10 Times WWE Stars Won Matches By Accident

The winners of pro wrestling matches are determined by the booker, but on very rare occasions the person that was supposed to be ending the match with their shoulders on the mat somehow ends up getting their hand raised after winning by accident. 

Whether it’s a botched pin or an unplanned tumble or the top rope, these are 10 Times WWE Stars Won Matches By Accident.

10. R-Truth - WWE SmackDown - January 29, 2019

Two days after Shinsuke Nakamura began his second reign as WWE United States Champion, his run with the belt came to an abrupt, unplanned end. 

The King of Strong Style was defending against R-Truth in what was supposed to be a routine title defence on the January 29, 2019, edition of SmackDown, when wires got crossed somewhere and Truth walked away with the red, white and blue championship. 

Countering a Go To Sleep attempt with an inside cradle, Truth secured the win when referee Mike Chioda counted three due to Nakamura not getting his shoulders up in time. The two men briefly continued with their pre-arranged sequence before realising just what had happened. 

Chioda expected a bunch of heat when he got back to the Gorilla position backstage but, on the contrary, Vince McMahon loved how it had all unfolded and was all smiles afterwards. 

Rather than immediately get the title off Truth and put it back on Shinsuke, Truth instead embarked upon a 35-day reign that ended at the hands of Samoa Joe.

9. Mickie James - WWE House Show - April 24, 2007

Unplanned WWE title switches haven’t only occurred on WWE television, with belts also accidentally changing hands on house shows in the past. This is exactly what happened at a WWE Raw house show in Paris, France, during the red brand’s 2007 WrestleMania Revenge tour. 

Melina was defending her Women’s Championship against Mickie James and Victoria in a triple threat match when Mickie hit Victoria with a hurricanrana for what was supposed to be a near fall. 

However, either Victoria forgot to kick out or Melina forgot to break up the pin attempt (or both), because the referee counted three and Mickie unexpectedly found herself a three-time Women’s Champion. 

There was a subsequent scramble for a solution backstage, with road agent Ricky Steamboat making the call that Mickie would drop the title back to Melina in a singles match later in the show. 

To cover for this in kayfabe, Melina came out and demanded a rematch since she wasn’t the one who was pinned, to which Jonathan Coachman (who was the heelish authority figure running the show) agreed.

WWE weren’t going to acknowledge the title change but Mickie (in her own words) bugged them enough that they added it to the history books.

8. Kaitlyn - WWE Raw - August 20, 2012

On the August 20, 2012, edition of Raw, a battle royal was set up to determine the number one contender to Layla’s Divas Championship.

With Layla looking on from ringside, the likes of Natalya, Tamina Snuka, Alicia Fox, Aksana and Rosa Mendes scrapped for a future title match. The rushed match ended up coming down to Kaitlyn and the obvious favourite, Eve Torres, as the final two.

Torres was supposed to get clotheslined over the top rope and land on the ring apron, but missed her mark and crashed straight to the floor instead, which made a confused Kaitlyn the unwanted winner.  

Kaitlyn later recalled being terrified about what the reaction was going to be backstage and was worried that the mistake was going to cost the entire Divas division future opportunities. To her relief and bemusement, she was met by a maniacally laughing Vince McMahon, who found the whole thing hilarious. 

Kaitlyn didn’t get her title shot, though, as WWE ran an angle to take her out of the match at Night of Champions and replaced her with original choice Eve, who defeated Layla to win the title for the third time.

7. Emma - WWE NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn 2015 Pre-Show

At NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn 2015, Bayley and Sasha Banks stole the show with their NXT Women’s Championship match, a classic which remains one of the best women’s matches in WWE history.

The rest of the brand’s female contingent had to settle for the pre-show. In matches taped for the next episode of NXT television, Eva Marie beat Carmella, and Emma emerged victorious in a four-way also featuring Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch and Dana Brooke.

The Australian got the win after hitting Becky with a crossbody in the corner, which was not the intended finish. Regrettably, the force of the move knocked Lynch loopy and she neglected to kick out at two. Referee Drake Wuertz counted as if the match was a shoot (as he had been instructed to do), with Becky getting her shoulder up a second too late.

Trying to somewhat stick to the script, Charlotte hit Emma with a Spear after the decision and counted her own pinfall, before she and Becky locked the other two in stereo submission holds.

Reports suggested that everyone involved in the match was upset backstage afterwards (particularly Lynch), though there was no heat on the foursome for the mess up.

6. Too Cool - Judgment Day 2000

The opening contest of Judgment Day 2000 saw Too Cool of Rikishi, Scotty 2 Hotty, and Grandmaster Sexay take on Edge, Christian, and Kurt Angle in a six-man tag team match. 

There was a lot going on in the match, which had plenty of crowd heat thanks to fan-friendly spots like The Worm and Stinkface.

