Mick Foley is a legend in every sense of the word. He was an astonishing competitor in the ring, he achieved fame and maintained success without championship gold, he currently appears with WWE in order to help bolster young talent, and he has taken more than his share of abuse.
That last one is key. All told, Foley has likely taken more bumps than anyone else in the business. Over nearly three decades, Foley wrestled in all the major organizations. He spent time with WCW, ECW, WWF/WWE, TNA, and various smaller promotions. Throughout all of this, he built a name for himself as a hardcore legend. Here are the ten worst injuries Mrs. Foley’s baby boy ever experienced.
10 King of the Ring 1998
This one must appear early in the list. While this is one of the most severe entries in this list, it is also the most well documented. If you’re not aware, King of the Ring 1998 was the venue for the infamous Hell in a Cell match between Mankind and The Undertaker.
This match has been featured repeatedly. If you’re unfamiliar with the damage done here, Foley was punctured by thumbtacks, suffered internal bleeding, bruised his ribs, dislocated his shoulder, and seemingly lost at least one tooth. Not too shabby for a couple of 16-foot falls.
9 Royal Rumble 1999
During that last entry, there was mention of a concussion. Mick Foley has spoken and written at length about various concussions. While that one may have been lost in the rest of the match around it, this head injury has been etched in history.
During their “I Quit” match for the WWF Championship at Royal Rumble 1999, The Rock would hit Foley in the head ten times with a steel chair. You can watch footage today and see that these were unprotected chair shots. While this hasn’t been confirmed to have caused a concussion, it undeniably did some damage.
8 March 16, 1994
Rounding out the more famous of these injuries is the infamous WCW match in Germany against Big Van Vader. During this match, Foley would have his ear injured by getting tangled in the ring ropes. After falling to the outside and re-engaging Vader, Vader would pull Foley’s ear off.
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The timing of this occurrence was very fitting. In June of 1994, Foley would debut on ECW, denouncing the WCW Tag Team Championship in his first appearance with the promotion. Not only was this injury a fitting prelude to Foley’s involvement with ECW, it is arguable the worst physical injury he has received, having lost two-thirds of his ear permanently.
7 Royal Rumble 2000
This one escapes notice from most, and to be fair it isn’t a real injury in the traditional sense. Truth be told, this entry will rank low on the list of injuries Foley has seen over his tenure in professional wrestling.
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Foley had just re-emerged as his Cactus Jack persona for a feud with Triple H. In typical fashion, this was a brutal street fight between the two which saw all the typical bumps. Foley brought a two-by-four to the ring, he took a lot of damage, and he dumped out a bag of thumbtacks.
What makes this clash most memorable is that Foley would take a pedigree into those thumbtacks he poured out. That means he went face-first into them. While he wasn’t permanently injured, the possibilities were horrendous.
6 Clash of the Champions XX
At the 20th anniversary edition of WCW’s Clash of the Champions event, Cactus Jack challenged Ron Simmons for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. The two would enjoy a classic wrestling match during the 1992 bout which resulted in Simmons retaining his title.
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This is easily the least “hardcore” match on the list. This match only briefly left the ring, and little happened when it did. Despite this, Foley suffered an abdominal tear. Hardly his worst injury, but anyone who has experienced this will agree that it isn’t a pleasant experience.
5 Summerslam 1996
1996 saw Foley debut the Mankind character in WWF. This character was a strange man with an obsession for boiler rooms. He would quickly enter a feud with The Undertaker, and the two would engage in the first ever “Boiler Room Brawl,” which was essentially a no-disqualification backstage match with the intention of escaping the area and making to the ring.
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Not only did this match serve to establish a relationship between Mankind and Paul Bearer, it would leave Foley with a reminder in the form of a broken jaw. Through all the weapons being used in the match, The Undertaker would incidentally set a precedent for injuring Foley here, two years before the infamous Hell in a Cell mentioned earlier.
4 July 1991
Before Foley ever wrestled for a major promotion, his last independent run was with Tri-State Wrestling in 1991. Hardcore fans of ECW may recognize the promotion as Joel Goodhart’s forebearer to the more popular promotion. Fittingly, the earliest injury on this list occurred while working in that promotion.
During a match with “Hot Stuff” Eddie Gilbert which would garner Foley some attention from WCW, Foley would break his ribs and a toe. This injury stands out among Foley’s many rib injuries because of the extra inclusion. Given that the two fought three matches in a row, it is unsurprising that some serious damage would occur.
3 Over the Edge 1998
Seeing an appearance from Foley’s third major persona, the main event of Over the Edge 1998 would see Dude Love challenge Stone Cold Steve Austin for the WWF Championship with Vince McMahon acting as the special guest referee. Throughout the match, McMahon and his friends kept altering the match to benefit Dude Love.
With The Undertaker at ringside acting as an enforcer, Stone Cold would retain his WWF Championship. In the process of this victory, he would also take a page from The Undertaker’s playbook and leave Foley with a memory: a broken cheekbone.
2 April 6, 1993
Few rivalries have forced promoters to ban the booking of a duo from their pay-per-view scene entirely. This rivalry would span from April of 1993 until almost a year later during the Munich, Germany show mentioned earlier. Throughout the feud, there were several over the top moments, including a Texas Death Match at Halloween Havoc which prompted WCW to avoid the pairing in pay-per-views.
This match on April 6th was special though. In a sense, this match would set the tone for the rivalry Foley would share with Vader. While Foley won the match due to count-out, he received a broken nose, a concussion, and over a dozen stitches to the face.
1 August 20, 1995
The top entry here goes to Foley’s 1995 run with IWA Japan. On August 20th, IWA organized the King of the Deathmatch event which Foley was involved in as Cactus Jack. Foley would defeat Terry Gordy with his signature barbed-wire baseball bat in the first round. In the second round, he would defeat Shoji Nakamaki in a bed of nails match, and finally Terry Funk in the third round in a match which featured barbed wire ropes and real explosives.
Foley barely earned a few hundred dollars for this appearance. What he lacked in financial gain, he more than made up for in pain. This experience saw Foley suffer second-degree burns, over 50 stitches on his arm, and various stitches all over his body. The surface damage of this match combined with the visuals which accompanied it are truly devastating, earning it a top spot.
The best part? By his own admission, this is the match Foley is most proud of. Hardcore indeed.