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Mick Foley's early years

Scott,

What Mick Foley matches prior to his ECW run are worth checking out (from any federation)?

Well, the most famous is the 2/3 falls match with Eddie Gilbert that basically defined the ECW/hardcore style and launched the careers of a million tape traders online.  And of course he had a bunch of great ones with Sting and Vader in 92/93 in WCW.  Before that he was basically a job guy who did occasional crazy indy matches. 

Comments

  1. I love how the basis of the ECW style was Memphis brawling.

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  2. Don't forget Cactus Jack and Maxx Payne vs. the Nasty Boys at Spring Stampede 1994. A fantastic brawl and a surprisingly great match considering that 3 of the 4 principals stunk.

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  3. I feel very saddened that there was never a formal Cactus Jack vs Power Uti match.

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  4. Both the 94 matches were mind blowing for the time. Didn't he have a good one with Roberts? Or was that Sting?

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  5. Did he even have any great matches in ECW?

    Sting/Cactus Jack from 1992 at Beach Blast is awesome, plus of course the back-to-back Spring Stampede 1994 match in Chicago and Slamboree 1994 match in Philly.

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  6. His match with Jericho is a lot of fun. I'm partial to his barbed wire rope match with Sandman as well. I liked his match with Douglas where Mikey Whipwreck almost kills him with a chair shot, until Mick pointed out Shane's erect...."Franchiser". Can't unsee.

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  7. Charismatic eNegro Jef VinsonOctober 25, 2014 at 6:44 PM

    Cactus Jack vs. Mil Mascaras: This is the debut of the Nestea Plunge spot, Watch just to hear Jim Cornette scream "Cactus Jack is DEAD!!"

    http://youtu.be/tnYf5BKm9ws

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  8. Charismatic eNegro Jef VinsonOctober 25, 2014 at 6:48 PM

    Cactus was also part of the WCCW angle with Eric Embry where they beat Embry with a bat until he spit up blood.

    http://youtu.be/ZgniUlGAb0Q

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  9. Debut on national tv, isn't it? I thought he had been doing it for a while.

    Gotta re-read his first book again.

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  10. The Vader match where was power bombed onto the exposed concrete was the one that really made me take notice of him. To clarify, not the match itself which I've never seen (no WCW stuff on tv here until '97, and even then just PPV), but reading about the power bomb spot and seeing the photos in PWI was an eye-opener for me.

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  11. If I remember correctly, Foley has said that his Falls Count Anywhere match against Sting at Beach Blast '92 was his his best pre-ECW, pre-WWF/E match.

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  12. V. Sting - bash at the beach 92
    V. Embry - wccw - light heavyweight title
    V. Funk - king of the deathwatch finals
    V. Van hammer - clash of the champions 18 falls count anywhere
    V. Steamboat- wcw Saturday night
    V. The patriot - Global
    V. Ron Simmons - superbrawl II
    V. The British bulldogs
    V. Vader - all of their wcw matches
    V. W/ max Payne v nasty boys
    Chamber of horrors
    W/ Pillman v Sting/Abdullah - starcade 91
    V. Sullivan - loser leaves town
    Cactus/sting/Dustin v vader/orndorff/whindham - cage - clash 22
    V. Mascaras - clash X

    This of the top of my head. Basically all of his WCW clash matches are worth seeking out. He also had some decent matches in tag teams in WCCW/USWA. Also, not all of theses matches are classics but worth seeking out if you're a fan of Mrs. foley's baby boy as he always went out to make an impression.

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  13. Charismatic eNegro Jef VinsonOctober 25, 2014 at 7:14 PM

    I believe so. Mick clowns him in the n=book saying Mascaras ran the ring on his tip toes with his gut sucked in and refused to sell.

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  14. W Raven v dreamer/funk - just for the VCR spot.

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  15. His first Clash, I think. When I read HAND I took away that his early matches against the Steiners etc were on TV. Could of course be wrong.

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  16. Charismatic eNegro Jef VinsonOctober 25, 2014 at 7:17 PM

    All his heel turns in ECW were great. There was a match where he begged Bischoff to take him back in WCW.

    http://youtu.be/3kIicuwCpy8

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  17. Yes. Headlocking El Puerto Ricano for 10 minutes.

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  18. Great, comprehensive post. That Van Hammer match is a miracle. The big missing piece is the submit or surrender match against Sting on Worldwide in late '91. That's better than the Beach Blast match, IMO. In fact it may even be better than the '91 WarGames.

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  19. I saw that Steamboat match on a comp tape. Holy crap, was it great. That's a treasure I hope the WWE archives dig up soon for a DVD release.

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  20. Of that list, true great ones are the Sting Clash battle that Foley cites as his best in WCW, Steamboat, Simmons and anything with Vader.

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  21. Also, Bobby Eaton teamed with Pillman at Starrcade '91. Cactus Jack just happened to be heavily involved.

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  22. It's short, but he also has a really fun little falls-count-anywhere match with Dustin Rhodes, again on one of the syndie shows.

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  23. Featuring Pillman bodyslamming Abdullah to an absolutely nuclear fucking pop from the crowd...and which is completely missed by the cameras. Oh, WCW.

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  24. right ! As I said, off of my head.

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  25. I need to look up that submit or surrender match, I'm sure I've seen it, as I watched every thing in that time period.

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  26. If you want to see poor Mick saddled with crap, Clash X vs Mil Mascaras is must see.

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  27. Don't forget the street fights at Spring Stampede and Slamboree '94.

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  28. Isn't this what the network was made for? Video vault type stuff?

