Best Matches: Mick Foley

1992:

• Cactus Jack Vs Van Hammer – WCW Clash of the Champions XVIII – 3 ½*
• Cactus Jack Vs Sting – WCW Beach Blash 1992 – 4 ½* - Probably my favorite Mick Foley match from his days in WCW (excluding some of his Vader fight). Highly recommend this match for all fans of Foley who don't know his earlier work.
• Cactus Jack Vs Ron Simmons – WCW Clash of the Champions XX

1993:

• Cactus Jack Vs Paul Orndorff – WCW SuperBrawl III – 4* - This was a match I had never seen before making this list, and as I was making it I was suprised how it got such a high rating, without giving to much away I highly recommend it. It's one of Foley's most forgotten matches in WCW, and really throughout his whole career.
• Cactus Jack, Dustin Rhodes & Sting Vs Barry Windham, Vader & Paul Orndorff - WCW Clash of the Champions XXII
• Cactus Jack Vs Vader – WCW Halloween Havoc 1993 – 4 ¾*

1994:

• Cactus Jack & Maxx Payne Vs Brian Knobbs & Jerry Sags – WCW Spring Stampede 1994 – 4 ½*
• Cactus Jack & Kevin Sullivan Vs Brian Knobbs & Jerry Sags – WCW Slamboree 1994 – 4 ½*
• Cactus Jack Vs Kevin Sullivan – WCW Fall Brawl 1994 - This would be Mick Foleys final match in WCW.
• Cactus Jack Vs Terry Funk – ECW Hardcore Heaven 1994 – 3 ½*
• Cactus Jack & Mikey Whipwreck Vs Johnny Grunge & Rocco Rock – ECW World Title Tournament 27/08/1994 – 3 ½*
• Cactus Jack & Mikey Whipwreck Vs Johnny Grunge & Rocco Rock – ECW 01/10/1994 – 4*
• Cactus Jack Vs Sabu – ECW 04/11/1994 – 4*

1995:

• Cactus Jack Vs The Sandman – ECW 16/01/1995 – 4 ¼* - Probably Foley's best ECW match, I absolutely love this match. It's hardcore as hardcore comes, and it's probably Sandman's best wrestling match also.
• Cactus Jack, 2 Cold Scorpio & Dean Malenko Vs Eddy Guerrero, Rick Steiner & Scott Steiner – ECW Wrestlepalooza 1995 – 4*
• Cactus Jack & Raven Vs Terry Funk & Tommy Dreamer – ECW November to Remember 1995 – 3 ¾*

1996:

• Cactus Jack Vs Mikey Whipwreck – ECW Big Ass Extreme Bash – Night 2 – 4*
• Mankind Vs The Undertaker – WWF King of the Ring 1996 - Mankinds debut in WWF, saw him attacking The Undertaker less than 24 hours after Wrestlemania 12 and immediately starting a feud with him. This feud would go on from April 1996 and continue on-and-off until late 1998.
• Mankind Vs Shawn Michaels – WWF In Your House 10: Mind Games – 4 ¾* - Fun match, very brutal; highly recommend for all Shawn Michaels & Mick Foley fans. I think in terms of Mick Foleys best wrestling match, this may be the match for me. This was when Foley had just debuted in the company and within a couple of months he was already competing for the biggest prize in the WWF – the world championship against one of the best wrestlers in the world Shawn Michaels.
• Mankind Vs The Undertaker – WWF In Your House 11: Buried Alive – 3 ¾* - The first Buried Alive match, it sees Undertaker winning.. however Mankind is the one who gets the last laugh.
• Mankind Vs The Undertaker – WWF Survivor Series 1996
• Mankind Vs The Undertaker – Raw 09/12/1996 - Probably my favorite forgotten Raw match from the mid-90's, a No Holds Barred Hardcore Match between two great wrestlers.

