If Foley never was in WWE, would anything have changed?

[WinOwensWin]

And I mean no disrespect to Mick Foley. His Hell in a Cell with Taker is one of my all time favorite moments. His matches at Mind Games 96 and RR 2000 were fantastic. But in the grand scheme of things, what did Foley change? A few title reigns that amounted to 40 + days. Miscellaneous feuds that came and went. Without Foley, honestly, WWE today would be about the same. Take Austin/HBK/The Rock/Triple H out of WWE history, and a completely different story is painted. What does everyone else think?

[JTG Fan]

Foley was a great opponent of Austin, Rock, and Triple H. He moved merchandise and drew ratings and PPV buyrates. The fact that his title reigns were short doesn't really mean much.

[celtics543]

Butts never would've been put in seats.


In all seriousness though, he did more to put over Austin, Rock, and HHH then anyone else could have.

[Johawn]

Absolutely. Foley was never the Man, but he was the Man who Made Men. Rock, HHH, Orton, Edge, at the very least were legitimized by Mick. He was also a fantastic opponent for Austin and 'Taker at a time when they needed fantastic opponents.

[GuyOfOwnage]

I genuinely wonder if they would have ushered in the more risky, hardcore style that they adopted during the Attitude era. Those matches with Taker at SummerSlam and Buried Alive went a long way towards ushering in that style.

[The Dark Order Inferno]

Absolutely, he busted his ass to put over Taker, the Rock and unfortunately, Triple H. I know Taker was already over, but for most of the 90s he was a sideshow act, having slow, dull matches with people that were beneath him, his battles with Foley allowed him to show more of what he could do as a performer.

[Nickybojelais]

Foley helped legitimise The Rock and Triple H at a time when they needed people to step up into Austin's injured shoes.

Also if you can watch any hell in a cell match without thinking of Foley, then I'd be very surprised.

[Reflecto]

Definitely on a different scale: Keep in mind that Mick Foley's biographies and later writing career were one of the first major things- and even in the time period, arguably even more important to this than Jesse Ventura's being elected governor of Minnesota- to make people realize "wait a second, pro wrestlers and their fans may not all be a bunch of barely-educated, mentally disabled hicks", which was incredibly necessary as the Attitude Era turned pro wrestling into a trash TV sideshow. This in itself was one of the first moments that wrestling was able to start moving past the old viewpoint of wrestlers and its fans, and eventually help turn wrestling into the accepted part of geek culture that it's become in this millennium.

Foley probably could have wrote the books without the help of WWE, yes, but at the same time if he didn't appear in WWE, the book probably would have been covered by one of the smaller publishing companies that cover most independently-made wrestling bios- IF it got someone to publish it- and would have been effectively ignored like most of those books were.

[Perd]

In baseball terms, Mick is like a great utility player. In that he could sort of do it all. Need him to do comedy? No problem. Need him to cut an emotionally charged promo? Sure. Need him to give/take an ass whooping? Done. He could be anywhere on he card and make it work. The Attitude Era wouldn't have been as big without him. He's not Austin or The Rock, but he damn sure made a difference.

[chazraps]

Mar 27, 2016 18:00:39 GMT -5 WinOwensWin said:

And I mean no disrespect to Mick Foley. His Hell in a Cell with Taker is one of my all time favorite moments. His matches at Mind Games 96 and RR 2000 were fantastic. But in the grand scheme of things, what did Foley change? A few title reigns that amounted to 40 + days. Miscellaneous feuds that came and went. Without Foley, honestly, WWE today would be about the same. Take Austin/HBK/The Rock/Triple H out of WWE history, and a completely different story is painted. What does everyone else think?

How do you figure it would be about the same? Were you even watching then?

Foley's pivotal to WWE history. He re-legitimized The Undertaker (look at how he was portrayed in '95 vs. after well-into-their-feud in '96), added the needed three-dimensional aspects of Steve Austin's character as it moved from tweener-to-face, and is the reason you even have The Rock and Triple H in the four people you named.

I'm just baffled you'd suggest such a thing. How much of the era and his work have you seen?

[Tony Schiavontay]

Nitro would have been the show to put butts in seats on January 4, 1999.

[Johnny Flamingo]

It gets overloooked but Foley really helped legitimize Randy Orton. Their match at Backlash was tremendous and really allowed Orton to look like a legit main event player.

Foley was the counterbalance that WWE needed during the attitude era. He brought a human element that really helped shaped wrestling at that time. Every villain/hero needs a great person to play off of, Mick was that guy and I'm not sure anyone else could do what he did.

[weaselboy]

Ever enjoyed a wrestling autobiography? Thank Mick for proving to publishers that there was a market for that.

