7 Times Where A Wrestler "Sandbagged" Their Opponent In The Ring
Robert Clark
Published Mar 28, 2026
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- Sandbagging can either be seen as a deliberate attempt to make an opponent look bad, but there are times that it is accidental, due to a miscommunication or a move being difficult to take. Any move in wrestling requires the cooperation of both performers to really get a move over. If a wrestler lands awkwardly or goes to the mat at the wrong speed, not only is it less visually pleasing, but it can result in a serious accident. There's a reason why wrestling schools typically start with teaching students how to take bumps. Let's take a look at some of the worst cases of sandbagging in wrestling.
When wrestlers step inside a ring to compete, they put their trust in each other as it's the performers' responsibility to keep their opponents safe from any unwanted injuries. The wrestlers entrust their health and well-being to each other while competing in the ring, and they plan out each spot either in advance or through in-ring communication before executing certain moves.
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Pro wrestling is built on professionalism and respect, but there have been times where wrestlers have scoffed at that sentiment.However, there are some occasions when a wrestler either willingly or accidentally made their opponents look weak by acting as dead weight, thus making it harder for the other to perform their moves. This practice is termed sandbagging, and with that said, let's take a look at seven instances when wrestlers resorted to this unprofessional tactic during matches across WWE, WCW, and AEW.
UPDATE: 2023/12/22 14:30 EST BY STEFANO MOCELLA
Sandbagging can either be seen as a deliberate attempt to make an opponent look bad, but there are times that it is accidental, due to a miscommunication or a move being difficult to take. Any move in wrestling requires the cooperation of both performers to really get a move over. If a wrestler lands awkwardly or goes to the mat at the wrong speed, not only is it less visually pleasing, but it can result in a serious accident. There's a reason why wrestling schools typically start with teaching students how to take bumps. Let's take a look at some of the worst cases of sandbagging in wrestling.
7 Shawn Michaels Lands Awkwardly On Jackknife Powerbomb
A Rare HBK Misstep
- HBK Lands On His Rear Instead Of His Back, Making Diesel's Powerbomb Look Weak
- Diesel Defended His WWE Championship Against Shawn Michaels At WrestleMania 11
Diesel and Shawn Michaels served as the co-main event of WrestleMania 11 in a one-on-one match for the WWE Championship, after Michaels won the Royal Rumble to earn the right to face Diesel. Big Daddy Cool emerged victorious in the bout and walked out of the event as the WWE Champion.
He defeated Michaels after hitting him with his signature Jackknife Power Bomb, but he had some trouble executing the move as HBK visibly sandbagged Diesel while he executed the move. It resulted in Michaels falling butt-first onto the mat while taking the impact of the move, and it was later clarified that it was an accidental sandbagging as HBK didn't mean to make Diesel look bad.
6 Alex Riley Sandbags Jack Swagger On A Gutwrench Powerbomb
Swagger Manages To Power Into The Move
- Riley faced Jack Swagger on a 2011 episode of RAW.
- Riley was under contract with WWE between 2007-2016, but fired after a run as NXT commentator.
Alex Riley was a controversial former WWE superstar who was part of the company between 2007 and 2016. His backstage altercation with John Cena, which eventually led to the company pushing him down the card, is a well-known story among wrestling fans.
He once resorted to sandbagging during his match against Jack Swagger on the August 15, 2011, episode of Raw. He made it hard for Swagger to pick him up to perform the Gutwrench Powerbomb, but Swagger showed off some immense strength and just pulled him up by force and dropped him to the mat to get the victory.
5 Hulk Hogan Takes The Lamest Chokeslam You'll Ever See
Anticlimactic Finish To A WWE Championship Match
Hulk Hogan is known to have a reputation for using his influence to get things his way throughout his career. However, he picked the wrong guy to play his games with, as he once sandbagged The Undertaker during one of their matches.
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Many wrestlers had a program with wrestling megastar Hulk Hogan, but some of them just couldn't get over with the fans.As The Undertaker caught Hogan by his throat to deliver the Chokeslam, the latter didn't jump along with the flow of the move and stood firmly on the mat. The Undertaker visibly whispered something in Hogan's ears before forcibly lifting Hogan up to deliver a weak-looking Chokeslam. What makes things worse is this was for the WWE Undisputed title and the bump was part of a lame finish to what had already been a mediocre match.
4 Stevie Ray Lets The Giant Do All The Work
Even Big Show Needs Some Help To Deliver A Chokeslam
The Big Show delivers one of the biggest Chokeslams in pro wrestling history as the opponent has to jump up to the 7-foot giant's size to go with the flow of the move before taking the hard impact on the ring mat.
However, Stevie Ray forgot the basics of taking the move and chose to stay put while The Big Show tried to Chokeslam him during one of their matches in WCW. The Big Show, however, showed off his immense strength by forcibly lifting Stevie Ray in the air and laying him out with a thunderous Chokeslam.
3 Thunder Rosa Accused Of Purposely Sandbagging
Later Verified With Shafir To Be An Accident
- Thunder Rosa and Shafir Competed For The AEW Women's Champonship With The Botch Occuring On A Suplex
- The two ladies took to Twitter to put rumors to rest, but wrestling fans were debating about this for a long time.
AEW booked a Women's World Championship match on the June 8, 2022, episode of Dynamite and had champion Thunder Rosa defend the title against Marina Shafir. It was the first time the two wrestlers competed against each other, and the fans were eager to watch what the two wrestlers were capable of doing in their first encounter.
However, the match turned into an awkward spotfest when Thunder Rosa visibly sandbagged Shafir when the latter tried to suplex her inside the ring. The fans accused her of willfully sandbagging during the match, and Rosa had to clear the air between her and Shafir and posted a picture of them together on Twitter to end the drama.
2 Randy Orton Takes All The German Suplexes He Can Handle
Lesnar Forced Orton Into The Air
- Orton and Lesnar Main Evented SummerSlam 2016
- The two men once squared off on a 2002 episode of SmackDown when both were in their rookie years.
- Lesnar was accused of going off-script, leading to Chris Jericho squaring up to Lesnar backstage.
Randy Orton and Brock Lesnar competed in a brutal one-on-one match at the 2016 SummerSlam PPV, which saw Lesnar emerge victorious and bust Orton open the hard way by hitting him with legitimate elbow shots, making everyone think that the Beast Incarnate had gone off script.
However, the spot was pre-planned and went on as it was supposed to take place. But Orton didn't let Lesnar destroy him that easily as he visibly sandbagged throughout the match as Lesnar tried to do his signature suplexes on The Viper. It resulted in Lesnar legitimately lifting Orton in the air to deliver the suplexes, which looked very weak in comparison to how he manhandled his other opponents.
1 Hardcore Holly Sandbags Brock Lesnar And Pays The Price
Holly Breaks His Neck Upon Landing
- Holly broke his neck on a powerbomb from Brock Lesnar and was sidelined for a year.
- Lesnar and Holly would have a rematch at the 2004 Royal Rumble, which Lesnar won easily.
Following Brock Lesnar's main roster debut in 2002, WWE booked him strongly as the "Next Big Thing" and gave him tons of opportunities to shine against some of the best performers on the roster.
Lesnar competed against Hardcore Holly on an episode of SmackDown in 2002, but the latter wasn't ready to give an easy victory to the newcomer. Holly sandbagged Lesnar when he tried to pick him up to deliver a powerbomb and didn't pull himself up to take the move smoothly. However, it came back to haunt him as Lesnar went with the execution of the move anyway and dropped Holly awkwardly on his neck, which took him out of action for a year.
