The Match Of Three People, Vader & Vicky
- Foley then talked about the aftermath of the match: how he would travel around to campaign against bullying in schools and all the kids would raise their hands ready to ask about HIAC.
- He admittedly grew to hate the match, because it whitewashed everything he did previously and currently as a talent, until three things occurred:
- Moment #1: Getting inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2013 and Terry Funk’s speech about how Taker told him to “check to see if he’s dead.”
- Moment #2: Realizing it wasn’t just his match, but the match of three people: him, Undertaker and Terry Funk.
- Moment #3: Knowing that the match was a symbol for wrestlers in the future to press on despite facing obstacles, particularly the heroic story of the late Vicky Lyons, who was told she could never walk again but went on to wrestle a match against Daffney despite what was believed. Foley gets very emotional about this, knowing that Lyons passed away after this match due to a brain aneurysm. Daffney is one of his guests in attendance tonight. Foley also honors Vader during this time whom he gets emotional about as well.
The show wraps up after this and Foley gets a wild ovation. Jeremy Borash comes out to let the crowd know to stick around for a Q&A session. Not even a minute later the event was back up and kicking.
The Q&A Session
(Note: I wasn’t able to cover all the questions due to crowd shifting and my attempts to get closer, but here’s a few highlights)
- An audience member asked what other matches he didn’t practice for and Foley said it would be easier to say what only match he did practice for: His first match against Shawn Michaels at Mind Games 1996 because there was a risky cross-body spot that could hurt HBK if he didn’t execute it right. Foley was sure that he was only putting himself in harm’s way if he was going to take a risk
- One regret he has throughout his career: not putting his hands up for chair shots. He could say that some of the risky moves he did putting his body on the line could be a regret, but he looked at those moments as stepping stones to get where he was at in his career and helped build that self-confidence he previously talked about
- A fan asked about how much weight he’s lost and Mick really credits DDP Yoga and him reconnecting with Vince McMahon. He remembers hearing that Vince wanted to rekindle a relationship with him so he sent Vince a text asking him about it and Vince responded that he’d love that. So they had a phone conversation and Mick asked if the reason Vince didn’t have him on TV as much because it was hard to see Mick move around. Vince didn’t give him a yes or no answer, but Foley did mention that he lost 25 lbs and was on the goal to lose 80. Vince said “I’m gonna hold you to that” and that would always echo through Mick’s head before late-night snack temptations.
- Did he find wrestlers and younger talent asking him questions due to the respect he got for his HIAC match? He did and made note to say that he’d always prefer to watch and speak to talent at indie shows over sitting on a green room couch by himself.
- A woman who was originally in attendance for his HIAC match (she was ten at the time and Foley recognized her because of her bangs) inquired about the origins of Mr. Socko. Foley credits Al Snow for the idea telling him that “everybody hates a sock puppet.”
- Daffney asked about his ECW promos and why they were so effective: he said a great reason for that was because he’d hold onto anger and channel that through his promo time. He brought up his wife’s reaction after mentioning a “Cane Dewey” sign in the ECW crowd to her and how much that affected her and him.
- Bruno Sammartino’s name pops up and Foley says that Bruno was always someone you could go to for advice since he was good friends with his trainer, Dominic DeNucci (who was also in attendance for the show along with fellow trainee Cody Michaels and got a huge ovation). What he remembers most about Bruno was that The Living Legend liked Mick even though what the two did in the ring was so different.
- Who’s Mick a big fan of in today’s wrestling? Foley loves what Tommaso Ciampa is doing, is a big fan of Ember Moon, thinks Alexa Bliss is doing great work as a heel, and even though he’s not a new talent, Foley always respects how Chris Jericho continues to reinvent himself. “The List” is one thing (Foley notes that he was the first name on “The List”), but Jericho got scarves over and the word “it.” He always tells wrestlers to watch what Chris Jericho is doing.
- Mick was asked about the aggressiveness of wrestling in Japan. Mick said that he doesn’t have an alpha male personality and is most certainly not an aggressive person, but once he started doing some violent things in Japan, he knew there was a part of him that liked it.
- A younger fan asks about the extreme violence in “I Quit” match with The Rock during Royal Rumble 1999. Foley looks back on it with regret in regards to how affected his kids at the time, but said that it accomplished what it was supposed to by getting The Rock over as an aggressive heel with an edge.
- Another question gets asked about ECW promos and he said freedom was the key word. He credits Paul Heyman on his growth and he knows Steve Austin would do the same.
- Nita Strauss asks him to tell the Al Snow “no underwear” story and Foley delivers on it. It involves Al not wearing underwear under his trunks and Bob Holly exposing Al’s nether region to a cold, hockey arena in Montreal filled with audience members. Mick describes Al’s shrinkage as a robin’s egg in a vulture’s nest.
That ends the show and I’m not pulling any punches when I say this is a must watch for fans when it hits the Network in September. To say this didn’t reignite the young wrestling fan in me would be a blatant lie as it reminds you to how fascinating of a business this business really is. And if you ever do get an opportunity to see Mick live, absolutely do so. He has plans to tour again in a couple years for a “Have A Nice Day” tour and you can tell that he makes each and every show unique to the town and to the audience. It shouldn’t go unstated that the chemistry Jeremy Borash and Foley share from their TNA days added another excellent element to the show.
Foley is not just a wrestling treasure, but he’s a treasure in comedy, in writing and live on stage. Go for the entertainment and stay for the Al Snow bashing.
