Celebrate Valentine’s Day with the PBR’s Best Heartbreaks and Wrecks

By: Darci Miller

PUEBLO, Colo. – Whether or not you’re in the spirit of love this Valentine’s Day, there’s no better time to relive some heartbreak.

Heartbreak of the bull riding variety, that is.

Tune in all day on Feb. 14 for a Heartbreaks and Wrecks marathon on RidePass on Pluto TV, featuring everything from our biggest upsets to our roughest rides. We’ve got plenty of them – whether or not a bull ride goes perfectly, it almost always hurts.

We hope your Valentine’s Day is pain-free, but read on to check out some of the pain we’ve seen over the years, and tune into RidePass on Pluto TV if you’re ready to hurt.

Jess Lockwood upsets Jose Vitor Leme to win the 2019 world title

For much of the 2019 season, it looked like it was Jose Vitor Leme’s time to win a World Championship. After finishing No. 2 to Kaique Pacheco in the 2018 world title race, Leme was in the driver’s seat heading into Las Vegas for the PBR World Finals, holding a 749.66-point lead (in an old points system) over Jess Lockwood. Lockwood had broken his collarbone in February and returned to competition three months later more than 600 points behind Leme. At the time, no rider had ever overcome more than a 467.5-point deficit in that points system at the start of the World Finals.

But Lockwood was extraordinary in Vegas, putting forth the best showing of his career. He went 5-for-6 with four consecutive 90-point rides, earning 2,265 world points at the Finals to finish 852.51 points ahead of Leme in the world title race.

Leme approached his rival after his final buckoff and the two shook hands, though he was visibly crushed by the loss. He would go on to win the 2020 and 2021 world titles, but 2019 was a bitter disappointment.

Guilherme Marchi finishes No. 2 in the world three times

Guilherme Marchi is one of the greatest riders in PBR history. The 2008 World Champion, he has the most rides ever on the premier series with 635 – the only rider ever to cross the 600-ride threshold.

However, before he was a World Champion, he was a perpetual bridesmaid: Marchi finished No. 2 in the world standings three consecutive times before finally winning the world title.

 
In 2005, Marchi won the World Finals event title but fell short to World Champion Justin McBride. In 2006, Adriano Moraes won the last two rounds of the World Finals to overtake Marchi’s 2,805-point lead (in an old points system). And in 2007, Marchi finished second at the World Finals, but it wasn’t enough, and he again fell just short to McBride.

“Since becoming World Champion in 2008, every time I tell the story of everything that I went through, I get emotional,” Marchi told Rafael Villela in 2020. “It has been a difficult career since I arrived in the United States until the day I retired. Those three second places were God testing me and preparing me to be a man inside and outside the arena.”

Silvano Alves misses 2013 world title after historic comeback by J.B. Mauney

 
It’s hard to think of three-time World Champion Silvano Alves as a bull rider that’s experienced much heartbreak. But that’s what happened in 2013 when J.B. Mauney completed what is still considered the most dramatic comeback in PBR history to win his first world title.

Mauney, who was ranked 10th in the world standings and trailed Alves by 3,056 points (in an old points system) coming out of the summer break, claimed the title by 977.75 points after going a perfect 6-for-6 to win the PBR World Finals. Mauney also won a staggering five events in the second half of the season before the World Finals.

All of that left Alves on the outside looking in. The two-time defending World Champion at the time, he would go on to win his third world title in 2014. Had Mauney not caught fire in 2013, Alves could’ve been the first and only four-time World Champion in PBR history.

Team Brazil beats Team Australia for the Global Cup title by .75 points in Sydney

 
At the second iteration of the PBR Global Cup, Team Australia was on top of the world. Figuratively speaking, of course, as it was held Down Under in Sydney, Australia. The Aussies had home-field advantage on their side, and they put together their best showing in Global Cup competition.

Going toe-to-toe with Team Brazil, Team Australia was in position to claim victory with the last ride of the weekend. Nathan Burtenshaw, who was 2-for-2 despite riding with a recently torn ACL, was up for the Aussies, needing a score of 85.5 to win.

Burtenshaw made the 8-second whistle. The crowd erupted, cowboy hats flew, and his teammates poured onto the dirt.

And then the score was announced: 84.75 points.

It was Team Brazil’s turn to party, as Burtenshaw and Team Australia came up .75 points short.

“It could’ve went either way, I guess,” Burtenshaw told PBR.com at the time. “If we were in front, it could’ve been extra points. It’s just what happens. Nonetheless, everyone tried their ass off. I guess we didn’t take enough opportunities. The first night we didn’t take enough opportunities when we should’ve, and that’s what these things are about – taking opportunities. I guess there are a lot of young guys that don’t really know that yet. It’s just a learning curve for everyone, and hope it doesn’t happen again.”

Mauney fails to ride Bushwacker twelve times

 
The J.B. Mauney/Bushwacker rivalry is one of the most famous in PBR history. Mauney made history when he broke Bushwacker’s record-setting streak of 42 consecutive buckoffs, riding the three-time YETI World Champion Bull for 95.25 points.

However, the rivalry is just as legendary because of Mauney’s sheer determination to make the 8-second whistle despite failing so many times. It took Mauney nine tries to finally notch a qualified ride, and then he just kept getting bucked off. Twelve times in all, to be exact.

“I have been on a lot of great bulls; a lot of them do the same things over and over,” Mauney said in 2016 when he presented Bushwacker with the Brand of Honor. “Thirteen times, he never had the same trip twice. That was because he was smart. When they run him into the bucking chute, there was no tricks.

“He stood, and you moved him around where you wanted to, and it scared the shit out of me. He just acted like it was another day in the office. ‘Just nod your head because I am ready to slam you.’”

Photo courtesy of Christopher Thompson/Bull Stock Media

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