[IMPRESSIVE knightwing1047]

I would definitely say Foley was pivotal to WWE history. We've already mentioned who he got over, but he also re-made Undertaker into the true legend he is today. He helped WWE as a great ambassador too! Who doesn't love Mick?! He's so well spoken and always seems to know the perfect thing to say during an interview.

I often use the cell match as a method of introducing a non wrestling fan to WWE. Their eyes light up during this match. He also helped the young guys backstage like crazy too.

[Deleted]

Mar 27, 2016 18:05:11 GMT -5 celtics543 said:

Butts never would've been put in seats.


In all seriousness though, he did more to put over Austin, Rock, and HHH then anyone else could have.

Not Austin, that was pretty much all Bret, with HBK and Taker finishing the job. Vince himself had a huge part in it as a character, perfect foil.

Foley didn't boost Rock's stardom so much as he made him credible. Rock was entertaining and very over, but never seemed dangerous before Foley took some incredible beatings for him.

For Triple H, same as above but even moreso, with the addition of making heel Triple H entertaining for the first time ever.

[chazraps]

Mar 27, 2016 22:12:34 GMT -5 @lovehater said:

Mar 27, 2016 18:05:11 GMT -5 celtics543 said:

Butts never would've been put in seats.


In all seriousness though, he did more to put over Austin, Rock, and HHH then anyone else could have.

Not Austin, that was pretty much all Bret, with HBK and Taker finishing the job. Vince himself had a huge part in it as a character, perfect foil.

Foley didn't boost Rock's stardom so much as he made him credible. Rock was entertaining and very over, but never seemed dangerous before Foley took some incredible beatings for him.

For Triple H, same as above but even moreso, with the addition of making heel Triple H entertaining for the first time ever.

Foley got the human aspect of Austin over. In the summer of '97 through the Mania 15 build, the Foley-Austin dynamic allowed Austin to grow beyond trash-talkin' Texan into a three-dimensional character.

[Deleted]

Mar 27, 2016 22:19:59 GMT -5 chazraps said:

Mar 27, 2016 22:12:34 GMT -5 @lovehater said:

Not Austin, that was pretty much all Bret, with HBK and Taker finishing the job. Vince himself had a huge part in it as a character, perfect foil.

Foley didn't boost Rock's stardom so much as he made him credible. Rock was entertaining and very over, but never seemed dangerous before Foley took some incredible beatings for him.

For Triple H, same as above but even moreso, with the addition of making heel Triple H entertaining for the first time ever.

Foley got the human aspect of Austin over. In the summer of '97 through the Mania 15 build, the Foley-Austin dynamic allowed Austin to grow beyond trash-talkin' Texan into a three-dimensional character.

I didn't really get that from watching that play out. It was quality work and fun to watch, but not essential to the degree Foley's work with Rock and Triple H was for their careers. I don't think it was anything major for Austin's character.

[captainhindsite]

A lot would change what a ridiculous question. Do you really think we would think the same of the rock had he not beat the holy hell out of Foley.
Would undertaker seem as ruthless without throwing him off that cage hell would we still have hell in the cell without Foley putting it on the mat.
How about weapons other than chairs.
People getting thrown off the stage anything hardcore.
What were they doing hardcore before Foley not a damn thing that I can remember cept for the goldust piper street fight which doesn't hole a candle to any of the Foley stuff.
He helped initiate a complete change in the way the product was.
Without Foley we wouldn't have half the attitude that the attitude era had he is in my top five and imo doesn't get the respect that he deserves.
Foley took sheer beatings from people and made whoever he was against ruthless.
The ultimate underdog him winning the belt still one of the best moments raw has ever had.
Without Mick Foley we wouldn't have a lot of the o shit moments that came from people trying to top him.
He revolutionized the business not just WWE but all of wrestling I don't think I would even know about Japanese wrestling if not for his Japanese death matches.
It was said before but his book legitimized wrestling and wrestling fans for a lot if people.
Basically you should be asking without Hogan or Austin or the rock or flair he is right in that category. Really it's disrespectful to his legacy to even ask it's not like he was hornswaggle or the gobbely goonker.
In conclusion im a Foley fan

[Dub H]

Foley is responsible for many man being over as they were,the unsung Hero Ms.Foley Baby Boy.

[Bo Rida]

While by no means the first of it's type The Rock n Sock connection helped create the blue print for megastar and/or odd couple tag-teams with a heavy comedic element.
Without them there may not have been a Team Hell No which may have slowed down Bryan's rise which may have had an effect on everything from indy signings in NXT to the rise of The Shield. The main event of WM30 would have been Orton vs Batista.

His comedy as the commish also helped get E&C, Angle and others over. That should have provided a blue print for a face authority figure but that's not WWE's way, at least Regal fills that role from time to time.