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From Crown Jewel to Survivor Series, November 2018 has surely been one of the most polarizing months for WWE fans.
With that being said, it comes off as no surprise that with all the highs and lows combined, there are several botches that had caught some attention of the WWE Universe since then.
Before we begin, keep in mind that the list will include booking decision fails, in-ring botches or mishaps, as well as unexpected embarrassing sequences.
Let's get right into the Top 10 WWE Botches of November 2018...
#10: Lana poorly fakes her punches against Dana Brooke during SmackDown invasion of RAW (RAW, Nov. 12)
Fans have been critical of Lana's in-ring skills for a long time. However, conversations on Social Media took this agenda one step further. During SmackDown Live's invasion of RAW just before Survivor Series this month, brawls erupted all over the place.
Therefore, it was hard to keep track of the chaos. However, one fan sitting in the front-row seats captured a video showing Lana deliberately faking her strikes against Dana Brooke near ringside. The video was posted on Twitter as seen below:
The reason behind why this particular botch is ranked so low on this list despite the video posted above is that things started to make more sense after Lana's explanation for this incident:
Even if Lana gave a reasonable explanation behind this botch, one could easily argue that there are times when front-row seats can take an audience member out of the 'kayfabe' sphere of things due to botches like this.
#9: A Hip Attack without any contact? (SmackDown Live, Nov. 20)
On the November 21st edition of SmackDown Live, Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville faced Asuka & Naomi in a tag-team match.
During one particular instance, (as seen in the picture above) Asuka & Naomi went for a double hip-attack against Sonya Deville & Mandy Rose on the ring apron.
While Naomi did make contact with Sonya's torso, it was clearly visible that Mandy Rose jumped off the apron before Asuka could make any contact during the move. Moreover, the camera was positioned in such a manner that Mandy's botch was unintentionally made to look like the main focus of this entire shot.
Unlike the previous entry on this list, there has to be no other explanation here other than poor timing and improper execution. While botches are inevitable in this line of business, they always serve as a distraction for a fan who wholly invests into a fictional story.
#8: Drew McIntyre & Ronda Rousey get distracted due to audible hecklers on two separate occasions (RAW, Nov. 12 & Nov. 26)
If there is one thing that can distract a professional wrestler from cutting an intense in-ring promo, it has to be audible hecklers sitting in the audience. While many pros in this industry manage to ignore these incidents, it is hard for newer talent to brush it off lightly without getting distracted.
For example, on the November 12th edition of RAW, Drew McIntyre started off with an intense promo after defeating Kurt Angle the week before. He was eventually interrupted by Finn Balor. However, what was supposed to be a menacing promo turned into a slightly embarrassing incident when a member in the audience decided to put Drew off his game by loudly yelling, "Your accent's fake!"
The taunt was clearly audible even through the television sets for viewers sitting at home. The Scottish Psychopath managed to cut a decent promo by quickly proceeding past this little incident.
However, on the 26th November edition of RAW, Ronda Rousey fell victim to several audience members taunting her following several mixed reactions since her match against Charlotte Flair at Survivor Series.
Ronda stumbled right at the very beginning because of an audible heckler yelling "You're not making any sense!" so loudly, that even Rousey looked towards the particular direction from where the sound emanated and went off-script by thanking the audience for their support soon after the heckling had stopped.
Unlike Drew McIntyre, Ronda could not brush past this incident swiftly, leading right into her & Nia having a few awkward exchanges around that incident on live TV.
#7: Braun Strowman got legitimately injured; to miss TLC? (Nov. 19)
Baron Corbin, Bobby Lashley, and Drew McIntyre obliterated Braun Strowman on the November 19th edition of Monday Night RAW.
However, Strowman got legitimately injured and underwent surgery for the same. He could miss the TLC Pay-Per-View, according to Dave Meltzer's quotes on the following matter:
"Well, I guess the biggest news is that Braun Strowman is going to have elbow surgery so the deal tonight was a cover for that. He has bone spurs in the elbow that they ‘destroyed’ was the one that he has bone spurs in.”
“It’s not a bad deal, obviously his elbow was not shattered. It’s touch and go whether he’ll be in San Jose for the match with Baron Corbin, the TLC match they announced. I guess it depends on the seriousness of the surgery.”
