History SpecialEffectFailure / ProfessionalWrestling

* Many a wrestler has been unintentionally caught on camera "blading," which is when a wrestler secretly (when it goes right, anyways) nicks their forehead with a razor blade to create the illusion that they've been cut by one of their opponent's attacks. Usually this happens thanks to the camera being on them at the wrong time[[note]]Wrestling/ScottHall once ''faked'' doing this during a WCW show just to mess with Wrestling/EricBischoff[[/note]]. "Caught red-handed" indeed.

** What makes it worse is that the only part of this that could have been salvaged was the "trip and fall" part. Ottman had actually had a few practice-runs and everything had gone fine, but when it came time to do it live, an extra cross-beam was added, which he didn't notice until he was already mid-jump. If things had gone off without a hitch, it would have been a really bad-ass entrance. The costume and voice, however, still would have been atrocious.

* Many a wrestler has been unintentionally caught on camera "blading," which is when a wrestler secretly (when it goes right, anyways) nicks their forehead with a razor blade to create the illusion that they've been cut by one of their opponent's attacks. Usually this happens thanks to the camera being on them at the wrong time. "Caught red-handed" indeed.

* It's not uncommon for the audience to be able to occasionally overhear wrestlers giving instructions to their opponent so they can get ready to act out the next move, as Website/{{Botchamania}}'s [[RunningGag "Everyone Talks Too Much" gag]] demonstrates.

* During the ''Wrestling/{{WWE}} Wrestling/SummerSlam 1997'' match between [[Wrestling/MickFoley Mankind]] and [[Wrestling/TripleH Hunter Hearst Helmsley]], Mankind, at one point after getting beaten down, suddenly ripped his shirt off, then had a MyNameIsInigoMontoya comeback, leaving fans wondering what was going on. Mick Foley (aka Mankind) later shed some light on the subject in his autobiography: turns out, there was supposed to be a heart-shaped tattoo on his chest, symbolizing his transformation into his former fantasy persona from his high school/college days, Dude Love (who fans had been introduced to through a series of WorkedShoot interviews in the weeks before the match). Unfortunately, Mick forgot to get the tattoo done and didn't realize it until he was due to make his entrance for his match. Thinking quickly, he scrawled the heart on his chest with a magic marker; unfortunately, by the time of the reveal, it had sweated off. Oops.

## Everyone present [[{{Corpsing}} starts cracking up]] (and clearly [[PrecisionFStrike dropping a couple f-bombs]] on [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar live television]]), including the announcers.

* During the ''Wrestling/{{WWE}} Wrestling/SummerSlam 1997'' match between [[Wrestling/MickFoley Mankind]] and [[Wrestling/TripleH Hunter Hearst Helmsley]], Mankind, at one point after getting beaten down, suddenly ripped his shirt off, then had a MyNameIsInigoMontoya comeback, leaving fans wondering what was going on. Mick Foley (aka Mankind) later shed some light on the subject in his autobiography: turns out, there was supposed to be a heart-shaped tattoo on his chest, symbolizing his transformation into his former fantasy persona from his high school/college days, Dude Love (who fans had been introduced to through a series of WorkedShoot interviews in the weeks before the match). Unfortunately, Mick forgot to get the tattoo done, and didn't realize it until he was due to make his entrance for his match. Thinking quickly, he scrawled the heart on his chest with a magic marker; unfortunately, by the time of TheReveal, it had sweated off. Oops.

** There have been some theories as to why Kane's make-up job was so horrific. The most popular one was the heavy black eyeliner Kane wore under his mask started to run. Thus when he unmasked, his face was covered in black make-up splotches. It also did not help that when he removed his mask, it was revealed that Kane was completely bald on the top of his head save for the hair on his sides. The long locks he sported for years were actually part of the mask itself and he grew out what hair he had left. WWE quickly reacted to this; having Kane lose the make-up, shave himself completely bald and have him wear a towel over his head for a few weeks afterwards before making another reveal.
** Well, they ''tried'' to continue it. For a while when they showed video of the unmasking they slowed the tape down, added a silly sound effect that was supposed to be ominous or something, and used a cheesy effect to distort his face. To point out how bad it was, when something is simply too cheesy for Wrestling/VinceMcMahon...

* In Shoot Wrestling, which aims to be the legit competition counterpart to "show wrestling", anything blatantly illegal that would never be allowed in a real sport qualifies. A most infamous instance being Wrestling/AkiraMaeda sending his leg into Wrestling/SatoruSayama's groin during a Wrestling/UniversalWrestlingFederation "bout" but even as the shoot feds developed into full on mixed martial arts promotions, favored wrestlers like Wrestling/BobSapp were notorious for getting away with {{groin attack}}s, making the referees look incompetent and giving the fights in general a bush league atmosphere.(compare to, say, the controversy caused by discrete greasing at ''UFC 94'')

* Wrestling/{{TNA}} uses disguised CardboardBoxes to protect wrestlers during more dangerous matches. Unfortunately, at ''Slammiversary 2007'', some unobscured boxes were visible during a match between Wrestling/{{Abyss}} and Tomko.

