Mick Foley Recalls WWE Stars Accusing Him Of Making Randy Orton Look Weak With Promo

At WWE Backlash 2004, Mick Foley and Randy Orton wrestled in an iconic Hardcore match for the Intercontinental Championship. At the time, Orton was viewed as a third-generation superstar who was given his spot with the company due to the name of his father and grandfather but hadn't necessarily earned it himself.

This match showcased Orton's ability to take a physical beating in order to please the fans and put on an all-time great match. Orton himself has been on the record stating how impactful this match was on his career, calling it a passing of the torch moment from Foley to him.

During the lead-up to the match, the two told the story of Foley being washed up and ready to hang up his wrestling boots, something Orton wouldn't let him do without a final match. Foley received a massive loogie on the cheek spit up by Orton, inspiring him to tell a passionate promo a few weeks later that many within the WWE thought made Orton look weak.

"The promo which was not popular with a few of the heels backstage that thought I made Randy look weak," Foley said during the latest episode of "Foley is Pod." "Because I stopped and I cut a promo on how I had been spit on, pee'd on, thrown up on, pooped on, and all of this, and that I remember he did look fearful as I was cutting that promo. I said, 'I was bleeding in six continents when you were still latched onto your mother's breast.' I guess some of the main players thought I made him look weak. But remember the big picture — you have to. Remember how Triple H acknowledged Cactus Jack as a threat?

"If you brush me off after everything you've done to me, I was taking a major beating week after week after week and you don't give me a hope spot? Besides, you're getting the win, and so now, you need to acknowledge the threat in front of you in order for your overcoming that threat to mean anything. If you've beaten a guy who you've built up to be nothing, then you've beaten nobody. I know a good promo when I hear it, and I think I even alluded to it in the 2006 book. Ask Randy Orton how he thought that promo went."

Since then, Orton has become a household name for the WWE, winning the third-most WWE Championships at 14 and spending decades atop the card, main-eventing WrestleMania along the way. Unfortunately for Orton, he's currently dealing with a back injury that could sideline him for a while, but given "The Viper's" intentions to retire at 50, he's still got plenty of successful years left in him.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Foley is Pod with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.