Their Greatest Rival: Mick Foley

[TheKingofKings20222]

Mick Foley is the hardcore legend. He started in the big leagues by debuting in WCW under the name "Cactus Jack" after a stint there, he went on to ECW where we saw some of his most hardcore matches. In 1996 Foley began his WWE Career under a new persona, Mankind. a mentally deranged and schizophrenic who constantly squealed (even throughout his matches), shrieked "Mommy!", spoke to a rat named George, enjoyed pain, physically abused himself (such as by pulling out his hair), wore a mask and lived in boiler rooms. Throughout his career Mick had many memorable feuds. But who was his biggest Rival?

I believe, it was The Rock


Obviously, these two are very very different. However, I think this is one of those situations where these two were meant to be together. Whether they were feuding, or tagging, whenever these two were together, they always entertained. The Rock N' Sock Connection is just one of the many things that made the Attitude Era.

 

[Soulblazed]

Foley's greatest rival in America was The Undertaker..Most of the matches they had were damn good and very brutal..One that comes to mind is their match from the April 1997 PPV Revenge Of The Taker..There was a spot late in the match where Taker dropkicked the steel stairs into Foley's face...As agile as Taker was, no one was expecting him to do that against Foley..Another thing that made Foley/Taker matches memorable, especially in 1996 and 1997 was that at the time, Foley was playing the ORIGINAL Mankind..The Mankind who had the different intro/outro music, cut morbid, engaging, yet articulate promos and had a great character overall...That fearless, insane character meshed perfectly with Taker's undead persona

Foley's greatest rival in Japan, however is easily Terry Funk..Out of everyone Foley's faced, besides Taker, the only other person who comes to mind that could really go toe-to-toe with Foley in violent matches was Terry Funk..Their Japanese deathmatches were memorable because of the sheer hell they put each other through..Another person who gave Foley consistenly good matches in Japan was Wing Kanemura..Whoever hasn't seen their matches should definitely Youtube some of them...

 

[HBKperfect23]

This is a hard one. Undertaker, The Rock, and Triple H definitly deserved to be mentioned. I liked the matches with Triple H the best but Ill have to go with the Undertaker for his biggest rival. I just think these two fit together were perfect opponents. Seeing Paul Bearer turn on Taker after 6 years at Summerslma 96 was pretty shocking. KOTR 98 was insane.

 

[lil bitch Kid]

Speakinkg stricty of North America, you have to break it down to stages:

1) WCW: Toss up here between Vader and Sting. Cactus had amazing matches with each

2) WWE: Early it had to be Taker. You seriously had no idea what they would do next. Later on, it was all about The Game (corny, I know). Arguably, Foley made HHH a star, and HHH made Foley legend.

 

[Jonyboyuk2]

I believe it would be the Undertaker. This is because the Undertaker had been in poor feuds in the year running up to Mankind's debut. Taker was facing Kama, King Kong Bundy, Diesel - all of which were not especially exciting feuds. And prior to that he had a big feud with Yokozuna.

To see Mick come in to WWF and revitalize Undertakers career and become a star himself - is a great memory for wrestling fans of the day.

Sometimes around that time, some of Mankinds matches were a bit boring - but they were the squash matches with enhancement talent. The Boiler room brawl with taker was one where you felt the WWF was bringing in a new era of matches where we could see behind the scenes. When Mankind threw the coffee tank over the Undertaker- as a kid it was a HS moment. Even when Hell in a Cell happened 2 years later... and with little build up or reason for the match.. Mick still pulled it out the bag in a big way.

Couple

His feud with the Rock when he became a face was excellent - the Survivor Series 1998 was and remains my favourite PPV ever - the way mankind was built going in to the deadly games tournament - the way the rock was too - and how at the end - Austin, Mankind and the Rock had become super-over with the fans. The McMahons added to their characters.

WWE should look at PPV's and talent like Mick Foley circa 1998 and apply the same excellent planning and execution of storyline developments.

Of course, the other mick foley feud that should not be forgotten is when he put HHH over at Rumble and NWO in 2000. WOW - both matches and feud storyline made HHH - and thanks in no small part to Mick Foley's talent.

 

[Mr Monday Night Raw]

I was born in the Attitude Era so I never saw any of the origanal Mankind and Cactus Jack feuds, but I have been watching origanal Raw and attitude era matches on youtube and The Undertaker matches have been the most entertaing. The first ever feud I really ever enjoyed was the Randy Orton vs Mick Foley.

 

[jtolliver23]

For Mick Foley's greatest rival, I think it depends on how you define their greatest rival. If we are talking about the rival that got Mick noticed in the first place, then I think we have to go with Sting. Even Mick Foley acknowledges that it was his rivalry with Sting in WCW that propelled his career and made him a star.
But I think it was his rivalry with the Undertaker that made mick a superstar! It was also his greatest rivalry in terms of the matches they had. They were especially brutal and pushed both men to their limits. They had almost every kind of match imaginable including boiler room brawls, buried alive, and obviously everybody will remember their Hell in a Cell match. So think in terms of what pushed him to that superstar level as well as the matches they had it has to be the Undertaker.

 

[MINISTRYrising]

jtolliver23 is right i don't think mick has a greatest rival. i agree the feud that got him noticed was his one with sting. they had some great matches and they really did help put foley on the map. but if you look at it from a hardcore point of view then its hands down terry funk. these two did some real damage to each other and had no regards for each others safty. then we have micks time in wwe and it was his time here wear he became a house hold name and its is this era that is the hardest to choice from. you have the rock, stone cold and the undertaker it was these four guys that made the attitude era what it was and they all had fantastic matches which helped define mick foleys career. this is why it is to hard to choose just one.

 

[WJDwjdWJDwjd]

The Undertaker.

Mick Foley has had more memorable matches and career moments with and associated with his feud with The Undertaker than anyone else in his career. Boiler room brawls, Hell in a Cell matches, personal feuds, heel/face turns, injuries, and long lasting character tweaks are all because of his Undertaker rivalry. Even when he was partnered with 'Taker, Foley had great story lines and matches. As far as his WWF/E days go, 'Taker is the guy who got Foley over, and people will always remember him working with.

 

[HBsam31]

I have to say The Undertaker. I believe the Undertaker feud gave Foley the last big push he needed to get to the point to where he could be a World champ. He came into that feud and just owned the undertaker in the beginning. No one had consistently beat up the Undertaker like Foley did. Then you had the HIAC match and Foley became a household name. Taker ultimately won the feud, but Foley cam out of that feud a bigger star than he was before it. The Rock would be a very very very close second for me.

 

[theBec2101]

Mick Foleys grestest rival I would have to say the actual "cage/cell" for the hell in the cell match. That cell whooped his ass and he couldnt manage to stay on top of it. No but serously it would have to be Undertaker.