1. Mankind’s Hell in a Cell efforts never mentioned
Mankind became a legend because of his Hell in a Cell match at King of the Ring 1998. His efforts were absolutely extraordinary taking two huge bumps from the top of the cell. The pain he experienced would have caused a lesser man to die, yet Foley survived and continued the match.
Today, it is common knowledge that Mankind will always be remembered for that match. It was an unbelievable effort that is still constantly reminded towards wrestling fans and I don’t believe there is a casual wrestling fan that hasn’t seen the famous footage. What you’d imagine is that WWF would illuminate the falls off the Cell and Foley’s tenacity, to improve his magnificent character. Yet… They didn’t.
Possibly one of the most frustrating and disgusting moments in WWF Old School history and certainly the strangest moment in Raw is War history is the fact that Mankinds’ Cell match against The Undertaker was never even mentioned! Seriously! What some people consider as the best match of all time was treated as if it never happened. The night after King of the Ring, the announcers directed most of their attention towards the World Wrestling Federation championship picture and the consequent rematch between Steve Austin and Kane. Mankind did appear in an interview but did not speak. The week afterwards he had a match against the Undertaker disguised as Kane. The week following was the first and only mention in 1998 of his incredible performance.
Shawn Michaels was fulfilling guest commentary on this show, and at some point mentioned the fact that his respect for Mankind rose due to his PPV contest, and also mentioned that he was disappointed that no one mentioned or replayed the match on Raw. So basically, the ONLY mention of Mankind falling off of the Cell, possibly the most publicised and famous wrestling film and image of all time, was someone saying that it hadn’t even been mentioned! Foley even said himself in his first auto-biography that he was so disappointed with how the WWF used him in the following months of his match with The Undertaker, but until I watched the Raws did I realise how literal he was. He seemingly did it for absolutely nothing.
I thank God that Mick Foley finally, albeit, years after he had retired, got his credit for arguably the greatest performance and effort towards one match of all time. If WWF wasn’t going to give you credit, I am happy to. Thanks, Mick!
I miss the attitude era.
