Greatest Hits and Misses
Publisher: Shock
Mon, 4 April 2005
by: The Gimmick
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If someone came up to me from off the street and said, āHey man, whoās your favorite wrestler?ā Iād say āWho the hell are you and why arenāt you wearing any pants?ā
Then, if they pulled a weapon on me and forced me to answer, I would have to say without a shadow of a doubt āMICK FOLEY!ā So you could imagine my joy and excitement when I heard the WWE was releasing a 2 disc compilation DVD on the man himself entitled Mick Foley: Greatest Hits And Misses.
Every single wrestling fan will get something out of this. Whether youāre an experienced fan or a wrestling rookie, there is something for everybody. Now for those of you who donāt know who Mick Foley is WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE!? Sorry I couldnāt help myself, as I was saying, for those who donāt know who Mick Foley is let me give you a little background on him. He is known as the āHardcore Legendā for his wild and sometimes downright insane wrestling style. Whether he was competing in Puerto Rico, Japan, WCW, ECW, WWF/WWE or anywhere else on this planet, as Mankind, Dude Love or Cactus Jack, one thing was for sure- if you saw any one of Mick Foleys monikers on the card you were destined to get you moneys worth.
Now, letās move on to the DVD itself. The 2 discs are split up into two points of his career. His WWF/WWE career is covered on one disc and everything before that is on the other. Disc one contains some memorable stuff from his days in WCW (World Championship Wrestling), ECW (Extreme Championship Wrestling) and one match from SMW (Smokey Mountain Wrestling). If you only know Mick Foley from his days in WWF/WWE, then this disc will be a real eye opener.
The first match on disc 1 is, quite simply, the most brutal match Iāve ever seen (and Iām talking 20 years of this stuff). When I say brutal, I mean BRUTAL. Cactus Jack squares off against the then WCW Champion, and destroyer of careers, Vader. Now, I donāt want to spoil it for you, but rest assured Cactusās face takes more of a beating than a red neckās wife and without the use of a weapon too. The funny thing about this particular match is no original uncut copy of it was available. WCW had a policy in those days (1993) that no blood was to be shown on network TV. So Mick took a copy of the version that was aired in ā93 and spliced it together with his own personal home video copy (putting all the blood back in) especially for this compilation.
Another match on disc one is the only SMW match on the DVD- Cactus Jack Vs Chris Candido. Nothing too notable about this match, except it is the only one that isnāt from the original āBig 3ā wrestling promotions. And for Mickās promo before the bout, where he sounds like he took speech lessons from Dr. Seuss.
Other notable inclusions (and I love these) are some of his ECW matches. Cactus Jack Vs The Sandman in a Texas Death Match, Cactus Jack & Raven Vs Terry Funk & Tommy Dreamer and a famous match where he faces, probably the greatest performer at that time (1994), Sabu. The reason this match was so famous was Cactus was still under WCW contract and was in fact one half of the then reigning WCW Tag Team Champions performing on a cross promotion. The interview after the match was what stirred up all the controversy. Watch out for it! Itās in the extras section.
Finally, for this disc, you will see why so many people (including myself) think he is the greatest performer to ever cut an interview. Not only is the above mentioned interview included, but also in the extras section, there are 2 interviews done in ECW that are the most intense interviews I have ever seen. An absolute must see!!!
OK, take a quick breather and get ready to jump straight into it again because that was only disc 1. It is now time for the second one.
Disc 2 is complete with nothing but Mickās greatest matches and some of his funniest moments from his 4 years in the WWF/WWE. And what high caliber matches they are. Starting with, in my opinion, the greatest match of his career- the WWF Championship match where Mickās other alter ego Mankind goes head to head with HBK Shawn Michaels. This match helped to usher in the era of āattitudeā in the WWF/WWE. It was 1996 and although the seeds had been planted for the attitude era around a year earlier, this was really the beginning of it all. I liken it to a classic ECW style match, in which there was some awesome hardcore action by both men, but it was full of on the edge of the seat wrestling. I would be proud to show this any wrestling skeptic. This bout can also be found on the Shawn Michaels DVD From the Vault- another excellent set.
Other matches included are: Cactus Jackās WWF/WWE debut from 1997 against archenemy Hunter-Hearst Helmsley in a āfalls count anywhereā match. The one and only appearance on this disc of Mickās third alter ego Dude Love as he fights Stone Cold Steve Austin for the title. His classic āStreet Fightā championship match against Triple H from The Royal Rumble 2000 and his first WWF/WWE championship win against The Rock from Raw is War in 1999.
But the match Iām sure all you blood thirsty, hardcore maniacs were looking forward to seeing, either again or for the first time, is the infamous Hell In The Cell match from King of the Ring 1998 against The Undertaker. Yes itās the same match where Mankind is thrown from the top of the twenty-foot cell roof and through a table at ringside. Then, after having his shoulder popped back in place, Foley proceeds to climb the cell again and is then choke slammed through the roof where a chair follows him down and dislocates his jaw as he hits the canvas in the most awkward way imaginable. Words canāt describe this; seeing this incredible exhibition is the only way to fully do it justice. Anything I say about it canāt ruin it for anyone. Trust me.
So there you have it, the man, the myth, the legend that is Mick Foley summed up so beautifully with this DVD. I havenāt even mentioned all of the matches and extras on this thing. So if you can find a better way of spending over ā6 hoursā (thatās not a typo) then by all means do it, but remember if it is that good itās probably illegal. So be careful.
Oh yeahā¦ I forgot to mention that Mick himself introduces each and every match, which is very cool because he is well spoken, interesting and funny. The only way they could have made it better is by making it a 3 DVD set. So do.
by: The Gimmick
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