Mick Foley's Greatest Hits & Misses: A Life in Wrestling

Mick Foley:
Hi. I'm Mick Foley. I'd like to thank you for joining me as I look back at some of my favorite career moments. Not just in WWE, but elsewhere, as well. Uh, Smoky Mountain Wrestling, uh... ECW, WCW. Uh, the fact that you have this and are currently looking at it means that you are officially a huge wrestling fan, which also means you're probably not currently dating very much. But, uh... but I'd like to thank you for making those kind of romantic sacrifices in order to join me, and I hope you won't be disappointed.

Mick Foley:
The first match we're gonna look at was with a monster by the name of Vader. Some of you may be familiar with him from his WWE days. But if that's the only way you're familiar with him, I think you're kind of missing out, because at one time, he certainly was the greatest of the... the monster heels. He was a tremendous bad guy. So... so tremendous, in fact, that when some opponents saw their name on the board, uh, to face him, they just simply quit the business. And... and that's the truth. I really liked hooking up with him, though. I looked at it as kind of my Ali versus uh... versus Fraizer, at the time. And this match, in particular, is viewed by some, or is looked at by some as the most blatantly brutal of my entire career. And I believe that's saying something.

Mick Foley:
When I found myself teaming with Maxx Payne against the Nasty Boys in the following Chicago Street Fight, I found myself in a strange place, because it was the first time that I felt totally unprepared for a battle of this proportion. I really did not want to be there. I had actually made plans to have my ear, uh... fixed. To have a new ear attached to my head, which for you, uh... top wrestling fans out there know, actually never happened. Uh... and this match may be the reason why, because it turned out better than I could have hoped. Uh, the Nasty Boys had a reputation for being a little sloppy, a little bit dangerous, but there was no doubt about it, they could brawl. And it was about the time when I had a pool cue, uh, cracked over my head that I realized if I didn't start fighting back, uh... I might not leave Chicago.

[commentating the Cactus Jack/Maxx Payne vs Nasty Boys street fight]

Tony Schiavone:
The only thing I can say, Brain, is if they come over here, it's all yours.

Bobby Heenan:
Let's put it this way: if they come over here, don't yell at me to get out of here, 'cause you'll be talking to yourself.

Mick Foley:
Our next opponent, the Sandman, is a guy I had some really, really great matches with. However, the match you're about to see is not one of them. It's interesting, this is a compilation of matches, uh... some of which were picked out for me, and some of which I... I picked myself. And, uh, in some cases, I'm not really aware of the matches. Uh... this one, I remember as being like a train wreck. Uh, it wasn't necessarily fun to watch, but you kind of had to sit there and stare at it. Uh, it's important for a couple reasons. One, I get spiked on my head and hurt my neck pretty badly. I... in an injury that would, uh, hurt me and nag at me for several months. And it's also unique in that the Sandman was knocked out. He was out on his feet for most of this match, and it was a case of when it rains, it pours. It was a Texas Death Match where to win the match, you have to get your opponent down for a ten count. And the Sandman was so out of it, that he simply would not stay down. Look close, and see if you can see my frustration.

Mick Foley:
It was a November to Remember, following what we sometimes called an October to Forget. Uh... actually, it was unforgettable. It was, uh... it was a build up like no other, in that things got a little out of hand, and uh, Terry Funk was accidentally engulfed in flames. Uh... and it was... it was a really... it was a really sad sight, a really... almost a tragic sight, in that, uh, I broke character, uh, immediately. The Funker and I were feuding with each other, and I saw him on fire and I ran out, uh, attempting to put him out, and never quite caught up with him. And, thankfully, what had looked to be his body engulfed in flames was actually a towel that had flown off of my fire chair. Not a real smart decision to begin with, and so Terry got out of it with only third-degree burns on a portion of his body. But, uh, it was a... it was a tough time for me. It was a time where I actually considered quitting the business because I was so upset. I got to the back, and the Funker was throwing, uh, furniture, uh... in my general direction. And, uh, and... and really, uh, giving me a verbal beating, which I probably deserved. What I didn't know, as I drove, uh, from Philadelphia to Long Island swearing I'd never wrestle in this country again, is that Terry Funk came back from the hospital and cut promotional interviews for the November match. And, uh, then, uh... when I offered a great apology on his answering machine, uh... he left a message on mine that really touched me, and uh, and... and made me feel a whole lot better about the situation.

Mick Foley:
[about Hell in a Cell with the Undertaker] In fifteen years of wrestling, that match represents the only time I'd been knocked out. Uh, it's not the first throw off the cage that did it, it was the one through the cage that hurt me, uh, to a far greater degree. Uh... the cage, uh, ripping and giving way was, uh, a complete surprise to both of us. And it did a lot of damage. Not only the fall, but a chair that was up on top of that ring followed me down every foot of the way and smashed into my mouth, uh, causing quite a deal of damage to my already damaged teeth. Uh... the scariest moment of the entire match for me was not either fall, however. It was a moment, uh, shortly after the second one where I'd regained my bearings, after several wrestlers, including Terry Funk, had entered into the ring to, uh, attempt to buy me time. Uh, the first thing I remember was seeing a pair of sneakers in the ring and wondering what they were doing there. As it turned out, while I was lying there unconscious, Terry Funk had taken a chokeslam in an attempt to buy me time. And when I finally did regain my bearings, uh, there was a moment where the Undertaker punches me and I did not so much fall as crumble. And it represented to me probably the scariest moment of my career, because the lights were on, just barely, but there was nobody home.