10 Wrestling Matches Built Around Botches

Despite an astounding level of legitimate tough guy credibility (did you know he won an Olympic gold medal with a broken freakin' neck?), Kurt Angle often played the fool in the early years of his WWE run. Cashing in on the Olympian's unexpected knack for comedy, WWE presented Angle as an often oafish, embarrassment-prone heel.

Shane McMahon, on the other hand, was already garnering a rep for his amazing knack for surviving falls from jaw-dropping heights. The feud between the two heading into King of the Ring 2001 had mostly been played for laughs. Between the humorous set-up and the fact that Angle had already wrestled twice that night, expectations for the bout weren't the highest.

20 years later, it's still in the discussion for the most violent WWE match of all time. Angle was supposed to suplex McMahon through a pane of sugar glass. As the pair quickly learned the hard way, the crew in charge of setting up hadn't recevied the memo. McMahon clattered into the glass before landing directly on his head. While most would've considered calling it quits right there, McMahon moved ahead with Angle slamming him over and over again until two panes were shattered.

Cut, bruised and concussed, the jaw-dropping bout continued on completely different to what it had started out as. Instead of funny, Angle was a sadistic brute, stretching a physically shot McMahon before taking him out completely with a top-rope Angle Slam. Despite the concussion, McMahon managed to tweak his psychology just enough to become a defiant babyface, fighting against debilitating odds. Using the botch and the stunned crowd to their advantage, Angle and McMahon put on a near-fatal classic.