On this date in WWF history: Mick Foley wins the championship for the first time
by Geno Mrosko on Jan 4, 2012 2:20 PM EST
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Earlier today, my esteemed colleague, Jesse Holland, covered two key happenings on this date in pro wrestling history. First, the Fingerpoke of Doom, which saw Hulk Hogan and Kevin Nash play some more of their silly games that sent WCW spiraling even further into the ratings black hole they were already headed for. And second, WCW's lead announcer at the time, Tony Schiavone, giving away the result of the Mankind vs. Rock no disqualification WWF championship match happening that same night on Raw.
Schiavone's line will forever live on in infamy. "Mick Foley, who wrestled here one time as Cactus Jack, is going to win their world title. That's gonna put some butts in the seats."
In one of his books, Foley talked about knowing it was just a part of the business at the time and Schiavone wasn't taking a personal dig at him, necessarily, but his feelings were hurt nonetheless. After all, Foley had done a lot of good work for WCW and ratings war or not, that's a dick move.
Then again, it resulted in quite a few fans immediately changing the channel so they could watch Foley win the WWF championship, the first time he ever did so. He went over The Rock with the aid of Stone Cold Steve Austin and D-Generation X in a 10-minute match that received one of the loudest pops in the history of pro wrestling.
That's because they booked this brilliantly, with the Corporation trying to screw Foley out of the belt with DX fending them off while Austin came to the ring to blast Rock with an unprotected chair shot to the head (unfortunate, I know) which allowed Foley to make the cover to win the title.
One of you Cagesiders was asking for the video of the match to be included in Jesse's post but really, this one should get a post all its own. Watch the match after the jump. Included is another video with better sound so you can hear the pop Stone Cold gets when the glass hits for his entrance. It's probably louder than it was for CM Punk in Chicago at Money in the Bank last year. Just incredible how much fans cared back in 1999.
Enough babbling from me, enjoy the videos:
Mankind wins the WWF championship for the first time in his career:
Stone Cold Steve Austin gets one hell of a pop:
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I was in and out of wrestling
for a while… was Stone Cold injured at the time? was it a big surprise that he showed up?
"He lost all his teeth, only got on ear, pulled out most of his hair, not to mention the thousand of brain cells he's missing"
WHAT A NERRRRRRRRRD!!!
So go forth, my brethren, and proceed to mark the f*ck out
That pop was ridiculous. Even on my iPhone. DTA!
by 8bitDan on Jan 4, 2012 2:48 PM EST via iPhone app reply actions
It wasn’t just the one match either, the whole episode of Raw was brilliant that night. Vince’s promo on Foley where he said that he would be disgusted with Foley as WWF champion was brilliant. It was WWF storytelling at it’s very best. They setup Foley as the ultimate underdog, screw him over for the heat than let him come back and win big at the end of the show. They weaved in the Austin/McMahon and the DX/Corporation feuds into the whole thing for a beautiful tapestry of pure awesome wrestling.
After that night, I was a hardcore WWF mark and couldn’t care less about WCW anymore, and I wasn’t alone.
Holy shit that pop was so loud.
I remember being a kid watching that and losing my mind when Foley won.
As an aside, I love stables, especially with heel champions. When the face eventually wins the title against all odds, it’s soooo much sweeter.
As I stated b4..
10.7 combined rating to now a 2.98 is just wretched.. I don’t care that its been 12 yrs since.. that’s still not good at all. That’s all of the audience they maintained from the hay days? I know that some have probably passed on just as some of the wrestlers have.. and God Bless the dead… but look at it like this.. WWe & wrestling in general have 2 issues.. not just making new superstars.. but making new fans. Both take considerable & calculated efforts. And both are failing miserably. I won’t debate the chicken & egg theory here, one could argue it either way I suppose. This is just sad.
Suum Cuique
I don't think you can just add the ratings like that.
If someone flips from one to the other and then back, they are counted for both shows. No, the entire 5.whatever arn’t the same people, but I would argue that a good chunk of those ratings overlap. There is certainly a problem with how well Raw is doing in terms of ratings, but comparing a 10 to a 3 vastly overstates it.
So go forth, my brethren, and proceed to mark the f*ck out
by C. J. Bradford on Jan 4, 2012 5:04 PM EST up reply actions
Amazing pop, even better moment. The timing was perfect.
Those that like this video will definitely like this…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=RENP3vNkajg#!
A year and a bit later but still in that awesome period of pro wrestling where the fans actually gave a shit.
I asked for it before
but you are right, it deserves the spotlight. Keep up the good work.
by King Oskar on Jan 4, 2012 8:41 PM EST via Android app reply actions
Thi is by far one of the best
moments in wrestling history. Yes it was important as it signaled the beginning of the end for WCW, but let’s not remember it only for that. It was the defining moment in Mick Foley’s career, a well-booked angle from start to finish, and the crowd made this moment what it was. The crowds at wrestling events today are nowhere near what they were then.
"The helmet doesn't make you, you make the helmet"- Jimbo Fisher
Formerly known as MattChampNole12
That…Pop…Is…Chill…Worthy
"with a good physique and explosiveness anybody can perform a takedown"
-RoBerto
by Lesnar's striking coach on Jan 5, 2012 8:08 AM EST reply actions
McMahons Overacting FTW
That’s some silent-movie-villain quality scenery chewing. It’s awesome.
Shane: “ARRRRGH! ARRRRGH! I HATE HIM!”
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