“The belief is he’s fine for the Royal Rumble with Brock Lesnar which they also announced surprisingly announced that match tonight. So that is the plan. So that’s the deal of what’s going on with Strowman, why they did what they did.”
via Ringside News
#6: Undertaker Irish-Whips himself! (Crown Jewel)
WWE Crown Jewel was surrounded by controversy leading up to the event itself. However, what underwhelmed many fans was that Crown Jewel also left a sour taste in everyone's mouths.
Shawn Michaels' in-ring return for the DX vs. Brothers of Destruction match was bittersweet. During one instance, The Undertaker Irish-whipped Triple H near ringside. It looked like HHH was supposed to reverse the move, but with a torn pectoral muscle adding itself into the list of this match's problems, what we ended up getting appeared something like this:
You bet this sequence ended up in Botchamania!
#5: Enzo Amore crashes Survivor Series! (Survivor Series)
Let's be fair here, nobody inside the inner-circles of WWE was at fault in this particular instance.
During Survivor Series 2018, Enzo Amore sneaked into the arena wearing a disguise. He was escorted out of the building after creating a nuisance during The Bar vs. AOP tag team matchup.
Apparently, many people working in WWE including the talent were pretty angry about the whole matter. Moreover, a fan was injured during the scuffle. She was taken out via stretcher and was said to be holding her arm in pain during the incident.
Below is a video of the incident posted on Twitter:
Clearly, Enzo Amore is not likely to return to WWE anytime soon.
#4: Nia Jax becomes public enemy #1 after injuring Becky Lynch (RAW, Nov. 12)
Nia Jax is notorious for being an unsafe worker in the ring. However, things escalated to a whole new level on November 12th. The women of SmackDown had invaded Monday Night RAW, and if Lana faking her punches near ringside wasn't enough, the biggest botch of the night was Nia Jax injuring Becky Lynch's face after a miscalculated punch as seen below:
Social Media erupted into flames following this incident. Even if injuries like this cannot be anticipated, the fact that Nia has gotten a push by capitalizing on her heat not only sets a bad example for the roster but it also indirectly shows that WWE has ignored her previous mistakes to a large extent.
This is also the reason behind Becky Lynch being forced to pull out of her match against Ronda Rousey during Survivor Series, which could have been one of the biggest matches of 2018.
#3: Kane unmasked! (Crown Jewel)
Of course, Undertaker Irish-whipping himself during DX vs. Brothers of Destruction at Crown Jewel was not the only botch of the entire night.
As you can see in the video below, Shawn Michaels unmasked Kane accidentally, leading to fans posting several memes all over Social Media soon after it happened:
Botching a move or two seems quite acceptable compared to a mythical wrestling character getting accidentally unmasked, especially for casual viewers, who might not buy into the story after this particular incident.
#2: WWE does not count SmackDown Live's sole victory from Survivor Series (Survivor Series)
The Usos won the Traditional Survivor Series Tag Team Elimination Match for SmackDown Live during the Survivor Series Preshow.
However, this particular win was not included in the official RAW vs, SmackDown Live scorecard for the entire night. The official score should have been 6-1 if not for some communication errors, but as we all know, the score ended up being 6-0 despite a SmackDown Live victory being featured on the Preshow.
Of course, The New Day went on to make fun of this entire incident, wearing 6-1 shirts on SmackDown Live, later on, creating a mockery out of the entire botch itself.
#1: Natalya, Sasha Banks & Bayley vs. The Riott Squad (RAW, Nov. 5)
Why does this particular match get featured on the number one spot?
If you remember, this was the same match where Ruby Riott broke Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart's iconic glasses, which lead to a soap-opera-like ending involving Natalya getting very emotional about it.
However, can anyone recall who won this particular match? Well, nobody can blame you for not recalling the winner, because there wasn't one, to begin with!
This contest featured a booking blunder where no winner was declared just because Ruby Riott snapped a pair of glasses in front of Natalya. The match then came to an end as Nattie sat crying and Riott, Logan and Morgan made their way up the ramp.
The fans in attendance were so confused that they started counting to 10 in order to remind everyone that the match hadn't even ended yet!
What do you think? Make sure to leave your thoughts in the comments section. You can follow me here to keep track of the latest articles. Thanks for reading this list & stay tuned for more...
