Yesterday's Question: Besides Hulk Hogan, who's heel turn surprised you the most?
I'm calling this a digest version, because work stuff, and a last-minute doctor's visit has me swamped for time, so I couldn't go through everyone's responses and comment specifically. However, I would have to say this was tough to choose just one....The Horsemen alone, for example, could put together a greatest hits (Dusty, Ole, Luger, Sting - numerous times, Kevin Greene - all memorable). Barry Windham and Shawn Michaels also had awesome turns. I also liked Austin Idol's 1987 Memphis turn against Jerry Lawler, and the Road Warriors turn on Sting, but as far as the most surprising, along with possibly the best executed, there is only one choice. The Holy grail of all Heel Turns - The 4 Horsemen dump Sting, 1990.
What takes the cake for me is how Ole Anderson very calmly in a "You know, at any time, we can stomp you in the ground" tone of voice, very calmly tells Sting......."You're not a Horseman anymore....Its.....OVER." (The look on Sting's face: Classic).
See you next time with a new topic, and hopefully a full rant
Cane Dewey. Or, the promo against Dreamer and how the ECW fans wouldn't piss on Tommy, if he were on fire.
ReplyDeleteNot his best, but I did enjoy him yelling at Punk saying, "You want to be a statistic?!"
ReplyDeleteFunny how I was just thinking about it today.
Mankind and Dude introducing Cactus at MSG.
ReplyDeleteYeah.....thats tough to beat. Like the Sting turn, the simple things: "Cane......Dewey........"
ReplyDeleteAny of his SMW stuff. I can't find the speedos promo or the yabba dabba doo time promo but I did find the funeral for Boots the cat
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1wlRSMfwxo
I loved the "I understand!" exchange with Edge (prior to his HIAC match vs the Undertaker), but his promos in ECW against Dreamer eerily foreshadow's Foley's legacy:
ReplyDelete"You see, when I survey the wasteland of professional wrestling, Tommy,
try to understand, I am but a failed experiment in human sociology. And I
can accept that. But never in my sickest dreams did I think there would
be other people taking dives onto concrete floors, committing human
suicide on my behalf, like I'm the patron saint of those sick sons of
bitches. Is that all I stand for, Tommy? Is that all I stand for to sit
in an arena where J.T. Smith lands head-first on the concrete to hear
the fans chant, "You F'ed Up." Well, f' you! We're not a wrestling
organization anymore. We're one of the world's damn biggest puppet
shows. I'll be damned if I'll sit in the arena and let you call my
match. "1, 2 ,3 jump, 1, 2, 3 jump." Well not me because I'm nobody's
stooge.
If you had a little bit of pride or a little bit of common sense, you'd
realize those people don't love you, they laugh at you. You took the
worst beating this sport's ever seen and they still laughed in your
face. Well, I stood there with my arm around you six months ago and
endorsed you saying, "He's hardcore, he's hardcore.' Well, for that I
deserve to die a terrible, painful death, Tommy, because I feel
responsible. I go to bed at night and I'm not sure where I'm going to
spend my eternity. And you, Tommy (Foley laughs),
you're my salvation because, you see, by delivering you to a better
organization where you can be appreciated, loved, and held with just the
littlest amount of respect within the Turner family, maybe there's a
chance for me, too.
"
Minor character, but I'm going to go with R-Truth. Seemed like he was destined to be Cena's dancing negro friend (quite literally...sigh...) for eternity. And then he snapped and actually had a really interesting character for a few months.
ReplyDeleteI always had a soft spot for the bit of him and MIkey Whipwreck after winning the tag titles
ReplyDelete"Mikey, the Public Enemy is really mad. You know what that means?"
"It...means I'm gonna die!"
"Hey, kids! Mikey likes it!"
"I gave you Cactus Jack, and I gave you everything I had. And you cheered for STEVE AUSTIN."
ReplyDeleteAlso:"I'm not going to kick your ass. I'm going to gouge! I'm going to main! I'm going to possibly disembowel! And I'm going to...love it."
Classic, classic promo. Ole sounded like an abusive father rationalizing what he did to his son.
ReplyDeleteGreat Foley moment - his first WWF title and saying hello to his kids. It capped that goofy character of his.
It's probably not his best moment, but the one that comes to mind for me these days is the promo/video package for Orton at Backlash.