1997:

• Mankind & Vader Vs Owen Hart & British Bulldog – Wrestlemania 13 - Foley's first Wrestlemania, and it's a match that involves him not only facing teaming with former rival - Vader, but sees him facing a great team of Owen Hart & British Bulldog.
• Mankind Vs The Undertaker – WWF In Your House 14: Revenge of the ‘Taker – 3 ¾*
• Dude Love & Stone Cold Steve Austin Vs Davey Boy Smith & Owen Hart – WWF Raw 14/07/1997 - I believe this could be the debut of the Dude Love character in WWF television (could be wrong) and it was just such a random and strange thing to see him tag with Stone Cold to compete for the WWE Tag Team Championships.
• Mankind Vs Hunter Hearst Helmsley – WWF King of the Ring 1997 – 3 ½* - This was the start of the Triple H/Mick Foley feud which would continue for on-and-off throughout the next 3 ½ years in the WWF. Triple H winning the tournament, signified that the WWF saw something in and saw him becoming a main player within the company.*
• Mankind Vs Hunter Hearst Helmsley – WWF Summerslam 1997
• Mankind Vs Shawn Michaels – WWF Raw 11/08/1997 – 3 ¾*
• Cactus Jack Vs Hunter Hearst Helmsley – WWF Raw 22/09/1997 – 4* - This was the debut of the Cactus Jack character on WWF Television and it is one of the best hardcore matches of all time. Very well known in terms of ‘Best Raw matches of all time’.
• Mankind Vs Kane – WWF Survivor Series 1997

1998:

• 30 Man Royal Rumble Match – WWF Royal Rumble 1998 - The reason I'm including this match is because Foley enters this match a record breaking THREE times - as all 3 of his characters - Mankind, Dude Love and Cactus Jack. It's one of those Rumble moments wish I brought him more times when people discuss the Royal Rumble.
• Cactus Jack, Chainsaw Charlie, Owen Hart & Steve Austin Vs Triple H, Billy Gunn, Road Dogg & Savio Vega – WWF No Way Out 1998 – 3 ½*
• Cactus Jack & Chainsaw Charlie Vs Billy Gunn & Road Dogg – Wrestlemania 14
• Dude Love Vs Stone Cold Steve Austin – WWF Unforgiven 1998 – 4*
• Mick Foley Vs Terry Funk – WWF Raw 28/04/1998 – 4*
• Dude Love Vs Stone Cold Steve Austin – WWF Over the Edge 1998 – 4 ½*
• Mankind Vs The Undertaker – WWF King of the Ring 1998 – 4 ½* - Now if you’re a wrestling fan (and actually even if you’re not) everyone knows this match – for one main reason. Undertaker threw Mankind (Mick Foley) off the top of the Cell. Sent him crashing through an announce table all the way to the floor. Then less then 5 minutes later, Undertaker would chokeslam Foley right through the top of the Cell into the ring. That isn’t even the end of the match, there’s still 10 more minutes of mayhem. This match from all aspects deserves to be a 5 star match, and is one of the matches that most new fans will come to watch since it’s probably one fo the most famous matches of all time.
• Mankind Vs The Rock Vs Ken Shamrock – WWF Breakdown 1998 – 3 ½*
• Mankind Vs The Rock – WWF Survivor Series 1998 – 3 ½* - In 1998, Mick Foley had aligned himself to the evil boss Vince McMahon who he had idolised as his father figure. However, after a gruelling series of tournament matches which featured 14 superstars these two saw each other face off each other in the finals. It also featured a rare double-turn with Foley turning face and Rock turning heel and aligning with the boss, lastly this is the first attempt of a ‘Montreal Screwjob’ re-enactment.

1999:

• Mankind Vs The Rock – WWF Raw 04/01/1999 - Probably one of the biggest highlights of the Monday Night Wars and a very proud moment for Mankind. I’d love to see Dave’s official rating for this match, because I believe all the emotion of Foley finally winning the big one was truly deserving for all his hard work. Plus the split roster of ‘The Corporation’ and the face wrestlers (including D-Generation X) surrounding the ring, on top of Stone Cold returning to help Foley win this match makes it so special. Rival company, WCW screwed themselves when they announced Foley winning the WWF Championship (because of a tape-delay) on their live programming of WCW Monday Night Nitro, because more than half the people watching on cable changed to WWF Monday Night Raw. Hm, ‘guess that’ll put a lot of butts in seats’.
• Mankind Vs The Rock – WWF Royal Rumble 1999 – 3 ¾* - This match is truly brutal, these two met each other in a ‘I Quit Match’ the first one at the time (to my recollection). It featured some of the hardest chair shots to a wrestlers head of all time. Unfortunately this didn’t help Foley’s career in the long run – it’s also infamously known on the Beyond the Mat documentary that Foley’s wife and children were shown at ringside for the match.
• Mankind Vs The Rock – WWF Sunday Night Heat 31/01/1999 - This match took place during that half-time of the SuperBowl 33 game, and was contested in a 'Empty Arena Match' for the WWF Championship, a very unique situation for the time.
• Mankind Vs The Rock – WWF St Valentines Day Massacre – 3 ¾*
• Mankind Vs The Rock – WWF Raw 15/02/1999 – 4*
• Mankind & Stone Cold Steve Austin Vs The Rock & Big Show – WWF Raw 15/03/1999 – 3 ¾*
• Mankind Vs Stone Cold Steve Austin Vs Triple H – WWF Summerslam 1999 - This would be Foleys last WWF Championship victory, it would only last for just under 24 hours.
• Mankind Vs Triple H Vs The Big Show Vs The British Bulldog Vs The Rock Vs Kane – Unforgiven 1999 – 3 ½*

