wrestling / Video Reviews
Views from the Hawke’s Nest: Mick Foley’s Greatest Hits & Misses – Disc 1
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Mick Foley is the host of the DVD. He talks before each match. I’ll make note of what he says when it seems relevant/interesting.
WCW Saturday Night
April 17, 1993
Cactus Jack vs. Vader (w/ Harley Race)
Vader hit Jack in the face a lot at the beginning of the match. Jack came back with a scoop slam and a diving lariat. He then tackled Vader through a steel barricade. He followed that up with a lariat for Harley. After a commercial break, Vader was in control and punching Foley in the face until he bled. WCW edited out blood at the time, which means this unedited footage is actually from Foley’s personal library. Vader was in complete control, and Race was sporadically helping him out. Vader accidentally took out Race with a lariat. Vader went to splash Jack on the floor, but he crashed into a barricade. Foley then wiped him out with the rolling senton off the apron. Jack ended up winning via countout.
Vader threw a temper tantrum after the match.
This was solid way to continue the issue between the two men on television, but it was not a particularly exciting/engaging/compelling match in it of itself.
Match Rating: **1/4
WCW Spring Stampede
April 17, 1994
Cactus Jack & Maxx Payne vs. The Nasty Boys (Jerry Sags & Brian Knobbs) [Chicago Street Fight]
This immediately started as a brawl (obviously). I never remember which one is Sags and which is Knobbs before the match starts. Luckily, Schiavone identified them early on. It was plunder brawl all over the ringside area and near the entrance setup. It’s also a Falls Count Anywhere match by the by. Payne put Knobbs through a table. They just kept going and going. Sags went to put Jack through a table, but they were too heavy and just fell through the table. Knobbs tossed a shovel at Jack. Sags then hit him in the face with the shovel: 1…2…3. Hilariously awesome finish. Sags hit Payne with a piece of the table to finish him after the match.
I know this stood out more at the time, but I still like it today. It’s just a fun and mindless brawl that does not overstay its welcome at all. I especially loved the finish even if it was a plastic shovel.
Match Rating: ***
ECW Hostile City Showdown
June 24, 1994
Cactus Jack vs. Sabu
Jack was on loan to ECW in order to establish some kind of relationship between the two companies despite the animosity between Paul Heyman and WCW.
Sabu ran through Jack for a while. He targeted Jack’s injured left arm/shoulder. He sat Jack on a chair on the floor and then took him out with a tope suicida. Jack finally came back and hit the Cactus Clothesline. Jack was then in control for a bit. Sabu avoided a senton, and they started brawling on the floor and in the crowd again. Sabu put Jack through a table. Sabu set up another table after that failed to finish Jack. 911 helped him out. Sabu did an Asai Moonsault over a guardrail to put Jack through the table. It looked like Sabu’s face caught the guardrail on the way down. For whatever reason, that seemed to just energize Jack. Jack actually covered Sabu in the ring. Whatever. Jack hit Sabu with a piece of the table. Paul E. hit Jack with the giant phone: 1…2…3
There was a big brawl with a bunch of guys from ECW after the match. Sabu took everyone out with a double jump senton. Jack and Sabu brawled into the crowd bu then came back to the ring. Sabu hit Jack in the face with a bottle that naturally exploded upon contact. Sabu put Jack on the broken table, and Sabu gave him a moonsault. Jack immediately recovered and hit Sabu with the same table.
I did not think this was good at all. There were a couple of entertaining spots and moments from Sabu, but this barely even seemed like a match. Sabu got some shit in. Jack got some shit in. There was no passion though. Nothing to hook me into the action. The crowd seemed relatively ambivalent as well unless a table was being used.
Match Rating: *3/4
Smokey Mountain Wrestling
November 18, 1994
Cactus Jack vs. Chris Candido (w/ Tammy Lynn Fytch)
Candido was playing the coward, but Jack caught up to him pretty much right away. He beat the shit out of Candido for a while. Candido came back and actually hit a dive. Candido worked Jack over for a while. Tammy prevented a Jack comeback at one point, but Jack ended up being able to come back shortly thereafter that. Tammy brought Boo Bradley out, but Jack sent Candido into Bradley. Double arm DDT from Jack: 1…2…3
Jack was attacked after the match, but Brian Lee made the save.
