Botched!: Big Ending For Big E & Apollo, NBA Invades AEW, More

Hi, hello & welcome to Botched! It’s been a pretty crazy busy couple of weeks in wrestling. Way too much to get into here, so let’s get right to the fun stuff!

1. NBA Invades AEW

AEW has had to adjust to the NBA schedule on occasion since starting up on TNT. They’ve switched nights, they’ve moved into later in the evening. The March 10 edition of Dynamite marked the first occasion that the NBA & AEW aired at the same time on the same channel.

Literally hearing #nba defense chants over #AEWDynamite audio. I know #TNT wants cross branding but this is brutal. #AEWonTNT figure it out.#aew pic.twitter.com/ZIWeD9Ju2J

— Cassock Club Podcast (@CassockClub) March 11, 2021

I haven’t ruled out the idea that Shaquille O’Neal is playing these tricks to mess with Cody Rhodes & AEW.

2. The editors don’t like these guys

I mean, that’s the only explanation I have for how this part of the Luchasaurus vs. Cezar Bononi match stayed on AEW Dark.

Where to begin…pic.twitter.com/H0LJH6jbk8

— Heelbook (@Heelbook) March 17, 2021

You can see why some of these people don’t make Dynamite very often.

3. Not A Big Ending

Big E was supposed to get a bit of a flukey win over Apollo Crews at FastLane. They went for a reversal on an small package, but the execution wasn’t the best.

Big E gets counted for 2 and then Apollo gets counted for 3… I think that’s right…. They tried to get clever with the ending like last time but it was executed very very poorly.#WWEFastlanepic.twitter.com/gaLPaxNUbR

— Dick Van Klondike (@DickVanKlondike) March 21, 2021

The announcers weren’t sure who won the match until Apollo beat E up afterward, then figured that must have been why he was mad. Pretty awkward.

4. Phoenix Splash Goes Awry

Jack Evans hasn’t had the best stretch of luck in the ring lately. Putting his win-loss record aside, he’s been involved in some scary moments putting himself and fellow wrestlers in danger lately. Apparently he got some major heat backstage after his AEW Dark match with Dark Order’s 10, where he busted 10’s lip on a Phoenix Splash.

You can see it at 1:42:35 of the March 16 AEW Dark. Looks like an honest mistake to me, but I can see Evans “getting heat” because these mistakes are starting to add up. They also seem to have big plans for 10 in the future, and want him to look good if he ever takes that mask off.

5. Not sure what this was going to be.

I’m not sure Okumura or Flyer knew what this was going to be either. It ended poorly in any event.

this was frightening

This was a taped show and Okumura is posting on Instagram so I think he's OK. pic.twitter.com/OVeVy6i0vY

— luchablog (@luchablog) March 20, 2021

Thanks for reading! If you see (or hear) anything wrong in the world of wrestling, let me know via Twitter or e-mail at [email protected]. See you next time!