History Awesome / MickFoley

*** It should also be noted that, on a non-Kayfabe level, Vince had told both of them there was to be no thumbtacks to be used. They audibly agreed but as soon as Vince left the room, Hunter turned to Mick and asked, “You already put them under the ring, right?” which Mick had. After the match, apparently Vince wasn’t even really mad, acknowledging the two were just trying to put on the most entertaining match they could.

** The Undertaker was extremely reluctant about the first stunt, which was scripted, and in an unused camera shot that has since appeared in retrospectives, for perhaps the only time in his career, he ''[[Main/{{Kayfabe}} broke character]]'' seeing Foley come back down the aisle with a look of utter shock.

** This match is so legendary, it's one of only three individual WWF/E matches to get [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Undertaker_vs._Mankind their own page]] on Website/TheOtherWiki, the other two being the Wrestling/MontrealScrewjob (for obvious reasons) and Wrestling/BretHart vs Tom Magee (for its curiosity status as a "holy grail" lost match).

** This match is so legendary, it's one of only two individual WWF/E matches to get [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Undertaker_vs._Mankind their own page]] on Website/TheOtherWiki, the other being, for obvious reasons, the Wrestling/MontrealScrewjob.

* An often forgotten one happened at the 1999 Summerslam where he won the WWE Title for a third and final time from Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin (Wrestling/TripleH was also in the match.) While Austin had lost a handful of matches since his first title victory, it was usually by either disqualification or by getting screwed (usually by the [=McMahons=]). Foley became the first wrestler since Wrestlemania XIV to CLEANLY pin Austin. He lost the belt the next night to Wrestling/TripleH,[[note]]Apparently WWE wanted to put the belt on Triple H but Austin flatly refused to put Trips over, while being willing to do it for Foley, which says quite a lot, to be honest.[[/note]] but the moment stands.

** The Undertaker was extremely reluctant about the first stunt, which was scripted, and in an unused camera shot that has since appeared in retrospectives, for perhaps the only time in his career, he [[Main/{{Kayfabe}} broke character]] seeing Foley come back down the aisle with a look of utter shock.
*** If the match had simply ended with Mankind taken out the back on a stretcher after that first fall, the crowd would have been satisfied solely by the sheer shock value. But just ''listen'' to [[ShockingMoments the crowd reaction]] when [[WhamShot Mankind rises from the stretcher]], literally tears himself free of the desperate restraining hands of the staff and Wrestling/TerryFunk, and charges back down the aisle to start climbing the cage again...

* The first RAW of 1999 was taped December 29, 1998.[[note]]Until the debut of Wrestling/WWESmackdown in August 1999, WWE did two RAW's in one night, with the first one live, and the second one taped to air the following week.[[/note]] It was the build to the Royal Rumble, and Mick found himself on the outside looking in, especially after being screwed out of a qualifying match to Wrestling/TripleH. However, Trips decided to throw Mankind a bone; after Pedigreeing special referee Wrestling/ShaneMcMahon, he left Shane-O to Mick, who clamped on a submission hold and forced a title shot out of Wrestling/VinceMcMahon. Cut to the match: The Rock (with the Corporation) vs. Mankind (with DX). The crowd was at a fever pitch, but fully expected Mankind to be screwed again. However, they were so invested that they forgot one thing: At the start of RAW, then-Commissioner Shawn Michaels announced a "Stone Cold Surprise". Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin hadn't been seen since burying Undertaker alive at the previous PPV, Rock Bottom. With everyone brawling at ringside, and the Rock having put down Mankind... the glass shattered. Many, many times you will hear fans say "Oh, the loudest pop (that's fan-speak for crazy cheering, FYI) was this moment when…" and it might seem like they're exaggerating. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KybuIy0wKXk Not this time]]. The crowd, knew. That can't be understated enough; the second the glass shattered, '''THEY.''' '''KNEW'''. And it became the biggest sustained roar in RAW history, compared only to Triple H's return from injury three years and change later. On that night, Michael Francis Foley finally won the big one.

** The second the above words left Tony's mouth, literally ''over half a million viewers'' switched to ''Raw''. And to really put the icing on the cake, what did fans see if they chose to switch over back to Nitro? The FingerPokeOfDoom. The ratings were slowly tipping in RAW's favor at that point, but many consider this to be the catalyst for the ratings freefall that led to WCW's demise two years later.
** Foley later mentioned that he did feel some hurt by Schiavone's comment (which to be fair was confirmed to be orchestrated by Wrestling/EricBischoff), until he saw what happened with the ratings.