Too Cool were big fan fan favourites and their victory went down very well with those in attendance. It just wasn’t supposed to happen, though, and Rikishi got the win over Edge after Sexay hit a Hip-Hop Drop behind the referee’s back, and Kurt Angle ran in to break up the pin a fraction of a second too late.

In any event, WWE quickly booked a rematch for the next night on Raw, with Team ECK getting the win they were booked to enjoy 24 hours earlier.

5. Sin Cara, Ezekiel Jackson & Daniel Bryan - WWE SmackDown - June 17, 2011

A six-man tag match from the June 17th, 2011, episode of SmackDown ended after only four minutes when Daniel Bryan pinned Ted DiBiase Jr. following a running dropkick in the corner. 

After they all sheepishly headed backstage, Vince McMahon was stood up at Gorilla waiting for them but before Cody could say anything, DiBiase charged past, and shouted “Where is that referee? He was trying to f*ck on me!” 

In Cody’s recollection, Vince McMahon reacted to this unusual terminology by simply putting his headset back on, turning back to his monitor and never mentioning the botched finish again.

4. Matt Hardy & Mark Henry - August 12, 2008

As showcased in the above entries, most accidental finishes don’t lead to severe consequences as things can always be fixed later. Sometimes, however, there is collateral damage, something former WWE referee Wes Adams found out the hard way. 

Adams was the man in the middle when Mark Henry and Matt Hardy met The Miz and John Morrison in the main event of the August 12, 2008, episode of ECW on Sci-Fi.

It seemed like the match was building to Henry receiving the hot tag when Hardy hit Morrison with a second-rope Side Effect and won the match. 

Miz was supposed to break up the pin but was seemingly sleeping on the ring apron, while JoMo had been legitimately dazed by his bump and only got his shoulders up after the three. While the right team went over, it was supposed to be the dominant-looking ECW Champion that got the match-winning pin. 

The World’s Strongest Man nailed Miz with a stiff kick after the decision, while Adams was let go a few days later.

3. Brian Kendrick - WWE Cruiserweight Classic

One veteran who earned himself a second chance with his performances in the Cruiserweight Classic was Brian Kendrick, who made it to the quarter-finals. 

Standing in his way was Kota Ibushi, the high-flying Japanese sensation who had dropped jaws with his spectacular showing in a second-round victory over Cedric Alexander. The Golden Star was booked to beat Kendrick in a competitive, 15-minute match and advance to the semis, when a misunderstanding of the rules almost cost him. 

After taking a neckbreaker on the metal turnbuckles, Kota stayed outside of the ring for the duration of the 10 count. The referee - who like all WWE referees had been taught to treat matches as if they were legit - counted him out and awarded the win to Kendrick. 

The issue was likely due to Ibushi being used to the 20-second count that is used in Japan. The botch was quickly resolved, though, as NXT General Manager William Regal quickly arrived on the scene and restarted the match under the flimsy pretence that Kendrick had used an ‘illegal’ move to win. The false finish was then edited out of the final broadcast.  

2. Tyson Kidd - WWE House Show - November 13, 2014

The NXT crew were represented on WWE’s November 2014 tour of the UK and Europe, with the NXT Title being defended on the shows. 

The tour started with Adrian Neville putting the belt on the line against his rival at the time Sami Zayn, before Tyson Kidd got added to the mix for the last handful of stops on the tour. 

According to reports, their triple threat outing in Glasgow on November 13th didn’t quite go according to plan. Kidd accidentally pinned Zayn, who apparently forgot to get his shoulder up. Everyone involved looked confused, while fans thought they had seen a title change when Kidd’s music played. 

However, the ring announcer then got on the mic and told the crowd in the SSE Hydro that Zayn had actually been eliminated. This was despite the fact the match was announced as a standard triple threat.

Once the mess was resolved, Neville quickly hit Kidd the Red Arrow and pinned him to retain. On the next two shows in Germany, WWE booked the matches to take place under elimination rules.

1. Hardcore Holly - WWE WrestleMania 2000

Accidental winners even make it to the Showcase of the Immortals.

Hardcore Holly was one of 13 participants competing in the Hardcore Championship Battle Royal at WrestleMania 2000. Unlike a traditional battle royal, this match stipulated that the title could change an unlimited number of times during the course of the bout’s 15-minute time limit, with the last person to score a pin or submission being recognised as the champ.

The finish was supposed to see defending champion Crash Holly just about eke out a defence after his kayfabe cousin hit him and Tazz on the head with a glass jar, but referee Tim White’s timing was a second off and Hardcore got the three right before the buzzer sounded.

Luckily, the Hollys used the same entrance music, so it wasn’t a problem when it automatically played. Of course, WWE had intended to keep the title on Crash and so they booked him to regain it the next night on Raw.