ReplyDeleteThat heel turn promo 2 weeks after WM 14 would be my choice as well. So much passion and emotion in it without being crazy.
ReplyDeleteI do think I'm thinking what you think I think you're thinking.
ReplyDeleteI really love the promo he cut on Undertaker after the fireball to set up their title match at Revenge of the Taker. Not his best, but I loved it and it's stuck with me.
ReplyDelete"I am going to leave The Undertaker as nothing more than a pile of body parts"
Also the promo where he is right inOrtons face demanding that he spit in Foleys face. Then Foley starts punching himself in the face while Orton looks on in terror.
i think "cane dewey" should be excepted from the answers; it's too much of a given
ReplyDeleteone promo that really stuck out to me was in late '99 when foley thought that the rock had thrown away his copy of "have a nice day" and foley confronted him in the locker room, and just tore into him, and what caught me off guard was that before ending it he threw in a "dwayne!"
it was a big deal (at least, to me) b/c this was obviously long before rock even flirted with hollywood, so the break of kayfabe really hammered home how pissed foley was
My favorite is one of his ECW promos directed towards Tommy Dreamer. "I'm counting on you, you selfish little bitch! Don't make me hurt you, because I can!'
ReplyDeleteGood choices. For comedic, I'd include his promo from Breakdown '98, culminating with how Monica Lewinsky was someone even he would've said no to in high school. And, the month before at Summerslam, when he had 13 words for the Outlaws, "How much wood, could a woodchuck chuck, if a woodchuck could chuck wood!".
ReplyDeleteAfter he won the WWE title.
ReplyDeleteDaddy did it.
This isn't exactly the longest promo Foley ever did but I'd say it ranks as the funniest
ReplyDeletehttp://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5xx9c_mankind-backstage-interview-19-9-98_sport
"Rock, on my best early to mid afternoon I could beat you on your worst late evening"
"Ken Shamrock, you think you could put me in one of those holds, well I've got news for you, I don't know how to get out of a damn one of them"
"It takes a good man to beat Mankind, it just doesn't take him very long"
Fried Gold
Either Cane Dewey, or that Orton one where he discusses the disgusting things he did to all those men in that tournament in Japan... then adding that those men were his FRIENDS. "I HATE you, Randy Orton... so what do you think I'm going to do to YOU?"
ReplyDeleteWhat does that have to do with Mick Foley?
ReplyDeleteThe promos for Royal Rumble/No Way Out: ''He may be The Game and the best in your business, but he's not a Cactus Jack (and he never will be...)''
ReplyDeleteThe Holy Grail of heel turns is Scott Hall at Slamboree 98. No idea what whatever this is.
ReplyDeleteThe Jim Ross sit down promos are what made him a star. Captivating television.
ReplyDeleteI used to really like that one anti-ECW promo from his 2006 run that he did on the WWE vs. ECW special, but reading him dissect why he actually thought it was a pretty shitty promo in his third book has made me sour on it.
ReplyDeleteI think that was the first promo where Mick Foley and Mankind were acknowledged as the same person. He mentioned coming home to his wife and two children, and I'm sure non-smark viewers in April 1997 were going, "Wait, THAT GUY has a wife & kids?!"
ReplyDeleteI think I've read the book, but can't recall his reasons. What were they?
ReplyDeleteHe said something about how he flubbed a few words at times, he wasn't bleeding nearly as much as he wanted to (Terry Funk was punching the doghsit out of him in order to bust him open hardway and yet it barely worked for some reason), and he just wound up not really hitting on all of the points he wanted to.
ReplyDeleteI don't see how that Horsemen turn would be they Holy Grail of heel turns.
ReplyDeleteI'd have to go with the one where he becomes Cactus Jack again leading up to the Royal Rumble against HHH.
ReplyDeleteComing out still in the bloody shirt, he admits he was a defeated man and couldn't beat him as is. When he says the fans deserve a substitute and hits the line "I think you know the guy," then rips the mask off, I marked out like crazy. And the look on HHH's face really sold it. I was already excited about the match, but this amped it up x100, and led to what is still my favorite match of all time.
