9 WWE Matches That Fell Apart On Live TV
Mistakes, missteps and missing the point of the WrestleMania main event...
Poor Jackie Gayda.
The woman became an entire generation's shorthand for "worst match of all time" thanks to several quite horrendous and business-exposing botches during a tag team match alongside Christopher Nowinski against Trish Stratus and Bradshaw on the July 8th 2002 edition of Monday Night Raw.
But on reflection, was she really at fault?
The guiltiest exchanges with her and Stratus are indeed woeful. The miscommunications are obvious, booed loudly in the building, and evidently aggravating to her colleagues. But what chance did she have? Her Cagematch profile is one page long and the aforementioned stinker is her sixth entry on it. Not sixth match with WWE or sixth match on television - her sixth match ever. Her partner (Tough Enough alumni) Chris Nowinski had just over 30 matches himself by then. Even Stratus - considered a veteran by the era's ludicrous standards - was only two years into her career with half of that time spent working gimmick matches before WWE took a passing interest in women actually wrestling again.
As the lone experienced hand, Bradshaw could only do so much from his side of the ring too, and was the one least likely to get it in the neck thanks to political sway and the general rounding on Gayda in the aftermath.
The promotion should have protected the talent and accepted blame here. It shouldn't have even been on TV for the world to see. It's not like they'd book something this weak as the WrestleMania main event...
9. Roman Reigns Vs The Undertaker (WrestleMania 33)
The WrestleMania main event. Unequivocally the biggest match in all of wrestling, and that's exactly how WWE want it. The biggest company puts on the biggest show and the biggest show ends with the biggest match. In an industry where so much is subjective, this cannot be argued.
That's what made The Undertaker's last ever WrestleMania headliner (to date) such a calamity. 'The Deadman' not only failed to lift the crowd from their slumber multiple hours deep into the show, but he failed to lift the younger Roman Reigns up to the level needed desperately at the time, and by the end failed to even lift him up for the Tombstone.
Reigns attempted to create movement around his knackered foe, but it was for naught on multiple counts. The fans didn't get back into the action around the botches that broke their immersion, and - driven by a hatred for 'The Big Dog' that was going nowhere - didn't get into his "babyface" dominance anymore than Undertaker's tepid and laboured comebacks.
In a way, both men did their best, but the younger wrestler wasn't in a position to perform the salvage job, while the older one - by his own admission latterly - simply didn't have the engine to keep up.
It's not like they were both in their prime...