To botch in professional wrestling means to attempt a scripted move that does not come out as it was originally planned, due to a mistake, a miscalculation, or a slip-up. Most botches are harmless, such as a wrestler falling backwards before his opponent's foot actually touches his face, inciting the fans to chant "You fucked up!". But some botches are extremely dangerous and can end a wrestler's career on the spot; for example, former WWE wrestler D'Lo Brown once botched a powerbomb on his opponent Darren Drozdov, resulting in Drozdov being paralyzed from the waist down. Botches can even end a wrestler's life; Owen Hart died during a WWE pay-per-view event when he fell nearly 80 feet into the ring when a safety harness supporting him during his ring entrance failed. The only reason TV viewers did not see Hart's death was because the director had cut away to a pre-taped promo.

Some of the most memorable botches were:

• Kevin Nash did his trademark Jacknife powerbomb on Paul Wight (then known as The Giant, now known as The Big Show), but could not perform the move properly due to Wight's weight and dropped him on his neck.

• Japanese wrestler Hayabusa botched a moonsault bouncing off the ropes and landed on his head, severely injuring himself.

• Chris Benoit botched a Flapjack on Sabu. The move was botched when Sabu attempted to change the move from a flapjack, which has the victim land face-first, to a back drop, which requires that the victim somersault and land on his back. Sabu misjudged the height and time which he had in the air and attempted to flip himself over onto his back, but did not get enough rotation which broke his neck. This incident earned Benoit the nickname "The Crippler".

• Triple H performed his finishing move, the Pedigree, on jobber Marty Garner. Garner thought Triple H was attempting a suplex and assisted him by jumping. Triple H dropped him on his head almost vertically.

• Sabu botched a moonsault off the ropes to the outside, to connect with a table leaned up against the guardrail that Shane Douglas was set up against. It is assumed that Douglas was to move away at the last second, and Sabu would go through the table, however on viewing it cannot be certain what they were attempting. Douglas did indeed move at the last second, but Sabu merely hit the table and fell onto his head on the concrete, knocking him unconscious for the rest of the match. Douglas had to go back into the ring and pose to the crowd until Sabu's condition could be properly determined. He didn't come to, and after a few minutes, the match was called off.

• Owen Hart performed his Owendriver finisher, a belly-to-belly piledriver in which Hart fell into a sitting position, on Stone Cold Steve Austin. Austin, mistakenly thinking that Hart would fall to his knees, took the bump improperly and broke his neck. This was the turning point of Austin's career; the continuing pain from this injury eventually led to his current semi-retirement.

• Marty Jannetty, then of the tag team The Rockers, botched a Rocker Dropper on Charles Austin in December, 1990. Austin was to face-plant, but instead tried to roll forward. As a result, he landed straight on his head, breaking his neck. In 1994, a Florida jury awarded Austin $26.7 million (US) in damages.

See also: professional wrestling slang