Mick Foley: Destroying His Body For Entertainment

April 2nd 2006 about halfway through the 4-Hour  biggest show of the Year while the outside of the Chicago All State Arena would be covered with  lights flashy signs and mares that plastered the words WrestleMania 22 the inside of the  Arena would be littered with broken weapons burning skin and fans in awe of faces and bodies  covered in blood and within this mess lay one man in particular a man who although he may have  lost the match managed to win over the hearts of fans on this night and on

many nights before  by continuously giving his all to the sport he loved by making his name synonymous with the  word hardcore this man was Mick Foley on this night Foley entered the match with A 42-year-old  overworked body that had up to this point suffed a broken toe a broken wrist a ripped off ear  a twice broken nose two herniated discs four knocked out front teeth five broken ribs eight  concussions and a dozen more breaks tears and fractures yet despite these physical limitations  he was

determined to put on the match of the night and did he ever in the sport of professional  wrestling it's not only the winners who Garner the love of the fans viewers Now understand  that what it takes to make a good match is the in ring relationship between both the winner  and the loser and the sacrifices that the loser must make to ensure that the winner looks like a  complete force to be reckoned with this is called putting over a wrestler and by enduring Decades  of pain and torturing the r

ing this is something that Mick Foley has been doing since his debut all  in the name of respect for the wrestling business Mick Foley entered the world of professional  wrestling with a body type that some would say is unconventional for restless of his time he  traded in the bulging biceps and the perfect abs for messy hair a sight Sach and a crooked  smile but even in 1983 at the age of 18 his physical appearance meant nothing when considered  alongside his passion and determination the same

passion that had him making six-hour drives from  his New York College campus to his in school in Pennsylvania this is where his skill set began to  match his passion under the tutelage of Dominic denucci a tenur legend with Global Experience who  had a multitude of styles to teach his students at the time eventually this determination would  land him small onscreen matches for the WWF where he would quickly be squashed by more established  wrestlers this is where his pensent for pain and injury

began when in one of these squash matches  he face The Dynamite Kid arrester known for going off script and throwing stiff punches at the new  guys as a form of iation instead of the typical performance punches that look much more painful  than they actually are it was one of these stiff punches that injured Foley so drastically that he  wasn't able to eat solid food for several weeks after this short stint in the WWF he Tau different  independent promotions until Landing in worldclass champion

ship wrestling where he went by the name  Cactus Jack under this Monica Mick Foley would become notorious for Dangerous Feats such as  being on the receiving end of stiff strikes and delivering top rope elbows onto the concrete floor  after witnessing his love of high-risk danger in the form of a 12T elbow drop onto fellow wrestler  Kevin Sullivan Ric Flair who was the WCW Booker at the time along with Kevin decided to offer  Mick Foley his first ever full-time contract a contract that came righ

t at the time when he  was having massive Financial struggles due to traveling from promotion to promotion chasing his  dreams it was during this time that Foley gained his distinct look of the missing front teeth but  surprising to many wrestling fans this wasn't a Monica gain from in ring damage Foley was actually  involved in a car crash at this time that took two of his eventual four missing front teeth a look he  was more than happy to keep so as to help him live up to his extreme gimmick i

t was at this point  that Foley would once again dabble in smaller promotions like UWF and TSW where violence would  become even more embedded into his style during this run Foley would become the innovator of a  weapon that American audiences weren't yet used to barbed wire whether it was hanging wresters  using the wire or participating in matches where the ring ropes were wire FY became synonymous with  the spike covered stringy substance this was the birth of the maniac St of Cactus Jack a r

ebirth  version of his former self which made its way back to WCW where he began to use his signature phrase  bang bang as he laughed hysterically although debuting as a heel this eventually made him a  fan favorite which pushed him further into Main Event feuds but one of the most memorable feuds  of this time was with Big Van Vader a restor so well known for stiff strikes that he was at a  point in his career when many wrestlers would refuse to work with him out of fear of actually  being phys

ically injured but to no surprise news like this only excited Foley Mo and he jumped at  the opportunity to work with Vader making this one of his most vicious feuds up to this point during  their second match together Foley was scripted to become injured at a certain point but he wanted  this injury to feel as real as possible for the fans so although most ringside activities always  used protective mats to Shield the possibility of real injury for this match they decided against  it so fans ca

