Roundtable: Foley Thrown Off The Cell

In this edition of The Wrestling Estate roundtable, we look back on Mick Foley and Hell in a Cell.

Do you remember the first time you saw it?

Anthony Mahalis: I don’t remember exactly the first time I saw it, which is surprising. I don’t think I was fully invested in wrestling yet, but I remember being awestruck when I finally did see it.

Chad Gelfand: I think the fall off the Hell in the Cell is one of the first things that I remember seeing when I first started watching wrestling. The clip was constantly played.

John Corrigan: In the buildup to No Way Out 2000, they showed the clip and I was like, “Holy…shit.” I had only been watching wrestling for a month or two at that point, and that certainly captivated my 7-year-old brain.

Steven Jackson: The first time I saw Foley fall off the Cell was during a WWE Confidential segment from 2003 (I think). At the time, I just saw snippets of the two bumps and not the whole match. The first time I saw the whole match was on Undertaker’s 3-disc set “Tombstone: The History of the Undertaker.”

Jack Goodwillie: I don’t, but I do remember reading about it in Foley’s first book, Have a Nice Day, which was cool because I essentially got Mick’s take on it before anybody else’s.

David Gibb: I believe the first time I saw it was during a package for SummerSlam ’99 when they were hyping Foley’s return to the main event scene. I wasn’t getting pay per views at the time, so I saw many stills of it, but that’s the first time I remember seeing full motion of both falls.

Is it the craziest bump ever?

Mahalis: Tough question, but I would have to say yes. There have been a ton of crazy bumps, but that is what set the bar.

Gelfand: I think it is. The speed with which Foley flies off the top of the Cell and through the Spanish announce table is insane. Foley and Undertaker had to be so precise with that spot, so that Foley wouldn’t get seriously injured.

Corrigan: Absolutely. There was no crash pad like today’s giant bumps. This was a nearly 300-pound man hurled some 20 feet to the concrete floor. Thank God for the Spanish announce table or Foley may have never gotten up.

Jackson: I think it probably is the craziest bump ever. When I saw it for the first time as a teenager, I thought “that’s awesome.” It didn’t register with me the amount of balls it took to do something like that until I got older, reading and hearing firsthand accounts of the moment. How many people, not just wrestlers or athletes, but everyday people, would even contemplate it?!

Goodwillie: No. For me, that has to be New Jack throwing Vic Grimes off a scaffold in XPW, or Joey Janela going through a sea of light tubes with Zandig. But the thing that you can say for the Foley bump is that it meant infinitely more than those two, and is quite possibly the craziest bump in a WWE ring. The other two bumps could have killed the guys who took them, but they are not held anywhere near the regard of Foley’s fall.

Gibb: I think the fall through the Cell to the middle of the ring is much crazier than the bump to the announce table (I mean, you didn’t see Shane McMahon doing that, did you?). Foley flat-backed almost two stories. It’s a miracle his spine didn’t become fused to the boards beneath the ring as his flesh and organs melted on the spot.

Did it spawn the greatest commentary call ever?

Mahalis: 100% the best commentary call in wrestling history. That call is George Washington on the commentary Mt. Rushmore.

Gelfand: I think that’s the greatest call of all-time. The passion in JR’s voice in that moment is unmatched. The call sticks with me to this day.

Corrigan: As God as my witness, it’s the greatest call ever.

Jackson: It spawned the most genuine commentary call I’ve ever heard. Jim Ross’ voice transcends the TV screen and puts you right in the moment. The acoustics of the fall, the shriek from the crowd and the true fear Ross feels is quite staggering. I mean a grown man literally fell 20 feet in front of him and Jerry Lawler. Almost vertically. If a moment would ever generate such a call, it would be this one.

Goodwillie: Greatest commentary call ever… I’m not sure about that as there have been hundreds of good calls and just as many great calls, but I can say that of the top 10, Jim Ross is probably responsible for half of them.

