10 Wrestling Stunts Which Nearly Went Very Wrong

There aren't many professions, outwith the circus anyhow, that allow those in the given industry to casually recount the time they were 'nearly set on fire' as though it's a reasonable occupational hazard. Wrestling, it may have been said (ad nauseum) is not like any other profession, which is why Randy Orton was able to retell such an experience, when reflecting on his 2005 run-ins with The Undertaker during WWE's 30 Days of the Deadman series last November.

Following the pair's Casket Match at No Mercy 2005, a villainous Orton and his equally villainous father Bob decided to turn the funerary affair into a cremation by setting the coffin containing 'Taker alight. Only The Legend Killer's pyromania nearly backfired spectacularly.

‘I’m dumping all this kerosene all over this f***ing casket," remembered Orton. "It’s dripping everywhere, and it’s splashing, and it’s hitting me, and it’s on my boots. I didn’t even realise it, but my boots up to my knees were soaked in kerosene."

Probably the worst thing you can possibly do when soaked with an inflammable substance is light a match, which is of course exactly what Randy proceeded to do. "I stepped back just in the nick of time when you saw the fire take over the casket," he added. "I think it missed the tips of my toes by this much."

As his old entrance music used to regale, the fire burns for Randy Orton. On this occasion, it nearly burned him alive.