I’ve always enjoyed this match quite a bit. Candido made for a great coward heel, and Jack brought great energy to the match. I would be very interested in seeing more of their work in SMW.
Match Rating: ***1/4
Mick Foley introduces the next match by admitting that it’s not good. He basically admits that the match was selected for him (possibly against his wishes, but that’s not clear). Sandman got knocked out early and refused to stay down for the count in this Texas Death Match.
ECW
February 4, 1995
Cactus Jack vs. The Sandman (w/ Woman) [Texas Death Match]
Jack attacked Sandman during his entrance and then hit him in the head with plunder. Hard to imagine how Sandman got knocked out! Jack quickly got a pinfall, but Sandman beat the ten count after. And again. Jack hit him in the head some more with plunder. Again, it’s a giant mystery as to why Sandman got knocked out. Sandman finally fought back. They brawled on the floor some more. Sandman had control of the match for a while. The match has no heat by the way. Jack fought back. Sandman hit a piledriver on a chair. Jack came back with some Singapore Cane shots to the head. Jack kept getting pinfalls on the floor, but Sandman kept responding before the ten count. Jack did in fact look frustrated. Sandman finally stayed down to give Jack the match.
Just a completely awful match. Nothing even to talk about. It’s definitely the worst Foley match that I have ever seen.
Match Rating: DUD
ECW November 2 Remember
November 18, 1995
Cactus Jack & Raven vs. Terry Funk & Tommy Dreamer
Jack and Raven were avoiding Tommy and Terry early on. The battle eventually started, and it immediately became a plunder brawl. The ref was taken out somehow. Stevie Richards was there. Tommy and Terry were running through them early. The heels eventually got control though. Terry and Tommy started to fight back. Jack was wearing an Eric Bischoff shirt. Dreamer pull the shirt up over Jack’s face so that he could beat up Bischoff. It’s a metaphor. Raven hit Tommy with a dive. Raven pinned Terry, and Jack counted the fall. That obviously did not count so the match continued. Bill Alfonso showed up to count, but Terry kicked out. Taz showed up with a referee shirt on. Taz and Fonzy left. What is going on??? Tommy gave Raven a pair of DDTs as the original ref recovered. Tommy then gave Raven a piledriver on a chair. Terry pinned Raven: 1…2…3
Jack attacked Terry and Tommy after the match. Tommy superkicked Richards. Terry and Jack battled up the aisle.
This was fine, but it came across as a monotonous plunder brawl with no ebb and flow. I was never bored exactly, but I was never greatly invested either.
Match Rating: **1/2
Foley talks about his favorite in-ring moment of his career is his final ECW match and not from anything in his WWF career. Foley didn’t expect to get a loving sendoff after being a heel for so long.
ECW Big Ass Extreme Bash
March 9, 1996
Cactus Jack vs. Mikey Whipwreck
Jack dominated the match for a while, but Mikey was eventually able to come back briefly. He went for a headscissors at one point, but Jack dumped him to the floor. They brawled on the floor and into the crowd. Mikey actually hit a springboard senton into the crowd. They brawled on the floor some more. Jack used the Mandible Claw and a piledriver in the ring, but Mikey survived. Jack went for an Asai…back elbow (?), but he crashed into a guardrail. Back in the ring, Mikey hit Jack on the head with a chair too many times. Jack survived that though. Jack ran away through the crowd. Mikey went after him. Mikey hit a plancha from the stage. Back in the ring, Jack got the advantage again. Jack hit him with a chair and then gave him a piledriver on the chair: 1…2…3
Jack got a great reaction from the crowd after the match.
There was a bit more story to this one than the previous ECW matches on this set, but this was still very underwhelming overall. Cactus being the bully veteran to the underdog Whipwreck was a great dynamic. They just didn’t work a strong match to go with it.
