10 Wrestling Mistakes & Botches That Became Storylines

10. J.T. Smith Turns Italian!

J.T. Smith was well-liked by local Philadelphia crowds in Extreme Championship Wrestling in the ‘90s, even going so far as to dethrone The Tazmaniac for the ECW World Television Championship in ‘94. But it was when Smith returned from injury at Wrestlepalooza in ‘95 in a match with Hack Meyers did he find his greatest run and success in wrestling, all resulting from a botch.

In the match, Smith attempted a suicide dive but his kneepads caught the ropes and his head landed directly on the ringside floor. His head swelled up and he would later be diagnosed with a concussion. Regardless he finished and even won the match against Myers, with assistance from Italian wrestler Val Puccio.

ECW owner/creative maestro Paul Heyman, always accentuating the positives and hiding the negatives, turned the legitimate concussion into a comedic storyline where Smith came back with mild brain damage believing he was Italian and associating himself with Puccio. This led to the creation of ‘The Full Blooded Italians’, with Smith introducing the world to his ‘legitimate’ cousin Little Guido. Mafia references and expressive hand gestures got the stable well and truly over in ECW, with a variation of the team even later having a run with WWE.