Mick Foley Says WWE Hell In A Cell Plans Originally Had A Different Big Bump
Over the course of his legendary career, Mick Foley participated in Exploding Barbed Wire Death Matches, lost an ear, won world titles, and created three distinct, and popular, characters that gained notoriety in WWE. And somehow it all pales in comparison to June 28, 1998, when Foley fought The Undertaker in a Hell in a Cell match that saw Foley take, arguably, the two most famous bumps in wrestling history, first being thrown off the cell and through the Spanish Announcer's table, and then later being chokeslammed through the cell. Twenty-five years after that famous match, Foley reflected on it during "Foley Is Pod." And according to Foley, the match originally wasn't designed to feature those two spots, and was in fact supposed to revolve around a different variation of the chokeslam bump.
"The idea was that Undertaker, this is the big visual I was looking for, Undertaker's going to chokeslam me, and a corner of that cell, of that panel, would just give way," Foley said. "And he's eventually going to stuff me down, headfirst."
"So the visual I thought was 'I'm going to be upside down, flailing my arms around, and eventually he'll let go of my knees, where he'd be kind of holding me, and I would just have to take my own bump into the ring, just doing a semi-turn. It would be a big height, but I thought I could do it. And it was only during the course of the day that I said 'Hey, how about you throw me off the top of that thing?' going back to what Terry Funk said."
Mick Foley Recalls Issues With Meshing Atop Hell In A Cell
While the table spot went off without a hitch, the chokeslam spot would deviate from the original plan, with Foley stating he believed Undertaker would have to chokeslam him several times before the mesh would give way, leading to Undertaker dropping him into the ring. Instead, the first chokeslam sent Foley through the cell, leading to a hard landing in the ring, as well as a chair atop the cell falling on his face, knocking several teeth out. As Foley tells it, it was not till he and Undertaker got atop the cell did they realize that it wasn't as structurally sound as expected, being held together with twist ties and zip ties. Foley now recalls seeing those things breaking apart as he and Undertaker battled atop the cell, prior to his flight off.
"We can actually see these little things ... shooting off the cell," Foley said. "And I remember thinking 'I don't know there being twist ties in that match with the Undertaker and Shawn.' At first, I thought 'I'm like 70, 80 lbs heavier than Shawn, but that shouldn't be enough for this thing to be giving way.'"
"There's this moment where I attempt to ... suplex the Undertaker on top on the cell, and brother, he shot that s**t down in a hurry. Just cut me off, and the next thing I know, I'm taking flight. He just said 'Are you ready?' I said 'Yup.' And off we went."
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Foley Is Pod" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription