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2018 Post of the Year Thread

SpursRiot2012

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HarmonicGenerator Grand Master

HarmonicGenerator

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Onyx2's opening post in 'King of the Ring 1998: 20 years later' is worthy not just of a nomination but of winning the damn thing this year. Wonderful read:

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“Maybe you should let him throw you off the cage.”

Terry Funk’s innocent bit of daydream booking has created one of the most replayed pieces of WWE footage ever. From showing the derangement of Mankind, the brutality of the Undertaker or warning kids not to try this at home, Mick Foley’s fall from the top of Hell in a Cell to the Spanish announce table is an epochal moment in wrestling.

On 28th June 1998, the King of the Ring PPV featured a sub-main match between the Undertaker and Mankind in a Hell in a Cell match that was to be one of the most memorable of all time, with consequences rippling down to today.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. In 1997 Shawn Michaels faced the Undertaker in a Hell in a Cell match that was possibly the best WWF match of the year. The roofed cage that surrounded the ring felt like the perfect way to cement a Steve Austin v Mankind feud, following their Dude Love shenanigans which weren’t quite catching fire. A shakeup in the booking from Vince Russo giving Kane the main event nod, desperate to dangle the line "I'll set myself on fire!" meant that this was nixed. Instead Mankind was to face the Undertaker in the cage.

Foley was concerned. He was on a comedown, not quite catching on with the fans. Undertaker was nursing a broken foot. He knew they couldn’t follow the Shawn Michaels match at all. It was their sixth PPV match. Mick Foley just couldn’t figure how to make it work. Partly joking around with mentor and friend Terry Funk, he watched the tape of Michaels dangling by his fingers from the top and falling backwards to the announce table. Funk then suggested he start the match on top of the cage. And get thrown from it.

Foley laughed it off initially, but grew to appreciate that the spectacle would help fill the match with enough razzle-dazzle to obscure that neither man was in their best shape. He consulted Undertaker who didn’t approve, and Foley was left unsure as to whether Taker would play along or not.

Foley then took it to Vince. 

So with no approval from Vince, and it being unclear whether Undertaker would go with it, 32-year old Foley set out to do it anyway. In the go-home Raw, Foley promises the audience “a show they will not forget.”

To the match in question. He made his way to the ring. The crowd was awash with black Austin 3:16 t-shirts. There was largely an apathetic reaction to his entrance. Mick makes what he calls one of his biggest regrets at this point: he takes a chair with him. He enters the cage, paces the inside, then leaves. He stares at the cage and tosses the chair to the top. He climbs the cage, to pretty much everyone's surprise. The first of many injuries occurs here: Foley loses feeling in his right index finger through pulling on the mesh too hard.

Undertaker arrives to a much more bold reception, because who has a better entrance in the business? Undertaker appears to have agreed with the plan, as he ascends the cage. They brawl briefly on top, with part of the roof giving way which should have given them pause for a later stunt. After a blocked DDT Undertaker slugs Mick a couple of times, and he teeters towards the edge.

Undertaker grabs Mankind by the neck and back, and tosses him from the top.

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Foley falls, hard, and fast into the Spanish announce table.

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“Good God almighty! That killed him! As God is my witness he is broken in half!”

JR has probably never had a more captivating call, as according to him he had no idea this was part of the plan.

The crowd pitch rises to a high shriek and gasp. Foley is not moving. Undertaker doesn’t quite look his chilling self, and remarks later to Foley backstage “brother, I thought you were dead.”

Carlos Cabrera was sent literally reeling: “There must have been hundreds of moments at that table, but that was the most incredible and horrific one,” he told WWE.com later.

Funk appears at ringside extremely quickly. Trainer Francois Petit is there. Sgt. Slaughter comes down. Even Vince McMahon himself appears, pretty much breaking character, appearing concerned.

Foley commented at this point he felt surprisingly OK. A sore shoulder and a dull kidney pain but not bad considering the ‘bump’ he took, if that word still applies.

