The seventh entrant in the WWE Royal Rumble match last night (Jan. 29, 2012) in St. Louis, Missouri, was none other than "The Hardcore Legend" himself, Mick Foley.
He wasn't asked to do much. In fact, he was really only there for comic relief. His duel with Santino Marella with Mr. Socko and Cobra is already one of the more entertaining comedy spots in recent Rumble history.
But he was eliminated sooner rather than later and was sent off on his merry way.
In an interview with Wrestling Voice Radio, Foley talked about the match:
"I don't think it was until I got back to the hotel that I realized just how many things had gone on in the little time I was out there. Maybe four or five minutes but even in those four minutes, you got that entrance, that's what I was most nervous about. 'How the heck am I going to run out to the ring?' The interaction with great young wrestlers like Primo and the thing with Ricardo (Rodriguez) that I thought was really funny, the stuff with Santino and the stuff with Miz and Cody (Rhodes), who were both the work horses of the Royal Rumble. So when I put it all together I realized 'Wow, there was a lot going on in that time period.'"
Foley was, in fact, perfect for the role they asked him to play. But as he alluded to, it was painful watching him struggle to run down to the ring. He's clearly not in shape and the idea of asking him to do any sort of match at a major event like WrestleMania seems ludicrous.
Thankfully, Foley mostly agrees with this assessment and says he has no plans on doing a big time wrestling match. What he wouldn't mind doing, however, is figuring out a program with a young guy that fans can get emotionally invested in so they can get said young guy over.
"I'm not (wrestling a big match) but I'd like to be in shape for it and hope that it would be something that could really add to a long-term angle or help one of those moments that gets people to the next level, I don't think it's the great matches so much as the personal issue that reaches a conclusion in a match that helps somebody get to that level and I think I could a nice step for somebody."
If WWE uses him to help a mid-card act finally get over the hump and join the elite at the top of the card, that's something worth letting Foley get back into the ring for.
But there are still questions on whether or not he can take the time away from his burgeoning stand up comedy career to fully commit to something to the point that it would be worth the time.
And that's without mentioning his questionable health.
Nonetheless, we got one more nice little Rumble run from Foley last night, so we should, at the very least, be happy for that, right?
Assuming WWE does try to put him in a program with a mid-card guy hoping to push him over the top, who should it be? Dolph Ziggler? Cody Rhodes? Zack Ryder? Someone else?