Mick Foley-Underrated Worker?

[MrElijah]

Now when do fans think of Mrs. Foley's baby boy, it's the promos or the Cell. Sure he was a hardcore expert but he knew just how to implement his skills into a match. Look at his track record:

-Beach Blast '92: One of Sting's best matches in any of his Title runs.
-Holloween Havoc '93: Made Vader look like more of a killer. Somehow.
-Spring Stampede and Slamboree '94: Apart of wild brawls against the Nasty Boys and each match has a good claim to best match on 2 excellent PPVs
-ECW & Japan '95: His wild brawls with Sabu, Terry Funk and others showed how much he can take.
-WWF '94-'04: Helped make Taker to what he is, had excellent World Title matches with HBK, Austin, HHH and The Rock. MORE insanity with Terry Funk. Made Orton in one of the greatest matches for the Intercontinental Championship. Stole the show at WrestleMania 22.

So FAN Network, what do you think?

["Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay]

Absolutely not.

However hardcore the match was, Foley's gift was psychology based around his own lack of self preservation.

He gets exactly the respect he deserves, and the love of his chair shots to the head is correctly shrinking.

[blissified]

Far as matches and giving both men were clearly past their prime SS 06 was entertaining.

[Deleted]

He was the master of psychology.

[BatPunk]

I think Mick is in the exact spot he deserves to be (which you can’t say for a lot of wrestlers). He could take beating like no-one else can, but I don’t know if he ever ‘sold’ too much. I think his ‘selling’ was Mick being in legit extreme pain.

[Captain Stud Muffin (BLM)]

Na, people may go crazy for the hardcore spots but Foley does a magnificent job building up to those spots for them to get the most effective pop

[Super Duper Dragunov]

Jan 23, 2019 22:58:32 GMT -5 Captain Stud Muffin (BLM) said:

Na, people may go crazy for the hardcore spots but Foley does a magnificent job building up to those spots for them to get the most effective pop

This is why it drives me crazy to watch Abyss and Monster's Ball matches.
There's no build, it's just point A to B to C to Thumbtacks.

[Captain Stud Muffin (BLM)]

Jan 23, 2019 23:05:24 GMT -5 Super Duper Dragunov said:

Jan 23, 2019 22:58:32 GMT -5 Captain Stud Muffin (BLM) said:

Na, people may go crazy for the hardcore spots but Foley does a magnificent job building up to those spots for them to get the most effective pop

This is why it drives me crazy to watch Abyss and Monster's Ball matches.
There's no build, it's just point A to B to C to Thumbtacks.

Which is why Abyss while "respected" as a vet doesn't have the same accolades attached to his name despite him taking some bad bumps and also basically having his own unique match in Monsters Ball

I think based upon some things said like him walking up to Flair and saying "don't do his spot", he was never smartened up to the point he should or never listened because i'm pretty sure guys like Raven, Sting, Christian, Angle all have told him to be more careful with his body

[Mozenrath]

I love him, he's one of my all-time favorites.

I guess it kinda depends on what you want. His Mind Games match in many ways feels like the kind of Mick I wish we'd gotten more of. He cops to it being the best shape he was ever in, and I think he and Shawn tore the house down. If he'd spent less of his time having to recuperate and had been working out more, I think we could point to a lot more of those kinds of classics and fewer "Hmm, no one's ever gotten hit in the head with that thing!" spots needing to be devised by him.

[Doctor Of Style]

Jan 23, 2019 23:05:24 GMT -5 Super Duper Dragunov said:

Jan 23, 2019 22:58:32 GMT -5 Captain Stud Muffin (BLM) said:

Na, people may go crazy for the hardcore spots but Foley does a magnificent job building up to those spots for them to get the most effective pop

This is why it drives me crazy to watch Abyss and Monster's Ball matches.
There's no build, it's just point A to B to C to Thumbtacks.

Why would you expect more from a dollar store ripoff?

[Mozenrath]

Jan 23, 2019 23:11:04 GMT -5 Captain Stud Muffin (BLM) said:

Jan 23, 2019 23:05:24 GMT -5 Super Duper Dragunov said:

This is why it drives me crazy to watch Abyss and Monster's Ball matches.
There's no build, it's just point A to B to C to Thumbtacks.

Which is why Abyss while "respected" as a vet doesn't have the same accolades attached to his name despite him taking some bad bumps and also basically having his own unique match in Monsters Ball

I think based upon some things said like him walking up to Flair and saying "don't do his spot", he was never smartened up to the point he should or never listened because i'm pretty sure guys like Raven, Sting, Christian, Angle all have told him to be more careful with his body

Abyss is too obsessed with pleasing people. James Mitchell, Cornette, and others kept trying to tell him to cool it with the plunder, but he'd escalate and seek validation backstage from people. It's a shame, because in the mid-00s, he was one of the guys to watch on the indies, but he ruined himself for so little payoff.

[Captain Stud Muffin (BLM)]

Jan 23, 2019 23:22:41 GMT -5 Mozenrath said:

Jan 23, 2019 23:11:04 GMT -5 Captain Stud Muffin (BLM) said:

Which is why Abyss while "respected" as a vet doesn't have the same accolades attached to his name despite him taking some bad bumps and also basically having his own unique match in Monsters Ball

I think based upon some things said like him walking up to Flair and saying "don't do his spot", he was never smartened up to the point he should or never listened because i'm pretty sure guys like Raven, Sting, Christian, Angle all have told him to be more careful with his body

Abyss is too obsessed with pleasing people. James Mitchell, Cornette, and others kept trying to tell him to cool it with the plunder, but he'd escalate and seek validation backstage from people. It's a shame, because in the mid-00s, he was one of the guys to watch on the indies, but he ruined himself for so little payoff.

Figured that had to be the case

A shame because you can tell he's wrecked

[Ishmeal Loves Kaseyhausen]

He's not an underrated worker, but I believe his place in the Attitude Era is often overlooked. Think about 3 pivotal points:

1) Austin's first post-title-win feud was vs. Foley. Yes, the over-arching feud was Austin vs. McMahon, but those 2 bouts with Dude Love (Unforgiven and Over the Edge) were a huge part in keeping Austin white hot.

2) Rock's feud with Foley following the Deadly Game tournament solidified the Rock as a top worker, the top heel in the company, and made him look solid gold. We all remember Foley's first title win on Raw over Rock and the brutal match at Royal Rumble, but they had a great match (IM0) at Rock Bottom and solid matches at Halftime Heat (the empty arena match) and in back-to-back nights in a Last Man Standing match at St. Valentine's Day Massacre, and a Ladder Match the next night on Raw.

3) This one is more obvious, but Foley's feud with HHH over the title in early 2000, much like with Rock, solidified HHH's spot as the top heel in the company and put him, for lack of a better term, "over."

[MrElijah]

Jan 23, 2019 23:11:30 GMT -5 Mozenrath said:

I love him, he's one of my all-time favorites.

I guess it kinda depends on what you want. His Mind Games match in many ways feels like the kind of Mick I wish we'd gotten more of. He cops to it being the best shape he was ever in, and I think he and Shawn tore the house down. If he'd spent less of his time having to recuperate and had been working out more, I think we could point to a lot more of those kinds of classics and fewer "Hmm, no one's ever gotten hit in the head with that thing!" spots needing to be devised by him.

That reminds me, IIRC, didn't WCW teased a Steamboat/Cactus feud in '92? That would have been amazing.

[Yacht Persona]

The third most important Attitude Era worker as far as I'm concerned, and one of the best ring psychologists of all time, and perhaps the best brawler of all time. His ability to garner sympathy was next to none.