10 Wrestling Matches Ruined By One Botch
9. Roman Reigns Vs. Kevin Owens - WWE Royal Rumble 2021
Kevin Owens and Roman Reigns have fantastic chemistry, always have, always will. It isn't difficult to imagine a better WWE where these two are absolute megastars, every bit the Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock that the company wants them to be. If WWE hadn't spent so much time focusing on stars of the past and had committed to building a new generation of heroes, Reigns and Owens would be on top of all the posters.
The two have been feuding for the last couple of months, a beef that came to a head at the 2021 Royal Rumble in a Last Man Standing match. For the first 20 minutes or so, this was excellent - further proof of the excellent understanding these two professionals have. Everything was building to a thrilling climax, albeit one clouded in the usual nonsense that surrounds a Last Man Standing match.
Then, the handcuffs.
The match was fine when it was Reigns and Owens falling off things, but the introduction of the handcuffs and the difficulty Paul Heyman had in unlocking them rendered all that work useless. A referee just stopping the count was the sh*tty cherry on what had been a really enjoyable cake. To round things off, Reigns just slapped a choke on Owens and that was that.
It might be harsh to say the match was ruined by the botched finish, but the match was ruined by the botched finish.
There.