n feel the true impact of the bumps however Vader's Power Bomb to the unpadded  concrete floor actually gave Foley a legitimate concussion and even caused him to lose feeling  in his left leg momentarily to make matters worse months later after recovering from this injury  Foley went right back to his Feud with Vader in what WCW called a Texas Death Match a match so  brutal that steel chairs steel posts and steel steps were only some of the more typical weapons  used while cameras pre-dug Graves

and even tasers were uniquely utilized As Weapons until both men  were beaten to a bloody pulp though this must have been a physically demanding experience for  both men involved it proved to make great TV so 6 months later although the two men were now banned  from ever putting on a televised show again due to their brutality they decided to have a house  show instead and it was one that actually ended up being their most legendary matches today it  was here that the two men attempted to pull

off a scripted stunt called a hangman with Foley's neck  would be hung in between two ropes as he dangled ringside however what these men didn't know was  that the ropes were actually applied extra tight that night and FY found it impossible to move  as he was being choked out when he finally freed himself the friction of the Rope he had to scrape  through to survive left a massive split on his ear that had left a third of it hanging off his face  in the spirit of The Show Must Go On the two men

continue trading blows until Vader eventually  ripped the piece of the Year completely off a piece that the referee would then pick up and  hand to the ring announcers becoming one of the most horrific sites in professional wrestling to  this day shortly after this Foley then ran through numerous stints in smw iwa and ECW bringing  his signature style of brutality everywhere he went many of these matches an involved things  like bricks body bags thumb tacks flaming chairs flaming iron rods and

of course barbed wire an  especially vicious series of matches was known as the king of the death match tournament a Kawasaki  dream in Japan which was an all day event that started early in the day and only got more and  more brutal as it went on into the night this show drew a crowd of 28757 attendants which was the  largest crowd ever for an iwa Japan show the first round of the tournament started in the daytime  and was a barbed wire BAS baseball bat and thumb tax match which Foley won he th

en went on to win  the semi-final match which was a barb wire board and Spike nail match and just when you thought it  couldn't get any more inhumane Nightfall came and along with it came the tournament main event which  was a barb wire rope exploding barb wire boards and exploding Ring Time Bomb Death Match which  proved to be as hard to watch as it was to say yet no one in the attendance could look away  it was a complete blood bath for the two men involved with Foley suffering extreme pain fr

om  the mixture of cuts from the barbwire along with the second degree burns from the C4 explosion to  make matters worse he also had to endure these Burns during his 14-hour flight back to America  the next day recently Foy had stated that for this entire event he had only been paid $300 this  is why it was a relief that shortly after Foley had been signed to a full-time contract with the  WWF one of the top promotions at the time due to years of Mutilation and damage Foley already  wasn't look

ing too good at this point so WWF head Vince McMahon wanted to cover up his face so  instead of debuting as the infamous Cactus Jack he came in as mankind a leather mask wearing mentally  unstable psychopath known for dwelling in boiler rooms and speaking to a rat named George pulling  out his hair and randomly screaming mommy during matches during his early years as mankind Foy once  again began performing in brutal matches such as Buried Alive Matches steel cage matches dumpster  matches and t

he infamous Boiler Room brawl a match created as a result of Mankind's pension for  lurking around in the boiler room but the most infamous of these specialty match matches was his  1998 hel inell match with the Undertaker which is one of the most iconic matches in wrestling  history this match became known for its high level of danger and its low levels of precaution when  planning the match Mick Foley had pitched the idea of starting off the bout with him being thrown  off the top of the cage

then climbing back up and being thrown off again Undertaker his opponent  for the match replied with Mick do you want to die FY replied we've got a heck of a legacy to live up  to and I don't want this match to ruin it and they definitely lived up to it by following through  with fy's absurd pitch of Undertaker throwing him 16 ft off the top of the cell crashing through  the wooden announcers table and landing on the concrete floor and just as he planned less than  5 minutes later with a disloca

ted shoulder he climbed back to the top only to later be choke  Sam through the top panel of the cell this move accidentally broke through the cell ceiling and  plunged Foley 13 ft through the cell and into the middle of the Ring the additional fall was  actually not part of the initial plan and resulted in FY losing both the tooth and the match years  later the referee for the match Tim White said that although he was aware of the planned spots  he still felt like he was having a heart attack t

