Bruce Prichard On Difficulties Of Watching The Rock vs. Mankind ‘I Quit’ Match, If There Was Malicious Intent, Foley Not Remembering Thumbtacks Spot

In a recent edition of Something to Wrestle, Bruce Prichard discussed the ‘I Quit’ Match between The Rock and Mankind at Royal Rumble 1999, the reaction to the chair shots during match, and much more. You can read his comments below.

On watching the ‘I Quit’ Match at Royal Rumble 1999 between The Rock and Mankind: “A lot of cringing. It was violent. It was brutal. And look it’s not just difficult to watch now, it was difficult to watch back then. It was something that you were like ‘OK, I’ve seen it, enough is enough and move on.’ But it was ugly – that was the best way to describe it. Barry Blaustein went on to make that a focal point of Beyond the Mat – yeah it’s hard to watch, it really is. Even being quote “hardcore” into the business type stuff – nothing will prepare you for that. It was just a testament to the toughness of Mick Foley and that’s not always good.”

On the reaction after the match and whether there were hurt feelings: “At the time, no. I think there was an overall feeling from everyone involved in the match and those around the business – it may have been a little too much. You look at it at the time, this was something both guys really wanted to do. Sounds great on paper before you actually do it, but when you’re in the middle of it, it’s hard to get that eraser out and change what you have written in your mind. So you go through with it.”

On whether Rock got caught up in the heat of the moment: “In the heat of the action, it is oftentimes hard to say. I remember Mick Foley coming back after the Hell in a Cell match with Undertaker in Pittsburgh and having thumbtacks all over him and saying to me ‘Hey I apologize for not getting the thumbstack spot.’ I was like ‘Mick, you did get the thumbtack spot, they’re stuck all over you.’ In the heat of the moment, you don’t always know. You ask a guy ‘Hey are you OK?’ They say ‘Yeah I’m fine, let’s go.’ Maybe he didn’t say anything because he’s good. When someone’s hurt, you say ‘No, I’m hurt.’ Some guys don’t wanna do that.”

On whether there was any malicious intent involved: “I know Rock, I know Mick and I don’t even think they could convince me – that Rock could convince me ‘Yeah I wanted to take his head off.’ I wouldn’t believe it. I know there was a lot of respect and admiration between the two and both are professionals. So you couldn’t convince me that Rock was gonna take liberties and swing at the guy. They did discuss it ahead of time and had an idea of how brutal it would be. Sometimes it’s just worse in real life, folks, and people get carried away trying to paint a picture they have in their head. But sometimes they can’t see the forest for the trees.”

If using any of the above quotes, please credit Something to Wrestle with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.