Cody Rhodes Wants Fans to Stop Using the Term “Botch” in Wrestling

Cody Rhodes isn’t holding back when it comes to how fans talk about wrestling mistakes — and he’s got one word he wants gone completely, which is the term “botch.”

Speaking on his What Do You Wanna Talk About? podcast, Rhodes took direct aim at the term “botch,” making it clear he doesn’t think it even belongs in the wrestling vocabulary. He started by explaining why the word itself doesn’t reflect what actually happens inside the ring, especially from a performer’s perspective.

“Whenever anyone—listen, all of you fans are pretty much in—I’ll tell you a word not to use. It’s just not a true word—it’s the word ‘botch.’ It’s not a botch, it’s a wrestling match. No one knows but us—maybe it didn’t look correct—but it keeps rolling.”

Rhodes then broke down what those moments really look like from inside the ring — making it clear that mistakes happen, but they’re part of the flow rather than something that stops the match.

“Anytime somebody blows it on TV—I mean, goes for something and falls—we don’t have to name names.”

To drive the point home, the American Nightmare pointed to one of his own in-ring moments — showing that even top-level performers deal with things not going perfectly.

“I send them the same clip of me trying to powerslam Chris Jericho, who isn’t running—I’m falling backwards, so it looks like two drunk guys in a bar rolling on each other—but still got up like we hit it and nailed it, because it happens to everybody.”

The takeaway from Rhodes is simple — what fans often label as a “botch” is just part of a live performance that keeps moving, no matter what. Instead of focusing on mistakes, he’s pushing the idea that wrestling is about adapting in real time — and making things work, even when they don’t go as planned.

Do you agree with Cody Rhodes that fans should stop using the term “botch,” or is it just part of how people talk about wrestling now? Let us know your thoughts.

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