Botched!: Baron Corbin’s Failed Cash-In, Luke Gallows’ Weak Run-In, More

Hi, hello & welcome to the column nobody in pro wrestling wants to be featured in…Botched! SummerSlam is this Sunday, and with 34 matches on the card there should be material there for months. Let’s see what happened this week leading up to the Second Show of Shows.

1. Fan Loses Phone During Rollins/Ambrose Reunion

For the first time I can remember in the history of this column, we have a botch by a fan. A historic moment indeed. It took place during the opening segment of Raw, when Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose finally officially reunited to the delight of everyone. Well, maybe not everyone.

At 2:15 in the video when Ambrose & Rollins start brawling on the floor, you’ll see a white cell phone lying right by the barricade. The fan that bought that ringside seat was probably hoping to have all kinds of awesome pictures of Raw, but they missed out on one of the high points when they dropped their phone! Epic phone fail!

2. Luke Gallows weakly runs in

For some reason, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson are now aligned with Big Cass, at least when it comes to beating up Big Show. There wasn’t a whole lot of explanation on this front, but I assume Gallows & Anderson like beating up Enzo Amore because it’s fun, and they don’t have much else going on these days so they might as well back up Cass. The backing up, at least this week, wasn’t much to write home about.

Gallows seems to be playing hurt, as you see at 1:45 when he stumbles into the ring with a bum elbow, not providing much in the way of help other than a distraction. It’s an A for effort, but when that’s all you got to give in way of a run-in, you shouldn’t even bother.

3. Shane & AJ Wait On Kevin Owens

Shane McMahon will be refereeing the AJ Styles vs. Kevin Owens match at SummerSlam. They’ve been building up the issues Shane has with both guys for a little while now, but things got a little hairy this week on SD.

Start at 2:10. Shane’s line towards AJ got a pretty good pop. AJ asks if it’s a threat. Shane says he’s not threatening. Then for about ten seconds or so they obviously stall. Shane looks back towards the entrance while AJ has a confused look on his face. And finally Kevin Owens comes out. I’m not sure if they were waiting for a particular line and Shane forgot it or what-have-you, but it was pretty awkward.

4. A Planned Botch. But A Botch Nonetheless

I’m risking some heat here from management and the comment section, but I figure it’s worth it. Sometimes, if something’s booked a certain way and it’s executed perfectly, it’s still a botch because it makes somebody involved look like a complete idiot and does a bit to put their future in question.

I give you Baron Corbin’s Money in the Bank cash-in attempt from this week’s SmackDown.

Dude didn’t even get to have a proper match like Damien Sandow did. He just ran out there and Shaqted a fool. He’s gonna have to get his act together if he wants to stay in the Entertainment.

5. Lashley’s Not Quite Pop-Up Powerbomb

A rare live episode of Impact on Pop means we can include something from the Global Force gang this week. I’m sure they’re excited about it. Bobby Lashley & Matt Sydal went at it in the main event, and things got awkward.

At 1:06:10 (long video, I know, it was the best I could find), Lashley goes for the pop-up powerbomb on Sydal. He kind of hits it awkwardly, then picks him back up so Sydal can rana him over for a near-fall. Not the best looking spot of all time. The match had its issues in general, which can be expected when you’ve got guys as different as Lashley & Sydal in there.

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]. Have a good weekend!