** Wrestling fans in general get one here as well. For years after Schiavone made those comments, it was no uncommon to see fans at WWE events holding up signs reading “Mick Foley put my butt in this seat!”
* Foley's catchphrase during his first two title reigns, in the face of Wrestling/TheRock and Vince's desperate scramble to try and get the title back from him. "I am the World Wrestling Federation Champion... ''until I'm NOT''"
* His "I Quit" match at the 1999 Royal Rumble was an absolutely ''brutal'' match for Mick Foley. During the ''Sunday Night Heat'' before the Royal Rumble, Foley had a "warm-up match" with the 500 pound Mabel, who gave Foley a huge splash with all his weight. Despite this, Foley went on to the I Quit match, where he would be thrown into the steel steps, hit by the ring bell, put through a table, miss an elbow drop onto a ladder, knocked off a twelve foot drop into an electrical circuit board[[note]]Wrestling/ShaneMcMahon actually tried to stop the match at the point, but The Rock refused[[/note]], handcuffed, and took nearly a dozen ''unprotected'' head shots from a steel chair[[note]]In which only ''five'' of them are scripted - Mick was supposed to be at two-thirds up the entrance ramp when the fifth chair shot was delivered[[/note]]. Despite it all, [[{{Determinator}} Foley refused to say "I quit,"]] even going so far as to say "You'll have to kill me!" and it took a played recording of Mick Foley saying "I Quit!" to give the Rock the win. Even more amazing? Despite all the abuse he took, [[MadeOfIron Foley showed up at the very next RAW]] and demanded a rematch with The Rock.
* An often forgotten one happened at the 1999 Summerslam where he won the WWE Title for a third and final time from Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin (Wrestling/TripleH was also in the match.) While Austin had lost a handful of matches since his first title victory, it was usually by either disqualification or by getting screwed (usually by the [=McMahons=]). Foley became the first wrestler since Wrestlemania XIV to CLEANLY pin Austin. He lost the belt the next night to Wrestling/TripleH,[[note]]Apparently WWE wanted to put the belt on Triple H but Austin flatly refused to put Trips over, while being willing to do it for Foley, which says quite a lot actually.[[/note]] but the moment stands.
* His [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnqHCvoqVkA punching out of Bubba the Love Sponge]]. Seeing how Bubba was the CreatorsPet of Wrestling/{{TNA}} (and a colossal real-life JerkAss), it just made it that much sweeter.

* His legendary Wrestling/HellInACell match with Wrestling/TheUndertaker at ''Wrestling/KingOfTheRing 1998''. Mankind lost but still looked strong.
** First, Mick was thrown off the sixteen-feet tall cage into the SpanishAnnouncersTable, then after (not) being wheeled out on a stretcher, was thrown ''through the roof of the cage onto the mat''. Though seriously injured, with a tooth visibly sticking out of his nose, he fought 'Taker to a standstill and covered the mat in thumbtacks before being dropped onto those tacks and writhing in pain for minutes. He took so much punishment, scripted ''and'' [[ThrowItIn accidental]], that he got carried out in a stretcher... but got up and kept wrestling. '''[[MadeOfIron Two times.]]'''

* A few weeks before ''Wrestlemania 22'', Foley and Wrestling/{{Edge}} get into a brawl. Edge drops Foley '''face-first''' onto thumbtacks and celebrates... until Foley rises, thumbtacks sticking out of his face, and beats Edge down.

** This match is so legendary, it's one of only two individual WWF/E matches to get [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Undertaker_vs._Mankind their own page]] on Wiki/TheOtherWiki, the other being, for obvious reasons, the Wrestling/MontrealScrewjob.

* His "I Quit" match at the 1999 Royal Rumble was an absolutely ''brutal'' match for Mick Foley. During the ''Sunday Night Heat'' before the Royal Rumble, Foley had a "warm-up match" with the 500 pound Mabel, who gave Foley a huge splash with all his weight. Despite this, Foley went on to the I Quit match, where he would be thrown into the steel steps, hit by the ring bell, put through a table, miss an elbow drop onto a ladder, knocked off a twelve foot drop into an electrical circuit board[[note]]Wrestling/ShaneMcMahon actually tried to stop the match at the point, but The Rock refused[[/note]], handcuffed, and took nearly a dozen ''unprotected'' head shots from a steel chair. Despite it all, [[{{Determinator}} Foley refused to say "I quit,"]] even going so far as to say "You'll have to kill me!" and it took a played recording of Mick Foley saying "I Quit!" to give the Rock the win. Even more amazing? Despite all the abuse he took, [[MadeOfIron Foley showed up at the very next RAW]] and demanded a rematch with The Rock.

