Lita could have ended her career in one of her matches against perennial rival Trish StratusWWE has ushered in the ‘Divas Revolution’ aimed at providing better focus on female wrestlers. The match lengths have increased from the typical 2-minute mark in most cases and Divas like Charlotte, Paige and Sasha Banks do bring in a breath of fresh year to the division which was completely dependent on scantily clad women to remain relevant at one stage.However, by no means is the Divas division close to its male counterpart in match quality. Many of the Divas are accepted into the WWE based on their looks and trained to be wrestlers later, unlike the Superstars. WWE could not deliver a match with Lana in it despite her popularity precisely because she is still green in the ring.Very few Divas follow the path of Natalya who had been training to be a wrestler from her childhood under the tutelage of the Hart family. This list takes a look at the top botches that occurred in Divas matches over the years that might provide a setback to anyone advocating for ‘Give Divas a chance’ mantra.
#1 The Gail Kim - Mickie James Triple Botch
The infamous triple botch ruined a Women’s title match between Gail Kim and Mickie James in 2009.
Going into the business end of the match, Gail would miss a cross body and legitimately hurt herself. Still dizzy after the fall, she couldn’t properly set herself up for Mickie’s ensuing DDT, which resulted in James falling to the ground, but Gail inadvertently hanging on making it possibly the worst DDT ever to be executed in a WWE ring.
A visibly embarrassed Mickie would get up and set Gail up for the high kick, but the kick would barely touch Kim. Amidst the oohs and the boos, Mickie would deliver a stiff forearm shot to Kim to score the pinfall.
There was little celebration from Mickie’s side after retaining the title and the best part of the match was perhaps Jerry Lawler’s comments that Gail had blocked Mickie’ s DDT when it was clear to anyone with half a brain that she had no clue what she was doing.
#2 Lita nearly breaks her neck
Lita and Trish Stratus are considered to be two of the best Divas to have ever performed in the WWE, but even they were not free of botches.
In a path-breaking Women’s title match on Raw, which was actually the main event for the night, Lita would defeat Trish to capture her second championship. However, she would land awkwardly on her neck following a botched suicide dive.
It is difficult to view the video without letting out a gasp as Lita lands quite clearly in a way she shouldn’t have.
The two would have a rematch at New Year’s Revolution where Lita would tore her ACL after botching a Lou Thesz press, losing the title and missing the rubber match that was scheduled for Wrestlemania 21.
#3 The Eva Marie saga
Right from the moment Eva Marie announced her name on WWE television, there have been botches galore.
There are multiple videos of the different botches by Eva circulating over the internet. She has crawled towards the ring corner before a leg drop was supposed to have been executed on her, showed signs of impact a full two seconds before taking a bump and once even called Jinder Mahal ‘Ginger Mahal’!
But her NXT match with Billie Kay was the biggest feather in her botching career. Eva, who was being built up as the prominent Diva of the roster, forgot that she was supposed to kick out of a Kay pin attempt at 2.
The referee had to stop the count while Eva’s shoulders were visibly on the mat so as to let the match continue.
The NXT crowd ripped into the ref and Eva, who would get the tainted victory. The idiotic announce team try to camouflage the botch by remarking that the crowd was booing Eva because they were jealous of her – well, there doesn’t seem to be any WWE wrestler jealous of Eva’s in ring skills!
#4 Rosa Mendes caught in the Kelly Killer
Kelly Kelly was never the most athletic of Divas - sure, she had lots of sex appeal which gained her a push in the WWE during her stint at the company. However, the WWE Creative should have known that putting Kelly in the same ring with someone worse than her in Rosa Mendes was a disaster waiting to happen.
30 seconds into a tag team match where Kelly was supposed to display pent up anger, she decided to go for the only move that she does effectively – The Kelly Killer or a handspring back elbow smash to a cornered opponent – that opponent being Mendes.
Rosa forgot that she was supposed to stay in the corner and receive the elbow and she moved forward, colliding with Kelly before the latter could finish the move.
It was awkward to say the very least, just like most of Mendes’ matches.
#5 Brie Bella screw up Poetry in Motion
WWE fans are not going to forget the Hardy Boyz’ tandem move – ‘Poetry in motion’ anytime soon.
Matt Hardy would irish whip an opponent into a corner, get down on all fours as Jeff Hardy would use his brother as a platform to launch himself to deliver a calf kick even as the crowd popped each time.
Well, when the Bella twins tried to copy the move, it showed exactly where they stood as a tag team compared to the Hardys. Nikki did her part right, getting down on all fours allowing Brie to launch herself at a prone Aksana (0:17 on the video).
However, Brie could not get the distance right and fell right in front of Aksana as if she tripped on a banana peel. Add this to a host of missed Hurricanranas and endless overacting promos on the microphone and you realise why Nikki was chosen to have the record Divas title reign and not her sister.
#6 Jackie & Trish Raw horror show
Jackie Gayda had just come into Raw after Tough Enough and one of her initial matches was a tag with Christopher Nowitzki against Bradshaw and Women's’ Champion Trish Stratus.
The match – mainly the ladies’ portion of the match – would not help the clamour for ‘Give Divas a chance’ in any way at all.
Jackie and Trish botched several moves, most notably a spot where Jackie was supposed to lift Trish on to the ropes in order to receive a kick. Jackie and Trish mistimed the move, and Trish fell awkwardly to the mat with boos ringing in the arena.
The finish was supposed to be Trish executing a middle rope bulldog on Jackie, but the women' champion could not get the connection and dropped to the mat merely touching Jackie.
Poor J.R on commentary tried his best to protect the two Divas by trying to convince the viewers that Trish had got a portion of Jackie’s hair while coming down, but couldn’t help exclaiming that the match was ‘mercifully over’ at the finish. Ouch!!
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