Mick Foley Recalls Promo Against CM Punk, How Punk Refused To Deliver Cheap Shot Line

Mick Foley and CM Punk had a memorable promo in 2012 on WWE Raw, and Foley says Punk stood up for him in a way that he found incredibly inspiring. The promo took place on the November 12th, 2012 episode of Raw as Punk was feuding with John Cena. Foley took issue with Punk mocking Jerry Lawler and referencing Lawler’s heart attack and excoriated Punk over it.

Foley recalled the promo during an Q&A with Inside the Ropes. He recalled how Punk refused to deliver a line mocking Foley’s weight. He also noted that the inspiration for the “Jerry Lawler was DEAD!” line came from the scene in Almost Famous where William Miller has to break to Penny Lane that she was traded to Humble Pie for a case of beer in a card game. You can see highlights below:

On Punk Refusing To Deliver a Cheap Shot About Him:

“Just to give you an idea about CM Punk. They had written Punk saying, ‘Oh, here comes, he looks like a float that’s late for the Thanksgiving Day parade. Here comes Mick Foley.’ And Punk crumpled it up, threw it in the ground. He said, ‘I’m not treating Mick Foley that way.’ And he made me feel like I could cut that promo. It’s amazing how belief in someone helps them believe in themselves.

On the Inspiration For His ‘He Was Dead!’ Line:

“I remember Paul [Heyman] firing me up, too, talking about how despicable they were. And the idea that they were making fun of Jerry Lawler, and I didn’t know where the inspiration came from, but they were they were making fun of him. I came out and I said, ‘He was dead! Jerry Lawler was dead!” And they brought him back to life.

“And I realized after the fact where that came from was the movie Almost Famous where that little kid who has the crush on Penny Lane… and he’s telling her that she wasn’t as valuable as she thought, and that he’d watched her be auctioned off for a case of beer. And she tries to disagree and he says, ‘I was there! I was there.’ And it’s hard-hitting. And then she goes, ‘Was it least imported?’ Like, trying to save a little bit of dignity. If you haven’t seen it, it’s a beautiful thing. And you find inspiration — wasn’t that I stole the line. It was that that touched me, and hopefully it ended up touching other people.”

On Punk’s Decision Giving Him More Free Reign:

“Then they started giving me more free reign to do things. But it was Punk saying, ‘No, we’re not going to do it that way. We’re going to do it this way.'”