Mick Foley Recalls Wrestling Terry Gordy In King Of The Deathmatch, Helping To Bring Out The Gordy Of Old

On a recent episode of Foley is Pod, Mick Foley and co-host Conrad Thompson discussed the infamous 1995 King of the Deathmatch tournament in Japan, which Cactus Jack would win. Mick talked about working with Terry Gordy in the first round, and how he wanted to help Gordy (whose health had been devastated by an overdose) find the “Gordy of old.” Highlights below:

On going into the match with Gordy: “I want to have a good match [with Gordy]. I have reason to speculate that not only will I be in that final match, but I might win it — read between the lines (laughs). But I also want Terry to come away from that match with the fans thinking they saw the Gordy of old. Oddly, Gordy’s punches were the ones that I would say were the “classic” wrestling punch. Terry would bring it WAY back, almost like he was drawing a bow, use that left hand too, and then — BAM. He would deliver that just incredible… I don’t know why, the adjective popping up is “delicious”… this delicious punch.

On why he told Gordy to lay it in: “After the accident, the punches really suffered. In a way it seemed like [Gordy] was a guy trying to figure out pro wrestling rather than being a master at it. I wanted my match to look realistic, I wanted it to be good. I thought the flaw in Gordy’s punching game might make that a challenge, and I wanted to make sure it looked good by telling him to “lay it in, brother!”

On getting busted open by Gordy: “It was like in the first minute if memory serves me correct. Look, man, I’m not your typical alpha male wrestler. I scrapbook, right? I’m like the sensitive hardcore guy. But I wanted that stuff to look good, so when I felt that warmth [blood] coming down my face, I was really happy about it because I knew that that had been a good decision [to tell Gordy to lay it in]. Not talking long-term health wise, because some of the stuff I did long-term is not good for you and I wouldn’t recommend it to anybody, but for the sake of that match, at that time… I felt like I had made a sound decision.”

This interview has been edited for clarity. If using any of the above quotes, please credit Foley Is Pod with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.