The cage is lifted to allow the gurney round, Taker still atop. A fan can be heard screaming “finish the match.” Vince is still visibly concerned. JR is apologising for the match being over. The crows start chanting for Undertaker.

Perhaps on adrenaline only - Mick doesn’t really remember - he gets off the stretcher. Funk and others are clearly and honestly pleading with him to get back. Foley moves fairly fast up the cage for someone with a dislocated shoulder. Undertaker shrugs and rejoins him there. On his way he moves the chair to the middle of the ring.  After a few traded blows, Undertaker wraps Foley’s throat with a goozle, and executes a fairly weak chokeslam. The centre panel gives way.

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Undertaker said "That panel wasn't supposed to break loose. That panel gave way."

Foley added

(I'm not convinced by this. Undertaker throws him in an unusual way, and Foley's bump position is odd. I suspect Mick tells this story to keep his wife Collette happy. He greatly pissed off his wife as he didn't tell her what was happening, nor called home until quite a while after. Doghouse central.)

The worst part doesn’t come across in the camera angles. While Foley falls to the ring, the leg of the chair catches him flush in the face. It’s this that removes one and a half teeth, dislocates his jaw and punctures a space in his lip he can push his tongue through. Famously Mankind lolls at ringside to the camera, trying to show this trick, but most are shocked by the tooth clearly poking out of his nostril.

But the crowd are going batshit insane by this point. While the ring is flooded with officials, Undertaker hops down and lands on a clearly weak ankle, hobbling around for a bit. Terry Funk knows Foley needs more time to get back to his feet. He gets in Taker’s grill for a right hand and a chokeslam, which manages to knock his shoes off. Less than two minutes after falling through the cage, Foley is back on his feet, takes a worked punch and falls extremely slowly to the mat in a bump Mick has no recollection of.

At this point Undertaker throws Mankind a bone. “Let’s go home.” “No I’m OK,” replies Foley. And the match continues. Such is wrestling.

“Hell is in Pittsburgh tonight,” says JR gravely. The match continues for another ten minutes. The steps get involved. DDTs on to the infamous chair. There’s thumbtacks (Mick asks Undertaker backstage “why didn’t we use the thumbtacks?” Undertaker gestures at Foley’s pincushion arm.)

After the match, Foley is stretchered again. Foley says to Mike Chioda “have I been on a stretcher already tonight?” When Mick is reminded that he is, he asks for help to get back to his feet, Mankind leaves the arena to a chorus of “FOLEY” and his legend is cemented.

*

As a match, Dave Meltzer gives it 4.5 stars. It’s strange because it’s definitely the kind of match that breaks star ratings. It’s technically not good but in terms of being memorable, a spectacle, a specimen of performance and endurance, it’s outstanding. Dave says “despite anything Mick Foley has ever done or ever will do in this industry, he will always be remembered for June 28, 1998...for better or worse, I will never forget that performance as long as I live but I wish I had never seen it.”

I didn't even watch it in context first time around. I couldn't get PPVs at the time. I missed the Raw after too. I heard Vince say "what you did for us at King of the Ring... We will never forget." I ordered it on VHS from Amazon and watched it spellbound twice through. 

It’s arguably the most famous wrestling moment of all time, and a sure-fire way to nobble the ‘it’s all fake’ naysayers. I personally really enjoy the match as it spikes excitement in the way few other matches do. It still raises goosebumps, even as I watched it a couple of times to write this. Maybe knowing Mick was more or less OK afterwards helps. I know I’ve debated with some on here that it’s a difficult watch, but it’s hard to argue for a match that changed the business more, nor has been rewatched more. Mick Foley says himself “People say this is the greatest match of all time. To me, that is obviously not the case—I liken it to a cruise ship. Calling this the greatest match of all time would be like calling the Titanic the greatest cruise of all time. It’s not so much the quality of the cruise as it was the courage of the survivors…”

It patently isn’t a five star match. But it is legendary.

Watch the match here (hooky): http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x50cdbp

Watch the match here (legit): http://network.wwe.com/share/video/31289543

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