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Ric Flair and Mick Foley are two legends of the professional wrestling industry and while their careers concluded decades ago, these two are respected by the current crop of wrestlers and the fans as they bled buckets for the entertainment of the masses.
Ric Flair is hailed as an all-time great and Mick Foley, while underrated and underappreciated, is still regarded as an important component of the Attitude Era as he helped with the rise of two of the biggest stars.
That being said, these two legends have had quite a few issues in real life and this particular rivalry first came to light all the way back in 2004, and around that time, Mick Foley was working for a small promotion by the name of Ring of Honor.
Foley And Flair Did Not Like Each Other
Flair had nothing to do with the ongoing storyline, but Foley took more than a few shots at the Nature Boy, mocking his style of promos and saying that, unlike Flair, he put his body on the line and through the grinder for the entertainment of the fans.
This was in response to Flair branding Mick Foley as a “glorified stuntman” in his autobiography and he claimed that Foley had no other choice but to hurt himself as he had no other avenues to getting over with the fans. Moreover, in another book of his, Flair said that Foley was never a great attraction and he had to “suck up” to the WWE creative team for a push.
In the end, he labeled Mick Foley a big mark of himself, and Foley was not too pleased. It is pertinent to mention here that Foley himself had spoken more than a few words about Flair in his own book.
The hardcore legend admitted that while Flair was a great worker, he was not really a good booker. According to Foley, the Nature Boy was as bad of a booker as he was as good of a wrestler.
In 2004, these two actually came across one another, on-screen and even backstage. During a RAW taping in December of the same year, Foley and Flair encountered one another and the situation escalated quickly but thankfully, it did not progress too far.
Flair initially extended his hand for a shake but once Foley made it clear that he had no intention of shaking his hand, Flair curled the same hand into a fist and lunged at Foley.
The nearby people came in to separate the two legends but they kept yelling at each other, with Foley admitting that he was upset at how he called slandered in his autobiography and Flair yelling about suing whoever was responsible for handing Foley the first manuscript. Turns out, Flair was even more critical of Foley in the initial write-up and his opinions were toned down in the final version.
Two years later, these two actually feuded on-screen and the storyline revolved around personal animosity and the promos carried that little extra bit of authenticity as the lines between kayfabe and reality were blurry.
The feud started when Ric Flair, once again, called Foley a glorified stuntman and in response, Foley said that Flair was a “washed-up piece of crap” and he was only able to make it big in the wrestling business because he had friends in the right places.
The pair first competed in a two out of three falls match at Vengeance 2006 and while it was entertaining, the I Quit match at SummerSlam was the true highlight of the feud.
The Hatchet Was Buried
The match was uncomfortably brutal and even more so when you consider that Flair was wrestling in his late 50s. After putting each other through hell, thumbtacks, and barbed wire, Flair won the match and Foley was forced to say those two words, awarding Flair the match.
That was the end of the rivalry under the WWE banner, but these two went at it once more in 2010 and this time, both were employed by TNA. This time, Foley emerged as the victor as he defeated Flair in a brutal Last Man Standing match and this turned out to be his last match for TNA.
Thankfully, these two legends buried the hatchet when they ended up seated next to each other on a plane ride. This was after the two had bled buckets in the 2006 feud and in the end, the two legends hashed it out and remain on friendly terms to this day.