Mick Foley will be in Nanaimo next week recounting a historic Hell in a Cell wrestling match, where he fell from the top of a cage.
Foley’s 20 Years of Hell Tour, stopping at The Queen’s on Wednesday, Aug. 29, reminisces about the June 28, 1998 match, where Foley, wrestling under the moniker Mankind, took on the Undertaker at the WWE King of the Ring pay-per-view at Pittsburgh, in a ring with a five-sided, chain-link cage. Foley fell twice, once onto a broadcast table and then the wrestling mat below after the top of the cage gave way during a choke slam. The match also saw Foley being slammed into thumbtacks.
Foley told the News Bulletin a concussion, 14 stitches on his lip, a bruised kidney and dislocated jaw and shoulder were some of the injuries he suffered. The match called into question wrestling’s reputation for being phoney, he said.
“There was one really spectacular landing on a table that we may have had some knowledge of, but neither one of us expected the cell structure to give way and that resulted in a period of unconsciousness and some severe dental damage that resulted in one of my front teeth being lodged in my nose, so there was something really … intriguing about seeing a sport that a lot of outsiders consider to be ‘fake,’ continuing when any other real sport would’ve stopped,” said Foley.
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In addition, ringside commentators Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler questioned if Mankind was still alive, but Foley insists his life wasn’t hanging in the balance.
“I was unconscious for 40 seconds or so. There was some speculation as to whether or not I was alive, but it wasn’t like I was clinging to life,” said Foley with a laugh. “I was in the emergency room for four hours, but I wasn’t in [an intensive care unit] or anything of that nature.”
As for the thumbtacks, Foley said it was the debut of those items in a North American ring.
“I’m like the guy who brought the starling over to North America from Europe, except I brought thumbtacks from Japan and they became an equally big nuisance over the years, but that first night was pretty special,” Foley said. “People had never seen them before and the reaction was pretty substantial.”
Foley said people attending his talk in Nanaimo will have their expectations “exceeded.”
“I’m having fun every night. I try to make that match come alive and they can expect to have a really good time and feel like they’ve actually been somewhere and done something on that evening,” Foley said.
Mick Foley’s 20 Years of Hell Tour stops Wednesday, Aug. 29 at the Queen’s from 8-9:30 p.m. Doors open at 7 p.m. Tickets are $30 and $75 and are available at the Queen’s, Sunrise Records, Lucid, and Desire Tattoo.
The event is for people 19 years old and older.
For more information, or to order tickets online, go to www.showpass.com.
reporter@nanaimobulletin.com
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