* A recent episode of RAW shows Foley calling out CM Punk and Paul Heyman for mocking recently-returned [[spoiler:[[Wrestling/JerryLawler Jerry "The King" Lawler]]]] about his heart attack. What's even more is that he supervises the main event of the night and prevents Paul Heyman from interfering in the match!

** First, Mick was thrown off the sixteen-feet tall cage onto a table, then after (not) being wheeled out on a stretcher, was thrown ''through the roof of the cage onto the mat''. Though seriously injured, with a tooth visibly sticking out of his nose, he fought 'Taker to a standstill and covered the mat in thumbtacks before being dropped onto those tacks and writhing in pain for minutes. He took so much punishment, scripted ''and'' [[ThrowItIn accidental]], that he got carried out in a stretcher... but got up and kept wrestling. '''[[MadeOfIron Two times.]]'''

[[caption-width-right:350:That'll put the butts in the seats.]]

** And of course, with the famous comes the infamous. WCW Nitro ran live from the Georgia Dome in Atlanta a week after the above, in front of over 40,000 people (RAW would run from the Skydome in Toronto a month later and also got 40K people). At the end of the first hour, following a [[Wrestling/HulkHogan Hollywood Hogan]] promo setting up the night's "main event", Tony Schiavone, who would later state he had been ordered to state the following, uttered this to the camera with about as arrogant a tone as you can get:

->''"[[MadeOfIron The wicked man traveleth with pain in all his days]], [[HowMuchMoreCanHeTake and the number of years is hidden to the oppressor.]] A dreadful sound is in his ears: in prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him. [[DoNotGoGentle He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness]], and he is waited for of the sword. He wandereth abroad for bread, saying, '[[BringIt Where is it?]]'"''
-->--'''[[Literature/TheBible Job 15:20-23]]''', as quoted to describe Mick Foley in ''"[[Creator/EmperorLemon There will never be another show like Monday Night RAW]]"''

-->'''Cactus Jack''': "I wave the flag and I'm a coward, please don't cut me anymore!" When I saw my saving grace, y'see, Tommy, I looked out into that audience, my adoring crowd, and I saw [[EurekaMoment two simple words that changed my life]]. "[[TwoWordsAddedEmphasis Cane. Dewey.]]" Somebody had taken the time, and the effort, and the thought, to make a sign that said "Cane. Dewey." And I saw other people around, as every moment in my life stopped and focused in on that sign, and the pain that shot through my body '''[[SuddenlyShouting became a distant memory]]'''! Replaced by the pain that will be embedded in my skull '''to my dying day'''! "Cane Dewey." (''Mirthless chuckle'') "Cane Dewey." Dewey Foley... is a three-year-old boy '''''[[TakeThatAudience you sick sons-of-bitches]]'''''! ''You ripped out my heart, you took everything I believed in, [[ArtistDisillusionment and you flushed it down the damn toilet]]''! You flushed my ''heart'', you flushed my ''soul'', and now it ''sickens'' me to sit back and see other people makin' the same mistake. (''Starts beating his own face'') Y'see Wrestling/TommyDreamer, I gotta listen to my little boy, ''every day of my life'' say "Daddy, I miss Atlanta" and I say "It's too bad, son. Because your dad traded in the Victorian house ''for a sweatbox in Long Island! Your Dad traded in a hundred''... (''breaks off as he's choked up with emotion'') thousand dollar contract... guaranteed money... insurance... respect... and the name on the dotted line of the greatest man in the world – to work for a scumbag who operates out of a little pissant ''pawn shop'' in Philadelphia." You don’t expect me to be bitter? Tommy, when you open up your heart, when you open up your soul, ''and it gets shit on'', [[MaddenIntoMisanthropy it tends to make Jack a very mean boy]]. And so, I’m saying to you – before I take these aggressions out on you – to look at your future and realize that the hardcore life is a '''''lie''''', that these letters behind me are a blatant lie, that those fans who sit there and say "He’s Hardcore! He’s Hardcore! He’s Hardcore!", ''[[AllTakeAndNoGive wouldn’t piss on you if you were on fire]], you selfish son of a bitch''! But, I want you to understand Tommy... though he’s hurt you time and time again, deep in his heart, Raven wants you to understand that the hatred I have in here is not for you. No, no – far removed. You see, Tommy, I’m not doing this because I hate you – I love you, man! I only want the best for you, but when I hear that Wrestling/{{WCW}} called up your number and you said, "No thank you" – well, it makes my blood run cold. As cold as that night in the ECW arena. And so I have got a moral obligation – you see Tommy, I’m on the path of righteousness and righteous men wield a lot of power. So if I’ve got to drag you by your ''face'' to that telephone call and dial collect and say, "Hello [[Wrestling/EricBischoff Eric]], it’s me, Cactus, and though I know I’ve burnt my bridge, and I’ll never be taken back with open arms – I’ve got a wrestler here who would glady trade in his ECW shirt for a pair of green suspenders." And Tommy, just think of that sound in your ear when Uncle Eric says, "Welcome home, Tommy Dreamer, welcome home." I love being right.

* In ''Wrestling/TheWrestlingObserverNewsletter's'' yearly awards, Mick won the "Wrestling/BruiserBrody Memorial Award" for "Best Brawler" for ''the entirety of the 90's!'' Literally every year for ''10 years,'' from 1991 to 2000, Mick was hailed as THE one guy you didn't want to get into a knock-down drag-out slugfest against![[note]]It was Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin who finally unseated him in 2001.[[/note]] The only person to even come ''close'' to this in the award's almost 40 year history is ''Brody himself.''[[note]]7-time winner before his tragic early death.[[/note]]

-->'''Cactus Jack''': "I wave the flag and I'm a coward, please don't cut me anymore!" When I saw my saving grace, y'see, Tommy, I looked out into that audience, my adoring crowd, and I saw [[EurekaMoment two simple words that changed my life]]. "[[TwoWordsAddedEmphasis Cane. Dewey.]]" Somebody had taken the time, and the effort, and the thought, to make a sign that said "Cane. Dewey." And I saw other people around, as every moment in my life stopped and focused in on that sign, and the pain that shot through my body '''[[SuddenlyShouting became a distant memory]]'''! Replaced by the pain that will be embedded in my skull '''to my dying day'''! "Cane Dewey." (''Mirthless chuckle'') "Cane Dewey." Dewey Foley... is a three-year-old boy '''''[[TakeThatAudience you sick sons-of-bitches]]'''''! ''You ripped out my heart, you took everything I believed in, [[ArtistDisillusionment and you flushed it down the damn toilet]]''! You flushed my ''heart'', you flushed my ''soul'', and now it ''sickens'' me to sit back and see other people makin' the same mistake. (''Starts beating his own face'') Y'see Wrestling/TommyDreamer, I gotta listen to my little boy, ''every day of my life'' say "Daddy, I miss Atlanta" and I say "It's too bad, son. Because your dad traded in the Victorian house ''for a sweatbox in Long Island! Your Dad traded in a hundred''... (''breaks off as he's choked up with emotion'') thousand dollar contract... guaranteed money... insurance... respect... and the name on the dotted line of the greatest man in the world – to work for a scumbag who operates out of a little pissant ''pawn shop'' in Philadelphia." You don’t expect me to be bitter? Tommy, when you open up your heart, when you open up your soul, ''and it gets shit on'', [[MaddenIntoMisanthropy it tends to make Jack a very mean boy]]. And so, I’m saying to you – before I take these aggressions out on you – to look at your future and realize that the hardcore life is a '''''lie''''', that these letters behind me are a blatant lie, that those fans who sit there and say "He’s Hardcore! He’s Hardcore! He’s Hardcore!", ''[[AllTakeAndNoGive wouldn’t piss on you if you were on fire]], you selfish son of a bitch''! But, I want you to understand Tommy... though he’s hurt you time and time again, deep in his heart, Raven wants you to understand that the hatred I have in here is not for you. No, no – far removed. You see, Tommy, I’m not doing this because I hate you – I love you, man! I only want the best for you, but when I hear that Wrestling/{{WCW}} called up your number and you said, "No thank you" – well, it makes my blood run cold. As cold as that night in the ECW arena. And so I have got a moral obligation – you see Tommy, I’m on the path of righteousness and righteous men wield a lot of power. So if I’ve got to drag you by your ''face'' to that telephone call and dial collect and say, "Hello Eric, it’s me, Cactus, and though I know I’ve burnt my bridge, and I’ll never be taken back with open arms – I’ve got a wrestler here who would glady trade in his ECW shirt for a pair of green suspenders." And Tommy, just think of that sound in your ear when Uncle Eric says, "Welcome home, Tommy Dreamer, welcome home." I love being right.

-->'''Cactus Jack''': "I wave the flag and I'm a coward, please don't cut me anymore!" When I saw my saving grace, y'see, Tommy, I looked out into that audience, my adoring crowd, and I saw [[EurekaMoment two simple words that changed my life]]. "[[TwoWordsAddedEmphasis Cane. Dewey.]]" Somebody had taken the time, and the effort, and the thought, to make a sign that said "Cane. Dewey." And I saw other people around, as every moment in my life stopped and focused in on that sign, and the pain that shot through my body '''[[SuddenlyShouting became a distant memory]]'''! Replaced by the pain that will be embedded in my skull '''to my dying day'''! "Cane Dewey." (''Mirthless chuckle'') "Cane Dewey." Dewey Foley... is a three-year-old boy '''''[[TakeThatAudience you sick sons-of-bitches]]'''''! ''You ripped out my heart, you took everything I believed in, [[ArtistDisillusionment and you flushed it down the damn toilet]]''! You flushed my ''heart'', you flushed my ''soul'', and now it ''sickens'' me to sit back and see other people makin' the same mistake. (''Starts beating his own face'') Y'see Wrestling/TommyDreamer, I gotta listen to my little boy, ''every day of my life'' say "Daddy, I miss Atlanta" and I say "It's too bad, son. Because your dad traded in the Victorian house ''for a sweatbox in Long Island! Your Dad traded in a hundred''... (''breaks off as he's choked up with emotion'') thousand dollar contract... guaranteed money... insurance... respect... and the name on the dotted line of the greatest man in the world – to work for a scumbag who operates out of a little pissant ''pawn shop'' in Philadelphia." You don’t expect me to be bitter? Tommy, when you open up your heart, when you open up your soul, ''and it gets shit on'', it tends to make Jack a very mean boy. And so, I’m saying to you – before I take these aggressions out on you – to look at your future and realize that the hardcore life is a '''''lie''''', that these letters behind me are a blatant lie, that those fans who sit there and say "He’s Hardcore! He’s Hardcore! He’s Hardcore!", ''[[AllTakeAndNoGive wouldn’t piss on you if you were on fire]], you selfish son of a bitch''! But, I want you to understand Tommy... though he’s hurt you time and time again, deep in his heart, Raven wants you to understand that the hatred I have in here is not for you. No, no – far removed. You see, Tommy, I’m not doing this because I hate you – I love you, man! I only want the best for you, but when I hear that Wrestling/{{WCW}} called up your number and you said, "No thank you" – well, it makes my blood run cold. As cold as that night in the ECW arena. And so I have got a moral obligation – you see Tommy, I’m on the path of righteousness and righteous men wield a lot of power. So if I’ve got to drag you by your ''face'' to that telephone call and dial collect and say, "Hello Eric, it’s me, Cactus, and though I know I’ve burnt my bridge, and I’ll never be taken back with open arms – I’ve got a wrestler here who would glady trade in his ECW shirt for a pair of green suspenders." And Tommy, just think of that sound in your ear when Uncle Eric says, "Welcome home, Tommy Dreamer, welcome home." I love being right.

->''"[[MadeOfIron The wicked man traveleth with pain in all his days]], [[HowMuchMoreCanHeTake and the number of years is hidden to the oppressor.]] A dreadful sound is in his ears: in prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him. [[DoNotGoGentle He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness]], and he is waited for of the sword. He wandereth abroad for bread, saying, 'Where is it?'"''

->''"[[MadeOfIron The wicked man traveleth with pain in all his days]], [[HowMuchMoreCanHeTake and the number of years is hidden to the oppressor.]] A dreadful sound is in his ears: in prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him. [[DoNotGoGentle He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness]], and he is waited for of the sword. He wandereth abroad for bread, saying, ''Where is it?''"''
-->'''[[Literature/TheBible Job 15:20-23]]''', as quoted to describe Mick Foley in ''"[[Creator/EmperorLemon There will never be another show like Monday Night RAW]]"''

--> ''"Mick, you have no idea how much I appreciate what you just did, [[EveryoneHasStandards but I never want to see that again.]]"''

-->'''Wrestling/JimRoss:''' Drastic times call for drastic measures! And for a man that has wrestled on nails and barbed wire and set himself on fire, this will be a day in Central Park!"