2000:

• Mankind, The Rock, Farooq, Bradshaw Vs Triple H, Billy Gunn, Road Dogg & X - Pac - WWF Raw 10/01/2000 – 3 ½*
• Cactus Jack Vs Triple H – WWF Royal Rumble 2000 – 4 ½* - Triple H was yet to be a fully established big player coming into 2000, but that was until he would be in a feud with Mick Foley (Cactus Jack). This to me is the match that made Triple H as a big time player in the WWF. As Foley started wrapping his in-ring wrestling career it was good to see he helped make Triple H into the mega-star he is today.
• Cactus Jack, Grandmaster Sexay, Rikishi, Scotty 2 Hotty & The Rock Vs Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko, Perry Saturn, Triple H & X-Pac - WWF Raw 07/02/2000 - 4 ¼* - Twists and turns lead us to this match, but its fast, it’s impactful and honestly it has one of the best endings to a Raw ever. I wont spoil it; I’ll just let you watch it.
• Cactus Jack Vs Triple H – WWF No Way Out 2000 – 4 ½* - Just like the previous PPV, Royal Rumble these two men put their bodies on the line, as well as the WWF Championship. But most importantly this was important because if Cactus Jack lost this match he would retire from wrestling. Brutal and emotional match, one of the best from that year. This would be the last time Foley stepped into a Hell in a Cell as a competitor, however it would not be the last time he would be involved in a Hell in a Cell scenario.
• Mick Foley Vs Big Show Vs The Rock Vs Triple H – Wrestlemania 2000

2004:

• Mick Foley & The Rock Vs Batista, Randy Orton & Ric Flair – Wrestlemania 20 – 3 ¾*
• Mick Foley, Chris Benoit, Shawn Michaels & Shelton Benjamin Vs Triple H, Randy Orton, Ric Flair & Batista – WWE Raw 12/04/2004 – 4*
• Cactus Jack Vs Randy Orton – WWE Backlash 2004 – 4 ½* - Cactus Jack/Mick Foley comes out of retirement yet again to face Orton in one of the most hellacious matches of all time. Foley puts Orton over, 4 years after he did the same with Triple H. If you can’t deal with pins/thumbtacks penetrating a human body, than this one might not be for you. This is honestly my favorite Randy Orton match, and it is also one of the last times I really enjoy seeing Foley wrestler, by 2004-2006 time his injuries throughout the years have started to take a toll on him.

2006:

• Mick Foley Vs Edge – Wrestlemania 22 - 4* - The match that helped really solidify Edge as one of the A+ players in WWE at this time. Foley six years after retiring comes back for a match with the Rated R Superstar, in one of the best hardcore matches ever, and quite possibly put on match of the night for that Wrestlemania.
• Mick Foley, Edge & Lita Vs Terry Funk, Tommy Dreamer & Beulah McGillicutty – ECW One Night Stand 2006
• Mick Foley Vs Ric Flair – WWE Summerslam 2006 – 3 ½*

2007:

• Mick Foley Vs John Cena Vs Randy Orton Vs King Booker Vs Bobby Lashley – WWE Vengeance: Night of Champions 2007 – 3 ½*

2009:

• Mick Foley Vs Sting – TNA Lockdown 2009
• Mick Foley Vs Kurt Angle – TNA Victory Road 2009
• Mick Foley Vs Abyss – TNA Bound for Glory 2009