The Anatomy of a Botch: How 70 Years of Experience Managed to Mess Up a Simple Move
We’ve all seen it happen. Two seasoned veterans step into the ring, the finish is set up, and suddenly the gears grind to a grinding, awkward halt.
But when the guys messing up are Chris Jericho and Don Callis—two minds with roughly 70 combined years in the professional wrestling business—you expect a certain level of veteran instinct.
Instead, what went down on AEW Dynamite during Jericho's match against "Fly Time" Kevin Knight was a masterclass in how not to improvise.
What Went Wrong?
If you watched the sequence, you know the pain. Jericho locks in the Walls of Jericho. Don Callis is lingering outside with his trusty screwdriver, ready to swing the momentum. Simple enough, right? Heel manager interferes, babyface gets screwed, cue the heat.
Except for one glaring issue: Geometry.
Out of Position: Jericho had Knight locked in the submission dead in the center of the ring, completely detached from where Callis was stationed.
The Awkward Drag: Rather than letting the spot breathe or calling an audible, we got the excruciating spectacle of Jericho dragging the entire human weight of the submission across the canvas, all while seemingly shouting instructions—or objections—at Callis.
The Dead Air: To cap it all off, the production truck stayed glued to a wide, unflattering stationary shot for nearly 25 seconds, capturing every second of the confused choreography in agonizing detail.
Trust Your Training
As Stevie Richards rightly pointed out on his show, wrestling history is full of audibles. When you miss your mark, the absolute worst thing you can do is aggressively try to force the exact same broken sequence back together like a square peg in a round hole.
Callis didn't need Jericho to drag a writhing opponent halfway across the ring to a specific square inch of padding. Just slide into the canvas, clip the veteran over the head, and bail before the ref turns around. The math is simple.
Even the best in the world suffer from brain farts. But when you've main-evented arenas all over the globe, the one thing fans shouldn't see is two seasoned pros looking like they're trying to assemble IKEA furniture without the manual.