## Shockmaster's helmet [[note]]a purple and silver spray-painted Franchise/StarWars Storm Trooper helmet, for the curious[[/note]] falls off, revealing the bald head of Fred Ottman, AKA "Tugboat".

* A much more serious incident involving pyro gone wrong occurred on a January 2008 episode of [=SmackDown=]. Wrestling/JeffHardy was [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jI4VOYO9RO8 making his entrance for an interview segment]] when the stage pyro went off with too much force and sent sparks into his eyes[[note]]According to statements made, the pyro used was a so-called "cold pyro" that was designed to not cause burns, similar to what Goldberg used for his iconic entrances. But in this case, the sparks went straight into Hardy's face and eyes, places where microscopic bits of incendiary powder and metal were not meant to go.[[/note]]. He fell to the ground in pain and rolled right onto the section of grating where flame pyro erupted from beneath just seconds later. The segment was cut short, Hardy was hustled onto a stretcher, and even his [[{{Kayfabe}} on-screen opponent]] Wrestling/{{Edge}} hustled up the ramp to show concern. However, this was very likely a WorkedShoot.

## Shockmaster trips and falls through the wall.
## Shockmaster's mask, a purple-silver spray-painted Franchise/StarWars Storm Trooper one, falls off, revealing the bald head of Fred Ottman, AKA "Tugboat".

** A separate and much more serious incident occurred on a January 2008 episode of [=SmackDown=]. Wrestling/JeffHardy was [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jI4VOYO9RO8 making his entrance for an interview segment]] when the stage pyro went off with too much force and sent sparks into his eyes[[note]]According to statements made, the pyro used was a so-called "cold pyro" that was designed to not cause burns, similar to what Goldberg used for his iconic entrances. But in this case, the sparks went straight into Hardy's face and eyes, places where microscopic bits of incendiary powder and metal were not meant to go.[[/note]]. He fell to the ground in pain and rolled right onto the section of grating where flame pyro erupted from beneath just seconds later. The segment was cut short, Hardy was hustled onto a stretcher, and even his [[{{Kayfabe}} on-screen opponent]] Wrestling/{{Edge}} hustled up the ramp to show concern. However, this was very likely a WorkedShoot.

* Wrestling/{{TNA}} uses disguised CardboardBoxes to protect wrestlers during more dangerous matches. Unfortunately, at ''Slammiversary 2007'', some unobscured boxes were visible during Abyss and Tomko's match.

* During the ''Wrestling/{{WWE}} Summerslam 1997'' match between [[Wrestling/MickFoley Mankind]] and [[Wrestling/TripleH Hunter Hearst Helmsley]], Mankind, at one point after getting beaten down, suddenly ripped his shirt off, then had a MyNameIsInigoMontoya comeback, leaving fans wondering what was going on. Mick Foley (aka Mankind) later shed some light on the subject in his autobiography: turns out, there was supposed to be a heart-shaped tattoo on his chest, symbolizing his transformation into his former fantasy persona from his high school/college days, Dude Love (who fans had been introduced to through a series of WorkedShoot interviews in the weeks before the match). Unfortunately, Mick forgot to get the tattoo done, and didn't realize it until he was due to make his entrance for his match. Thinking quickly, he scrawled the heart on his chest with a magic marker; unfortunately, by the time of TheReveal, it had sweated off. Oops.

## Everyone present [[{{Corpsing}} starts cracking up]] (and clearly dropping a couple f-bombs on live television), including the announcers.

* Whilst making his entrance at the Elimination Chamber 2010 PPV, The Undertaker stood on the rampway as the flames beside him onstage went off. What Taker didn't expect was for one to go off right underneath him, and he was very briefly engulfed in flames. If it weren't for the heavy leather coat he typically wears to the ring, Taker would have suffered serious burns all over his body. Calaway reportedly went ballistic about it backstage after the match had ended.

** What makes it worse is that the only part of this that could have been salvaged was the "trip and fall" part. Ottman had actually had a few practice-runs and everything had gone fine, but when it came time to do it live, an extra cross-beam was added he didn't see until he was already mid-jump. If things had gone off without a hitch, it would have been a really bad-ass entrance. The costume and voice, however, still would have been atrocious.

## Everyone present starts cracking up (clearly dropping a couple f-bombs on live television), including the announcers.
## Ole Anderson, providing the voice of the Shockmaster, desperately tries to salvage the segment and fails, due to the voice modulator sounding like a cardboard tube. (Bonus points: after the fall, you can clearly hear Ole, having forgotten to mute his mic, [[{{Corpsing}} laughing]] and muttering, "Oh god.")

* Wrestling/{{TNA}} uses disguised CardboardBoxes to protect wrestlers during more dangerous matches. During the 2007 ''Slammiversary'' a some not obscured boxes were visible Abyss and Tomko's match though.