On June 28, 1998 WWE hosted the King of the Ring party in Pittsburgh, and this gala will forever be associated with a legendary match: Mankind (Mick Foley) vs. The Undertaker in the unforgivable structure of Hell in a Cell.
Indeed, the King of the Ring pay-per-view was intended to crown a new king of the ring, in this case Ken Shamrock, but it was a pre-finale match that captured the collective imagination.
25 years later, many fans still regard it as the most terrifying sight they have ever witnessed in a wrestling match that was not a tragic accident, as was the case with Owen Hart’s fatal fall in 1999.
Here, Mick Foley simply decided to thumb his nose at death to give us a legendary performance.
Mick Foley, hell in a cage
Undertaker and humanity
To dig into the fight a bit, you have to go back to the rivalry between The Undertaker and Mankind (Mick Foley).
In 1997, Undertaker faced Shawn Michaels in the first Hell in a Cell match in WWE history. During the fight, the two walked across the roof of the cage, and a year later, Mick Foley, along with his friend Terry Funk, came up with the idea of taking the fight against Undertaker even further.
“What if he throws you out of the cage?”
The idea was hatched before the fight and Foley convinced his opponent and Vince McMahon to let him perform the dangerous stunt where he would fall from the top of the cage onto a table on the floor to break his fall.
That had never happened before in WWE, but Foley had a reputation for being a go-getter and here was his chance to add to his legend.
But it was impossible to prepare for the stunt, you had to do it and see what happened next.
Furthermore, Foley had not imagined that the cage would be so big, so high and so difficult to climb.
So the stunt was done, for better or for worse.
The Legend of Foley
“Good God, they killed him. Since God is my witness, he’s broken in half.
The words of the legendary Jim Ross underscored the widespread sentiment among viewers.
Mick Foley’s fall was so spectacular that we feared the worst for his health and even his life.
Foley was strugglingly helped by officers and Terry Funk, but he dragged himself back to the top of the cage and, to make matters worse, she caved under his weight in another planned maneuver with his rival. This second drop, while less steep, is even more devastating.
Worse, the fight didn’t end there. Despite a dislocated shoulder, a broken jaw, missing teeth and a concussion, Mick Foley continued his fight against Undertaker as planned until the final sequence where Foley gets the three count thrown into a stack of thumbtacks.
Because the falls apparently weren’t enough.
The match cemented Mick Foley’s WWE legend and despite the show’s universal esteem, no one wanted him to take risks like this ever again. It was, in a way, the line that shouldn’t be crossed in sports entertainment, even if the images remain part of the legend to this day.
Mick Foley, who retired for the first time in 2000 at the height of his popularity, certainly pledged the length of his career to that game.
Today we remember that insane match and implore today’s wrestlers to learn from the past and not take those risks in the ring. Not worth the entertainment, be careful.
Hell in a Cell, 25 years later
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of this generation-defining fight, WWE brought the two wrestlers together on their YouTube channel for all netizens to watch and most importantly, comment.
The review is fascinating. Despite all the violence during the fight, the two are first and foremost workmates and the open camaraderie is at odds with the images presented.
However, a behind-the-scenes look at the fight shows us just how bad things could have turned out for Foley. The Undertaker, who has become out of character since retiring, admits he’s never been more scared for another wrestler than he was in this fight. We’re even told of the legendary Terry Funk in the ring making sure his opponent was medically briefed on Foley’s condition before receiving a hold to prolong the fight.
Luckily for Mick Foley, all is well and good and we can laugh about it on social media instead of posting about a wrestler who tragically died 25 years ago by throwing himself out of a cage.