9 Wrestlers Who Had Their WORST Match EVER This Year

4. BECKY LYNCH Vs. Nikki Bella (WWE Clash In Paris)

WWE Clash In Paris Becky Lynch Nikki Bella
WWE.com

This was mostly depressing. It was still quite funny, but it was mostly depressing.

Nikki Bella is past her prime, but she can still smash people in cool TV matches that have little right to be as cool as they are. Becky Lynch meanwhile is great in her stated mission of elevating talent; Becky in effect does everything that male veteran wrestlers pretend to do. While this wasn’t necessarily inexplicable - few expected a Match of the Year contender - it was still well below the expected level. Perhaps the cruel reaction afforded to Nikki threw her off. Everybody on that show was over other than her.

Mostly, this was your garden variety bed-sh*tter. The layout was not ambitious, but the execution was laughable. In the second most infamous moment, Nikki attempted a springboard roundhouse kick. This was all kinds of botched; Nikki was in the wrong position to begin with, rushed through a spot she might have blown even if she was in the right place, and slipped on the ropes. Becky, the target, was nowhere near Nikki - but muscle memory kicked in. She was, and this is no exaggeration, several feet away from Nikki, and she still lifted her hand towards her jaw to convey the pain of impact.

In the most infamous moment, Nikki dragged Becky around the outside and attempted to drive her face into the announce tables. Becky was inexcusably bad here; she yeeted the table with her hands in a totally bizarre motion, like she was hovering on the edge of a pool, scared of learning how to dive.

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Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!