Match Rating: **1/2
SPECIAL FEATURES
The special features included some famous Foley promos from his time in WCW and ECW. They aired a WWE Confidential feature where Foley talked about his departure in the company in the early 2000s. Foley said he missed the charity work the most. He went into some greater detail about one of his charity projects. There were also three more matches.
WCW Beach Blast
June 20, 1992
Cactus Jack vs. Sting [Falls Count Anywhere]
Mick Foley and Jonathan Coachman do commentary for the match. Sting was the United States Heavyweight Champion at the time, but this was non-title. Foley made fun of that decision on commentary. For a while, Foley considered this to be his best match ever.
Sting had the initial advantage, but Jack quickly fought back and got the advantage. He targeted Sting’s injured ribs. Jack went for a sunset flip off the apron for a nearfall. Sting fought back and got the advantage. Cactus came back and hit his Cactus Clothesline. Jack killed Sting’s back with some chairshots. Sting tried to hit the Stinger Splash from the floor, but Jack was able to send him into the guardrail. Sting fought back with some chairshots to Jack’s back. Sting then went for the Scorpion Deathlock on the apron, but Jack escaped. Sting then went to top rope and hit a diving lariat to the apron: 1…2…3!
Foley mentioned that Bill Watts put over the match backstage.
I have always enjoyed this match a great deal. Sting was really game to adapt to Foley’s style here, and it’s a shame these two did not have a major world title program together around this time. They could have had a really special series of matches. I don’t think think they would have another televised singles match until their TNA program in 2009.
Match Rating: ***3/4
ECW
September 30, 1994
Cactus Jack vs. Sabu
Once again, Mick Foley and Jonathan Coachman were on commentary.
Jack was officially gone from WCW by this point. Jack was running through Sabu early, but Sabu quickly came back with an Asai Moonsault. He basically missed Jack completely and landed on a guardrail. Paul E. Dangerously and 911 attacked Jack to give Sabu time to recover. Jack dropped a table onto Sabu. Sabu fought back in the ring with a chair, but Jack cut him off again. They brawled all around the building for a while after that. They made their way back to the ringside area. 911 attacked Jack some more. They put Jack on a table, and Sabu hit him with an Asai Moonsault. The table kind of broke. Sabu hit a split-legged moonsault in the ring for a nearfall. Sabu hit Jack with a bottle twice, and it didn’t break. It broke on the third time: 1…2…3
This was a big step-up from their first match together. It was still missing the environment you would think these two could elicit from an ECW crowd, but the action was more interesting and entertaining this time. Did these two ever end up having a great match?
Match Rating: **1/2
WWF
September 13, 1986
Jack Foley & Les Thornton vs. The British Bulldogs (Davey Boy Smith & Dynamite Kid) (w/ Lou Albano)
This was Foley’s second ever match. He apparently made a bunch of suggestions backstage for the match. Dynamite Kid decided to teach him a lesson and tore a ligament in his jaw on a lariat.
Bulldog and Thornton did an okay sequence to start the match. Foley then got killed for a bit. Foley made the worst comeback ever on Bulldog. Dynamite killed him with the lariat that tore a ligament in his jaw. Dynamite then hit a back superplex on Foley: 1…2…3
You would certainly never guess that Foley would go on to become one of the greatest wrestlers based on this match.
Match Rating: DUD
Watch free Mick Foley matches!
Mankind vs. Shane McMahon [NUTTY Attitude Era programming]
Dude Love & Steve Austin vs. The Hart Foundation
Mankind vs. Kane [Hell in a Cell]
Cactus Jack vs. Triple [Street Fight]
The Rock ‘n’ Sock Connection vs. The Undertaker & The Big Show [BURIED ALIVE]
The Rock ‘n’ Sock Connection vs. The New Age Outlaws
Mankind vs. Big Bossman [Ladder Match]
Mick Foley vs. Sting vs. Kurt Angle vs. Jeff Jarrett
Cactus Jack Manson vs. Mil Mascaras