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  29. Having watched plenty of Memphis wrestling growing up, the first time I saw ECW I was like, "This is revolutionary? I saw this like 10 or more years ago." Then again, ECW eventually raised the bar on that stuff to crazy heights.

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  30. I know WCW was known for really awful decisions, well, pretty much forever, but it's amazing that Foley had such a memorable run there yet nobody took notice and thought "hey, we may be able to do something with this weird, schlubby dude that people are cheering for."

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  31. Virgil's Gimmick TableOctober 25, 2014 at 10:09 PM

    Mick Foley: light heavyweight. Let that sink in.

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  32. I'm kinda tired of the whole Brock Lesnar thing. He needs a gimmick change.

    Using this artist's rendering, I've come up with the new greatest character in wrestling: Brock "Cool As a Cucumber" Lesnar

    http://www.wrestlingmedia.org/wv/02/50570/50570.jpg

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  33. Love how the fans just cleared a path for Hansen and KKB

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  34. Now to fire up the Bockwinkel - Hennig one-hour draw.

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  35. TJ: So apparently ROH is now relying on Vince Russo "shoot" angles to make Michael Elgin interesting. Sigh.

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  36. I like how the refs had names and identities. Gary DeRousha put over as a ref.

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  37. Lord James with a nice mispronunciation of Gagne.

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  38. SICK Bockwinkel ankle lock holding Hennig's legs spread.

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  39. If this is a work, it rivals Quackenbush's CHIKARA death/revival angle in the annals of "whyyyyyy?" history.

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  40. Brutal in a bad way or brutal in the violent sense?

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  41. Quack had the excuse of running out of money. Then again he kept those sister promotions around during the "dead" period so who knows. ROH doesn't have an excuse for reusing Russo's BAD ideas.

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  42. I finished the 1,000 word quota; however, I don't think I'm close to being finish, as I've actually found lots of information to talk about.

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  43. It's kinda hard to be too mad at the Giants. They kinda fell bassackwards into being a play-off powerhouse. I'm just happy the Yankees suck now.

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  44. Adam "Colorado" CurryOctober 26, 2014 at 12:39 AM

    ROH is totally going down the shitter, I think people just aren't noticing because WWE is sucking floppy donkey dick and TNA is about to die.

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  45. davidbonzaisaldanamontgomeryOctober 26, 2014 at 1:01 AM

    I'm a Dodgers fan, so it's very easy for me to hate them. Plus, the Royals winning a world title RKO-style (OUT OF NOWHERE) after being a doormat for multiple decades would be a cooler story than #LOLGIANTSWIN

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  46. Mick basically had two careers, one as the crazy, wild badass, then another as the weird goofball.

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  47. Haven't CHIKARA done bigger business since they came back though?

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  48. An outlandish idea like that works for CHIKARA though. ROH is supposed to be the grim-dark promotion, so is this is a work, it's an incredibly stupid move.

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  49. Great list, it's amazing what a solid body of work he has, up until his own body stopped working.

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  50. I don't think i've ever heard anyone say a kind word about Mascaras. I mean, if Mick "I was Actually Santa in another timeline" Foley talks shit about you...yeeesh.

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  51. His match against the nasty boys in Wcw.

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  52. Chikara closed due to quacks divorce If you believe the rumors

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  53. Terry will die in the ring, no doubt.

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  54. Huh? I have zero clue what you're talking about here, yet you are obsessed enough to bring me up. Thanks, I guess?

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  55. I'm a bigger fan of EA's MMA, but the depth of the Undisputed games are certainly a high-point.

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  56. He was banned then unbanned in a day

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  57. You stay classy.

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  58. Same for Embry really

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  59. Kingsbury is in way over his head. Looking cool in shades doesn't make you a good coach.

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  60. I must respectfully disagree with Mr. Pete. The Submit or Surrender match is awesome, **** easy with a great ending and some quality shit talk by Heel Cactus but it is not better than Beach Blast or WarGames which are both ****1/2 or maybe higher. It IS on Mick's latest Blu-ray collection, so thank goodness for Mick picking his own selection for his releases.

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  61. I LOVE that match and friggin' WCW missed the best part. The only thing was I have no idea why Eaton and Sting were not working so well together. They actually had a really good match (***1/2 my opinion) in 1990 when Eaton was a Midnight. I don't know why their chemistry was off but Pillman and Abdullah tore the house down.

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  62. Cactus had an important match on his own. Abdullah beat the crap out of his partner (Sgt Buddy Lee Parker who was a jobber anyway so wouldn't have been a help), so Cactus has to fight a handicap match against Steamboat and a heavily pushed Todd Champion and held his own. That match showed Cactus was a tough SOB even in defeat. (Even though thankfully Parker ate the pin).

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  63. Oh yeah, I have that on one of my old VHS tapes when I'd tape portions of Pro, Saturday Night, Power Hour or Main Event if something looked interesting. This falls-count-anywhere match is killer.

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  64. I don't. That explanation is full of holes.

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  65. Have they? I don't think that an ARG involving shadowy shell corporations and hostile takeovers could have drawn in THAT many new eyes.

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  66. Charismatic eNegro Jef VinsonOctober 26, 2014 at 11:22 PM

    Embry actually did an angle where he wanted the Light Heavyweight limit raised.

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  67. I really don't know, but I was under the impression they were being managed better (off-screen at least) in terms of finances and stuff, to where KOT was more profitable. The fact they've branched out to other states more than in the last few years suggests they're doing okay, and I figured more people were into it, at least initially, when it came back.

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