Will Mick Foley vs CM Punk headline WWE's TLC pay-per-view in December?

Mick Foley returned to the WWE spotlight last November (2011), after slumming it in TNA for three long, trying years. But he may have quickly started to question his decision, as it soon became clear that Triple H probably didn't want him around, and the creative team didn't know what to do with him either.

Consigned largely to comedy cameos and a social media angle with Dean Ambrose, which seemed to have potential, but was quickly nixed before the feud could even be mentioned on WWE television programming, Foley's verbal talent and star power was being completely squandered.

That was, up until two months ago, when Foley returned to Monday Night Raw to become CM Punk's most outspoken critic for turning on the fans and aligning himself with the slimy Paul Heyman. The heat between the two was ratcheted up even further this Monday (Nov. 12) when Punk reached new lows by making fun of Jerry "The King" Lawler's recent heart attack.

It's notable that neither Foley, nor one of CM Punk's two opponents at Survivor Series, John Cena or Ryback, came out to defend the veteran announcer's honour. Just based on the TV storylines, I'd think this was building up to a pay-per-view match between the two.

According to Bryan Alvarez in his subscriber only Figure Four Weekly Newsletter, which can be obtained from f4wonline.com, that match may indeed be happening at next month's TLC pay-per-view (PPV):

"There is talk once again of doing Punk vs. Foley at the TLC PPV. Monday's angle with Lawler certainly points in that direction, and they'd been discussing it internally for over a month."

For business and storyline reasons, it makes perfect sense. Foley coming out of retirement for a well built blood feud has done strongly on PPV before, most notably with Randy Orton in 2004, and this should prove to be no different.

It would also allow Punk to be put over strongly and get a much needed clean win before defending his WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble against The Rock, while allowing him to goad The Great One on the mic about how he physically destroyed his best friend and will put a similar beating on his Hollywood People's ass.

The problem is, it's a very bad idea for Mick Foley's health and well-being. As Foley has been very open about his ongoing neurological issues caused from suffering dozens and dozens of concussions during his wrestling career. He's even been told by his doctors recently, "to dramatically reduce the amount of time he spends in front of a computer", which proves that he shouldn't ever work another match, let alone one featuring gimmicks like tables, ladder or chairs.

But when the WWE owner himself, Vince McMahon, willingly played Russian roulette with his own life by working a heavy duty match at age 67, he isn't going to stop someone else from doing the same, unless the decision is taken out of his hands by WWE's medical experts. I mean it would just make WWE's medical director Dr. Joseph Maroon look bad if Mick Foley could pass the ImPACT concussion testing he co-developed.

Dave Meltzer was particularly troubled by WWE's backstage talk of wheeling Foley out for another big PPV match in his condition, as he made crystal clear on Tuesday's Wrestling Observer Radio show:

"I tell you what, I hope that they don't do that. I watched when Foley had that run-in at the end, that deal at the end of the match, the Cena-Punk match. The way he moved, it's like he doesn't need to be taking bumps into tables. I do not want to see Mick Foley wrestle. I don't think Mick Foley should be wrestling anymore. And you know, again, I do consider him like a friend, and I really hope he doesn't wrestle. The way he moved and everything like that, he doesn't need to be taking any more physical punishment at this stage of his life."

Hopefully, they all come to their senses before pulling the trigger on announcing the match, because once that happens, Foley won't back out. If that comes to pass, then we will just have to pray that somehow Foley doesn't give himself yet another major concussion trying to be a hardcore superman one last time.