HOW MICK FOLEY'S LEGACY MAY BE
By: Scrap Dog
8/1/2003 2:19:00 PM
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Have you ever had to write something that pains
you? Ever have to admit the obvious
even though you want to sweep it under the carpet?
Well, that is what I am about to embark on.
I love Mick Foley’s work.
From his crazy bumps in Texas to his great feuds with Eddie Gilbert in
TWA to his work in WCW to his great work and interviews in ECW and his crazy
Japan matches to his unbelievable run in the WWF, Foley’s work is undoubtedly
impressive any way you look at it.
Foley made his name from all the sick bumps and
crazy stunts he did. Who can forget
him taking back bumps from the apron to concrete floors in Texas?
Longtime fans will remember Eddie Gilbert bashing a beer bottle over
Cactus’ head. Don’t forget
Sting back body dropping Cactus Jack over the guardrail to the concrete floor.
Let’s not forget Vader powerbombing Cactus to the concrete floor.
Hell, he even lost his ear! I
could list numerous bumps from his ECW run, such as having his arm carved up by
Terry Funk. Finally, the bump(s)
that will never be forgotten and made “Mankind” are from The Hell in The
Cell. The first one off the side of
the cage and the second one through the cage are still shown today on WWE TV.
That is just a short list of Foley’s memorable moments.
One thing that stands out is that Foley made his
name by putting his body on the line well pass the point of sanity.
In putting his body on the line, he made a name for himself and garnered
a huge fan following. He lived the
American Dream. He became one of
the top stars in his line of work because of hard work and a desire to do
whatever it took to get there.
While on the surface that sounds great for Mick
Foley, was his presence good for the long- term future of pro-wrestling?
Sure, Foley entertained the hell out of many
others and myself. He is without
doubt one of my favorite workers ever. But,
let’s be realistic about Foley influence on the business.
He upped the ante in the game of pro-wrestling.
Whether he meant to or not, he made it popular to risk injury upon
oneself to make it in the business.
Let’s take a look at where Foley’s influence
can be found.
First, look at WWE.
Numerous wrestlers have been sideline with neck injuries including Chris
Benoit, Edge, Rhyno, Kurt Angle, among others.
These recent spats of neck injuries have been caused by a higher impact
wrestling moves such as German suplexes. While
Foley wasn’t throwing snap suplexes, it is obvious his influence for big spots
rubbed off on the likes of Benoit, Angle, Edge, Eddy Guerrero, and others.
Their suplexes are equivalent to Foley’s crazy bumps.
As great as these matches are, one has to wonder is the wear and tear on
the body worth it? It is not worth
it long term, but many wrestlers look at Foley as an example of how just one or
two memorable moments can raise your stock in the short term.
Whether they admit it or not, wrestlers have to remember how Foley’s
bumps in Hell in the Cell helped push him from a high status to an elite status.
Do you think Chris Benoit does flying headbutts off the top of steel cage
because he wants to make the fans happy? Or
do you think he is risking injury for the chance of doing something remarkable
and following in Foley’s footsteps? Foley
has made it popular to take numerous risks to make it to the pot of gold over
the rainbow.
Next, let’s look at a group like Ring of Honor.
Foley handprints are all over this group.
They have 6’7” giants doing tope suicidas over the top rope, men
jumping off of ladders, bumps on the neck so numerous that there are probably
several in most matches, among other crazy stunts.
Just like WWE, this is just an evolution of Foley’s crazy bumps.
Instead of crazy bumps to the floor, these workers are trying to make
their name at the cost of their necks. Foley
was a huge draw on the indy scene and many of these workers feel by doing crazy,
stiff bumps they will become a huge draw. Isn’t
ironic that Christopher Daniels, whom is a good worker and knows how to pick his
spots, is the biggest draw on the indy scene?
Foley’s influence doesn’t stop there, as it
is easily spotted in groups such as CZW and IWA Mid South.
The blood, guts, and crazy bumps are Foley’s claim to fame.
That is what many of these workers are doing.
Foley’s performance in the IWA Japan’s King of Death Tournaments is
the prototype for many of CZW/IWA Mid South matches.
Don’t get me wrong, CZW and IWA Mid South have good wrestling matches
but they and many of their workers have made their names on their death matches
and sick bumps. Foley’s IWA King of Death Matches performance was the start of
all the insane promotions. Foley
made it cool and hip to do matches like that.
He made it hardcore. Ever
since then numerous people are following in Foley’s footsteps.
Without Foley these groups may never have done all the crazy stuff they
did.
The next group that Foley has propelled much
popularity to is backyard wrestling. With
WWE (then WWF) playing up Foley’s backyard wrestling antics, including his
infamous house bump, on their TV shows and letting him be his Dude Love
character, Foley made backyard wrestling in many aspiring kids minds a way to
get to the top. Sure, none of these
backyarders cared to realize that Foley busted his butt for almost 11 years to
make it to the big show. They saw a
kid that became a WWE superstar jumping off a house and they thought it was
their ticket to the big show. Nowadays,
kids are jumping off of high places, using tables, fire, chairs and anything
else you can think of. Sure, this
may have been going on before Foley played up his backyard wrestling on WWE TV.
But, it was never as popular as it is today thanks to Foley, probably by
accident, making it a fad.
Finally, Foley’s biggest influence was through
ECW. While Foley was in ECW, he was
always taking big bumps and putting his body on the line.
Many in the locker room saw what Foley was doing and did the same thing.
ECW was always about hard-hitting wrestling, crazy bumps, and good
storylines. Foley planted the seeds
for how ECW workers would work. They
would take crazy bumps to make an impact and impress people.
ECW later became a standard for which many workers tried to emulate.
And by emulating ECW workers, they were emulating Foley.
The blame for all these crazy bumps cannot be
laid squarely at the feet of Mick Foley, though.
These are grown men and women making choices.
Sure, Foley made it popular and gave many others hope that one day if
they do enough crazy things they will be noticed and paid off for their hard
work. But undoubtedly Foley was the
main catalyst for all the increased risks going on in the wrestling world.
It started with the need to top Foley’s big bumps and it has snowballed
to a dangerous point. There is only
so much topping you can do.
So that brings me to a question many within the
business should be asking themselves. When
will all these crazy bumps (crazy bumps that have meaning and help you make
money is fine in my book, by the way) with no point stop?
Obviously workers have broken their necks, bones, and devastated their
bodies and the bumps have not stopped. Will
it take a death from a bump for dramatic change?
Sadly, unless Vince McMahon really gets behind the toned down aspect of
wrestling, a death may be the only way for wrestling to tone itself down.
Even sadder, I am not sure even a death would
stop all these crazy, pointless bumps.
Any comments, questions, or concerns?
You can reach me via e-mail at scrapdog54@aol.com.
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