hroughout the whole match a feeling I'm sure  everyone could relate to as the lasting image of this match being a blooded Mick Foley laying on  the mat as his tooth hung out of his nose although this was a loss a feeling that Foley was more than  used to at this point this match may still be the spark that ignited his rise to Main Event status  the mankind character then became more liked and lighthearted instead of unstable and dangerous  and eventually the fans got behind this chain this lovab

le gimmick was only further heightened  when ju toos with the hated characterization of WWF owner Vince McMahon who began working with  the rock to abuse and defile mankind although he looked up to McMahon it was during this time  that the wrestling industry was also going through a huge disruption with the constant opposition  between the industry's two leading promotions WCW and WWF both of which had their Flagship shows  on Monday nights at the same time this was dubb the Monday night Wars an

d up until this point  WCW had been winning for the most part so after weeks of loss and brutalization from The Rock and  McMahon on the January 4th 1999 episode mankind was finally scheduled to win the most prized title  the WWF Championship a move that WCW Executives got wind of due to pre-taping so in an attempt  to maintain viewership WCW did something that goes against all rules of professional wrestling  they spoiled the match ending mid show live on WCW the announcer Tony Shivani revealed

that mankind  would be winning so that there was no need to even watch the WWF that night however this proved to be  their biggest mistake immediately after the match result was revealed live on WCW neelson ratings  indicated that over 600,000 people switched over to WWF programming this was Monumental because  it not only put WWF in the ratings lead for the Monday night Wars but it also showed that results  on their own aren't what matters to wrestling fans what matters is the ability to witne

ss history  being made with the characters we've watched grow and be a part of these sentimental moments that  show us that anyone can achieve their dreams from that point WCW never surpassed WWE in the ratings  and Foley continued his musty Feud with the rock but this time as a world heavyweight champion  and this Feud would culminate in a match that would require Mick Foley to do something he has  never done in the ring quit the 1999 Royal Rumble I Quit match between Foley and The Rock and the

  especially Savage stipulation of only being able to end once one participant said the words  I quit and based on Foley's past of injuring brutalization everyone wasn't sure that it would  be impossible to make him say those words during the match not only did Foley take numerous hits  with tables and ring bells in the ring outside of it and in the stands not only did Foley take  a 12T fall onto the live electrical equipment that sparked and caused lights to go out as he  hit it but what truly

made this match one of the eras most brutal was The Rock's use of one weapon  in particular the steel chair the steel chair has been a Mainstay in professional wrestling since  the 50s so it was no surprise to see in any match much less a Mick Foley match but the level of  brutality that audiences Witness that night goes beyond any way the steelchair had been utilized up  to that point here's some steelchair ground rules for starters wrestlers would often put their hands  in front of their head

last minute to Shield their skull from any true damage but the rock had Mick  Foley hanker for a large portion of the match so that was impossible secondly the most chair shots  at restler was allowed to take during a 10-minute match was three within the span of 2 and 1/2  minutes F had taken 11 unprotected chair shots directly to the Head this site took an emotional  toll on everyone in attendance for the the first time in Foley's risky career the bloodthirsty  fans that were regularly yelling

for more were now yelling to stop and leading the screams was  Foley's wife and 5-year-old daughter who was sat in the front row in tears believing that the  head of their household was about to die yet when given the final opportunity to say the words  I quit Foley tiredly mumbled into the microphone you'll have to kill me although the plan finished  at Foley looking into the eyes of his family and saying I quit he fell unconscious due to constant  hits to the skull leaving the officials back A

G no choice but to play a previous recording of him  saying I quit over the speakers making rock the winner and although a stretcher was brought out  for the bloodied and concus mic Foley he refused it and walked out with his head high content  with the fact that he never actually quit a pattern that we would see in both his matches  and his career as a whole for the next year and a half Foley continued to be a staple in WWF  programming due to his highly entertaining feuds and friendships with

top wrestlers like Stone Cold  Triple H and The Rock but at this point years of wrestling began to take a toll on his body both  physically and cognitively with him beginning to forget simple bodily emotions and forgetting how  to write and spell basic words he knew it was time to retire so his last match was scheduled  for November 1999 but it was at this point the wrestling world received the devastating news  that Stone Cold Steve Austin arguably the biggest star in wrestling at the time woul