Gibb: I’m still partial to, “They’ve got a hell of a fight going on down there…”. And as Jim Ross calls go, I’m all about Liger-Pillman at Superbrawl II. With all those qualifications, it’s a tremendous call and the most soundbite-able ever.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5882hIwkbZo

Will it be what Mick Foley is most remembered for?

Mahalis: When I think of Mrs. Foley’s baby boy, this is the first thing that comes to mind. However, I think Foley will be remembered for all of the crazy shit he did. He is the hardcore legend for a reason.

Gelfand: I think that this spot will always come up when people speak about Mick Foley’s legacy. He’s a man who was willing to put his body through unimaginable pain just to entertain fans and create memorable moments.

Corrigan: Sadly, that’s what most people will remember him for. However, I consider Foley’s legacy to opening the door for the wrestling biography market. Before him, nobody bought or cared about books written by pro wrestlers.

Jackson: Mick’s career was defined by this moment. I don’t really know what you can say other than that. And that is not overlooking or under appreciating Mick’s previous and future accomplishments. It just stands above all his other accomplishments. It was the moment Mick wanted to create his whole career and somehow he did it.

Goodwillie: Foley’s ability to play four different characters at once is what I remember him for, but as far as the mass public goes, I think it wasn’t just the fall, but him A- getting up only to take another bump through the cell, B- finishing the match and then C- making a run in for the main event 20 minutes after receiving medical attention with one of his teeth lodged in his nasal cavity, that he’ll really be remembered for. His humor and acting chops are pretty evident just listening to him talk, but Mrs. Foley’s Baby Boy was as tough as they came.

Gibb: In the world of packaging “moments,” I think it’s his greatest/most memorable moment, but I’d be very disappointed if future generations of wrestling fans think of Mick Foley as “the first wrestler to jump off of the Hell in a Cell cage.”

What impact has it had on the industry?

Mahalis: As I said earlier, this is the standard bearer for crazy falls. Without this, I’m not sure we have Jeff Hardy doing all of his death defying moves. The same can be said for Shane McMahon, and so on.

Gelfand: I think that spot helped influence a generation of wrestlers to wrestle a more hardcore style and take more huge bumps in matches in search of their “Foley being thrown off the Cell” moment. Foley says that Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka jumping off the cage in MSG had a big influence on him and Foley flying off the cell had a big influence on future generations as well.

Corrigan: Shane McMahon owes his legacy to Foley. Hell, a bunch of guys do. The whole “making a moment” mentality that permeates through wrestling today was ignited by that toss 20 years ago.

Jackson: It had a huge impact on the industry. It was not only a defining moment in the bubble that was the “Attitude Era,” but a defining moment in the history of pro wrestling. Never before and never again. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and many people have tried to recreate that moment, but none have done it. Morally and medically it was a very silly thing to do, but if it hadn’t have happened, we wouldn’t be talking about it today, and that is something to be very proud of.

Goodwillie: Like I sort of alluded to earlier, I think the real lesson here is that big bumps are best saved for big stages. Foley’s problem was that he spent half his career destroying his body in order to receive due recognition, competing in backyard garbage matches and exploding light tube matches in Japan. The thing is, people don’t remember those bumps, all arguably more gruesome than the one Foley took at KoTR. We talk about Foley’s HIAC fall because it came against The Undertaker on pay-per-view with a commentary team on tap to put it over. There are obviously exceptions to the rule, but slowly but surely, I think you’re starting to see more guys work a safer style so they have physically more to offer once they reach their desired destination.

Gibb: When the book is written on Mick Foley (by someone else; I’m not talking about his running series of memoirs), I think he’ll be remembered for changing the main event scene for the better (for fans/worse for many wrestlers) by raising the expectations for what physical jeopardy looked like in a pro wrestling match. He laid it on the line in a way that raised the bar forever, and the Hell in a Cell match is the ultimate example of that.