"I think it's time for you to maybe start doing your damn job. I think it's time for you to end this facade of 'journalistic integrity'. You know what you tell the people week in and week out? You say 'look at Mankind-I don't even know if he feels pain!' or 'maybe he likes pain!' You see, you're a powerful man, Jimmy. You have got the ability to reach a lot of people, to spread the truth, and you neglect to do it. Let me ask you a couple of questions: what is it about pain ... uh-that I love? You see I feel pain just like every other person ... "
ReplyDelete(Mankind hits himself in the head).
"YOU SEE THAT! IT HURTS! Is it when I can't get up when my little boy wants to play ball, and I can't do it? Is that where the fun starts? Is it where a doctor injects a twelve inch needle into the discs of my spine so that I can wrestle one more day? Whoopee! Let the party begin!"
It was a great heel turn but it wasn't shocking. The whole thing was setup just so they could turn on him.
ReplyDeleteThere was a promo leading up to No Way Out 2000 when he promised to jump off the cage onto HHH's body. I bought the ppv cause I swore he was serious. Thought it was just that powerful.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite was before the big 10 man after Rock agreed to be his partner. He said he didn't ask for the Rock's help but wasn't stupid enough to turn it down. Great storytelling. Rock volunteering himself was also great b/c he finally stopped being such an ass.
Because a) In my 11 year old mind, I didn't see it coming at all, b) The execution: The 4 Horsemen went from the most over babyfaces in the company.....to the biggest heels in a second. I'm a 4 Horsemen mark (admittedly) so I'm biased
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely, Biscuit! That's my whole point....Ole was great in that role
ReplyDelete"so I couldn't go through everyone's responses and comment specifically. "
ReplyDeleteIts a shame this site isn't equipped with a comments section that would allow you to just do it there.
He's answering yesterday's question. Blame this dumb ass format more than anything.
ReplyDeleteI gotta go with the whole "Well Rock, how's it feel to be back in the WWE?" and then Foley cuts him off with the "It doesn't matter what you think!" and then he ran around the ring getting Foley chants.
ReplyDeleteCheesy, silly, but one of those moments that if you like wrestling and followed it at the time and read Foley is Good, that was special and genuinely heartfelt in a strange way.
-
Beyond that I think my favorite Foley match has gotta be the HIAC with Triple H simply because the universe conspired to bring the last...30 seconds of that match, fall and all, into perfect purple-hue scribble vision.
That was a weird period. Punk vs Foley seemed the natural progression for TLC. Did Punks injury derail that or was it just never happening?
ReplyDeleteWIndham in 88, considering he and Luger had just won the NWA tag titles, and they were beginning to push the idea that Sting was going to beat Flair, and that the Horsemen were going to splinter apart. Yes, that's how much of a mark I was back then.
ReplyDelete(crickets....)
ReplyDeleteSigh...parallax is right. I was confused by the OP.
ReplyDeleteThis is your only chance. Mind your manners going forward and I won't take this column away from you like I did from Paul.
ReplyDeleteDuly noted, parallax....by the way, did you have some sort of debilitating disease a week or so ago that prevented you from offering your services to do the blog?
ReplyDeleteYou had your chance.
ReplyDeleteIts not your fault. It has happened a few times thread with the way the last 2 have been formatting this.
ReplyDeleteSeriously bro? Whatever that means, okay. God bless you.....hopefully, you have more going on in your life than that.
ReplyDeleteYou should have remained silent.
ReplyDeleteIt's called having a life.....which means you don't always have time
ReplyDeleteIt's called having a life.....which means you don't always have time.
ReplyDeleteThen don't comment on yesterday's shit at all. It is what everyone else here does and doing it this way makes you look like a self righteous prick. The last guy was told that over and over again also.
ReplyDeleteYou don't have time to remain silent? Perfect logic.
ReplyDeleteHave a good day.
ReplyDeleteYou cyber-bullying now?
ReplyDeleteThe level of craftsmanship was awesome, too. Even mid-promo, you could hear him slowly dropping out of his slightly screechy/warbly Mankind voice, and by the time he takes the mask off, you hear Cactus Jack, determined badass.
ReplyDeleteThere's a lot of Horseman tension going on here, probably stemming from behinds the scenes stuff. Flair seems really uneasy, and only gets a few words out before Ole cuts him off. I thought Flair was going to blast Ole.
ReplyDeleteHe has said before bullying can be fun.
ReplyDeleteNever happened, they were going to have a Team Punk Vs Team Foley at SurSeries, but Vince changed it before it could happen.
ReplyDelete