WWE Botch of the Week: Sheamus Loses Thanks to a Weak Chokeslam from Kane

Writer's Note: For those that don't know, this is a new column where I look at the "WWE Botch of the Week." Considering that a botch is a screw-up or mishap, this does not always have to refer to a move. It can refer to a storyline or promo as well.

For some reason or another, the WWE decided to have Kane and Daniel Bryan team up on last night’s Raw to face Sheamus and Randy Orton just six days before their respective WrestleMania matches. 

While the bout was really good, I have to question putting these four men in the ring together just before they compete against each other at WrestleMania 28 because it takes away a lot of the excitement from the 'Mania matches themselves. 

Since it was a very entertaining match, however, I decided just to enjoy it. Until the ending, that is. 

I was almost certain that this bout would end without any decisive winner. My thinking was that Bryan would get himself disqualified, Kane would purposely get counted out or something along those lines. 

But instead, the WWE—and I still can’t wrap my brain around this—decided to book a finish that saw Kane sneak onto the ring apron while the referee was distracted, hit Sheamus with a chokeslam and allow Bryan to get the victory. 

On a normal episode of Raw, I probably wouldn’t care too much about this, but on the go-home to WrestleMania edition of Raw, this was some really idiotic booking. 

Although the WWE should have used this opportunity to build up some more momentum for Sheamus, they apparently thought that it would be a good idea to have Sheamus get pinned by Kane after a really, really terrible chokeslam. 

I mean, that’s it? That’s all it takes to put away The Great White? 

That chokeslam looked like it did about the same amount of damage that a normal body slam does, and even if Kane wouldn’t have been in an awkward position and thus, would have been able to hit it correctly, I still don’t think it’s a wise idea to have Sheamus lost like that just six days before WrestleMania. 

WrestleMania is the one pay-per-view where it’s generally acceptable to kick out of multiple finishers, but if Bryan puts Sheamus in the Lebell Lock at 'Mania and holds it for 20 or 30 seconds, are we really supposed to believe that Sheamus won't tap out by then? 

After all, if he could be put away with one of the weakest-looking chokeslams I’ve ever seen, then it shouldn’t take much for Bryan to beat him at WrestleMania. 

The thing is, we all know that Sheamus isn’t going to lose to one finishing move at WrestleMania, because, apparently, everyone turns into Superman on the grandest stage of them all. 

It’s dumb of the WWE to expect us to forget about Sheamus’ loss right before WrestleMania, though. And that, my friends, is why the world’s weakest chokeslam is also the WWE’s Botch of the Week.

Note: As part of the new WWE blog, I'll be asking all of the B/R wrestling readers for questions for a new mailbag that I will post on Fridays. It will be a slideshow featuring 10-20 questions and answers on a wide range of topics. You can submit questions either through Formspring or Twitter, and the best ones will be answered in the B/R mailbag.