Michael Cole’s Botched Call and The 5 Biggest Blunders of WrestleMania 37

Michael Cole’s Botched Call and The 5 Biggest Blunders of WrestleMania 37 00:00 WrestleMania 37 Recap 00:41 Greg Hamilton Botches Announcement 01:21 Sheamus Slips on the Top Rope 01:58 Rhea Ripley Entrance WrestleMania 37 02:36 Michael Cole's Botched Call 03:11 Mandy Rose Falls WWE WrestleMania was one for the books, and the blooper reel. WrestleMania 37 concluded two nights of good-to-great shows that took place in front of live fans for the first time in, Say it with me, a year, a month and a day. I want to be clear that I felt WrestleMania 37, collectively, was a success. There were a lot of great matches, a few great moments and more black history than any WrestleMania has ever produced, which—it’s about damn time. But WrestleMania 37 will also be remembered for its blunders, bloopers and fails, starting with the usually sure-handed Greg Hamilton, who botched an announcement on Night 1. In a train wreck of a Tag Team Turmoil match filled with botches, Greg Hamilton himself caught the botch bug. Following the merciful elimination of Dana Brooke and Mandy Rose, Hamilton incorrectly announced that The Riott Squad had been eliminated. Hamilton promptly corrected himself, but the damage had already been done, and within seconds, WWE Twitter was all over poor Greg. The Women’s Tag Team Turmoil match was easily the worst in-ring match of the entire weekend, yes even worse than Orton and The Fiend, making it even more confusing that WWE couldn’t make room for Charlotte, despite being medically cleared, or Bayley, who was arguably the best thing about WWE in 2020. Sheamus and Riddle had one blip on an otherwise awesome match at WrestleMania 37, and its sucks because had Sheamus not slipped on the top rope while trying to deliver a White Noise, this would have been on the short list of match of the weekend. Of course, Twitter was all over Sheamus for this one, but even with the botch, Sheamus and Riddle’s undeniable chemistry continued. The two made up for the unfortunate slip with a great finish where Sheamus hit the Brogue Kick on Riddle mid-springboard. The stiff kick by Sheamus could also technically be considered a botch, but it was somewhat fortuitous as a bloody Riddle made for a great visual, presenting the miscast comedy character as the legitimate tough guy he really is, even in defeat. The third-biggest botch of the weekend came when Ash Costello butchered Ripley’s “This is My Brutality” theme song. The scattershot live performance seemed to suffer from both audio and talent issues, and was doomed from the start as Costello’s opening lyrics could barely be heard. Once the audio became clearer, however, it only got worse and, say it with me, Twitter was all over Ash Costello. Thankfully, Rhea Ripley beat Asuka in a match she had to have, and hopefully WWE has plans to go all the way with Ripley as a dominant world champion on the red brand even when Charlotte comes back. Michael Cole called an entire weekend’s worth of WrestleMania matches, but none of his moments will be more memorable than his worst. No, not the WrestleRAINA pun, which was actually kind of clever, but Michael Cole’s botched call of the main event finish of WrestleMania 37, Night 1. Of all the times to screw up a call, the main event of WrestleMania is easily the worst. Unfortunately for Cole, after finally being allowed to say the term “Black Women” on commentary after decades with WWE—think about that for a second—Cole failed to stick the landing when he incorrectly announced that Sasha Banks had kicked out of Bianca Belair’s KOD finisher, and Twitter was all over him. Finally, the biggest botch of the weekend featured Mandy Rose slipping and falling on her way to the worst match of WrestleMania 37, and Twitter was all over her for the entire weekend. Even Randy Orton trolled Rose during his entrance, and now people are assuming WWE is going to make this part of her character. I disagree, and I’ll put it to you like this: When R-Truth screwed up and named the wrong city in Wisconsin back in 2011, WWE made a whole gimmick out of it. They could’t wait to make him the dumb guy, which continues to be his character 11 years later. When Titus O’Neil slipped and fell at the Greatest Royal Rumble in 2018, WWE made a whole gimmick out of it. Immediately, there was an in-depth analysis of Titus O’Neil slipping in falling, there were alternate angles of Titus slipping and falling, there were Superstar reactions to Titus slipping and falling, WWE made a Top 10 Epic Superstar Fails video in the spirit of Titus O’Neil slipping, and guess what No. 1 was—even ahead of The Shockmaster—Fucking TITUS O’Neil slipping and falling! They even called back to the spot in the 2019 Royal Rumble. Point is, because of an honest mistake, being a simpleton klutz became part of Titus O’Neil’s character, and is now ingrained in his legacy forever.