an aesthetically-gorgeous rotation leading to some serious impact on a prone opponent. Jushin Thunder Liger invented the move and plenty of people have used it since, and when done properly it is a thing of true beauty.
It is just about as high-risk as it gets though. It is somewhat surprising that mishaps haven't happened more often, although there have been enough for WWE to ban the move for a short while in the mid-2000s. Brock Lesnar's exhausted SSP at WrestleMania XIX might be the most famous example of botching the move, although Billy Kidman has a few attempts that might want a word.
Matt Sydal performs the move more consistently than most but even the former WWE Tag Team Champion slips from time to time. He would have preferred not to have slipped when making his AEW debut as a showcase part of a battle royal though, right? At All Out 2020, Sydal was unveiled as the Joker in the Casino Battle Royale, only to slip on the top rope and come perilously close to seriously injuring himself in the process. Not the best start, obviously.
Sydal is a fantastic professional wrestler whose body control is simply as good as it gets, so there is little chance that this misstep will follow him for the rest of his career. Still, it was far from ideal.