Bruce Prichard On Why Match With Cactus Jack At Backlash 2004 Made Randy Orton A Singles Star

In the latest episode of Something to Wrestle, Bruce Prichard spoke about the hardcore match between Randy Orton and Cactus Jack at Backlash 2004, which he believes is what cemented Orton as a singles star in the WWE. Here are highlights:

On the use of hardcore gimmicks in the match: “Well I hated it from the standpoint of I hate the brutality of some of those matches. I enjoyed the match and the story was excellent and the match was excellent. I cringe at the brutality of some of the stuff sometimes. I’m not a fan of barb wire, I’m not a fan of the baseball bat barbed wire thing, not a fan of thumbtacks and that kind of horseshit, but again, when it’s done in the way that they did it, it made sense for the culmination for this whole storyline that had been going on for quite a while. That credit for the storyline and everything going through, all that credit goes to Mick Foley and Brian Gewirtz, the way they worked together. It was Mick Foley that kept coming back, ‘What if we do this? What if we do that?’ And Randy Orton being able to be that guy, that conduit, to make it all work. So hats off to them, it was a tremendous story and the kind of thing that Mick Foley does so well. You give Mick a long term deal and he’s gonna get the most that he can out of it. And you have a great worker like Randy Orton that can tell that story. Here’s a young punk kid disrespecting the grizzled vet who’s done everything under the sun to earn his reputation and now Randy gets to experience all of the things that the grizzled vet experienced in an entire career in one match. That was the story. That was the thing that really helped solidify Randy. Even more so. It was every step along the way with Randy Orton’s story that helped solidify him as this tremendous worker and talent that belonged in the position he was in. I just thought it was one of the best stories ever told and both guys played their part tremendously but the brutality of those things, sometimes I cringe watching them because I’m always afraid somebody’s gonna get seriously hurt regardless of how well it’s all thought out and how safe it may be. I just cringe.”

On who came up with the idea for the match: “Mick had submitted the idea. Mick had talked about coming back and doing something and it was Mick’s idea originally. And then he got with Brian, who was the head writer of RAW and they kind of laid it all out from beginning to end and then a few things get added in between. But it was also to get to The Rock at Wrestlemania and this whole thing with Randy. But it was a great story. Got with Randy who was happy and willing to do anything and he loved working with Mick. And it got to that point where, yeah we can tell this story. And it made sense. It was the young kid and that grizzled vet. This was a passing of the torch with Mick and Mick has so many torches he could pass that he could do a whole other story with another up and comer. That’s the beauty of a character like Mick Foley and the human being as well to be able to get this shit over. So everybody involved told a great story.”

On if this match made Randy Orton: “I think it did because he was able to stand on his own. It wasn’t an Evolution deal or it wasn’t a tag team or it wasn’t other people involved. It was Randy on his own. He hung. He not only hung, he excelled. So, yes, without a doubt, this was that first big step to ‘this guy’s gonna be a player for a long time.’

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