d have to spend  months away due to the severity of a neck injury that would eventually lead to his own retirement  so typical Mick Foley the man who always put the fans first became more concerned with with fan  reaction to losing two major Superstars at once then he was with his own health so he decided to  continue wrestling for a few more months until Austin could begin making appearances again when  that time finally came Foley wanted to go out on his own terms in a way the fans could remem

ber  him for decades to come so what better way to do so than with the match that made him famous  in the first place the Hell in a Cell with the stipulation that Foley would have to retire if  he lost he put on another fantastic bout against Triple H that included thumbtacks flaming 2x4s  and yet again bobbed wire but in the end Foley was launched through the roof of the cage much  like he was years prior falling 13 ft into the mat as Triple H pinned him to finally retire the  legend but if the

re's one thing we've learned about Foley is that he's a man who never knows  when to quit both in matches and in life for the next 6 years he continued to have onscreen  appearances that involve little to no wrestling but every time he did step back into the ring  he knew it would only be to give back to the industry and performers that he loved his whole  life although he had been sacrificing more than most his entire life this true era of the giving  back mck Foley began in 2003 when he decide

d to begin a story line with a young wrestler who was  newer to the industry at the time but has gone on to become a legend in his own right a young  Randy Orton was being pushed as one of the most deplorable wresters at the time by running through  beloved legends that were way past their Prime so in order to live up to the Legend killer status he  began tormenting a legend that fans grew to Adore by pushing Foley down a flight of stairs on June  23rd 2003 after a lengthy Feud that saw the retu

rn of the Rock at WrestleMania 20 it eventually  culminated at the backlash pay-per-view in 2004 where Foley brought Cactus Jack out one more  time for a hardcore match that saw auton utilizing Foley's signature barbwire baseball bat in his own  unique ways in order to win the match to this day Foley says this was one of the best matches of  his career and although this match did wonders to push Randy Orton's Legend killer Persona over  the edge there was still one more Edge that Foley felt like

he needed to conquer and that came in  the form of Adam Copeland AKA Edge a wrestler who already dominated in the middle of the card for  years but was recently given that main event push that he so deserved if you thought Randy Orton  was a top villain Edge had been taking notes from the same book and magnifying them tenfold so  Foley knew that the perfect icing on the cake for Edge's already heated career would be a match  against the greatest hardcore legend that would be one of the most int

ensely brutal bouts the  WWE would see at the time so let's take it back to where we started A 42-year-old man with more  injuries than titles on April 2nd he entered the Wrestlemania arena with with a body that had gone  through bruises breaks fractures tears Burns and concussions so the question on the mind of every  fan was does he have what it takes to do it one last time well this was a man who was constantly  winning over the hearts of fans by losing to some of the greatest whether it was

the rock Triple H  or Randy Orton Foley made a career out of making other wrestlers look like stars and this one was  no different although there were many intense spots that utilize chairs tables and a plethora of  thumbtacks there was one planned spot that would be the magnum opus of the night the spear from the  inside of the Ring onto a burning table outside in order to convince management to let them do the  spot they had to do multiple pre-match tests and even had plants in the crowd that

were actually  Fire Marshals just in case anything went worry WWE officials even covered the rest of's entire bodies  with flame retardant gel but according to Edge due to the large amount of sweat from both nerves and  strenuous activity the gel's washed off in about 2 minutes the same gel was meant to be applied  to the table as well but at both performers requests it was not the final spot resulted in in  something that would take all fans out of their seats as Edge and Foley went flying into

a burning  table as it exploded into a dozen pieces of wooden Ember both resters suffered secondary Burns as  the camera did a closeup of Edge's traumatized face which he later revealed was a completely  real reaction to him smelling his own flesh being burned as both men lay over the rubble and  Chaos they had created Ed shakily crawled over to Foley's unmoving body and laid his arm over him  as the referee counted to three making Edge the winner of one of Foley's final matches with  the WWE a

t that moment he lay on top of the legend he whispered four words that every fan in  attendance was probably either thinking Whispering or yelling as well I love you mixer and typically  the always cheery always happy Mick Foley did what he did best he gave it right back by Whispering  I love you too words that were said to Edge but were surely also meant for all the wrestlers  fans and the industry that he gave his life to