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The Foley Files - January 1, 2010

Posted: Jan 12th 2010 By: mikeiles

Here we are - an old year ends, a new year begins, and a new chapter in the history of TNA is about to be written. I think this Monday's live ?iMPACT!" has all of us excited, and I am looking forward to a great show, which will hopefully be looked back on as a landmark event for TNA. This live Monday show is a pretty gutsy move; personally, it's not a move I would have made. But great gains are never made without a willingness to take risks, and the truth is, if wresting companies were to rise or fall according to the risks I would have been personally in favor of, there would be no wrestling business as we know it today.

I remember talking to Jerry Jarrett on the phone many years ago, when the concept of TNA as a weekly pay-per-view entity was not even publicly known. Despite what I may have said on a couple of our ?iMPACT!? shows last spring, I had always liked Jerry Jarrett, and appreciated the break he gave me in Memphis in 1988 - my first full-time wrestling job. Maybe I didn't enjoy my time in the Memphis territory all that much - a subject I covered in 1999"s "Have a Nice Day" - but I learned a lot, and was always grateful for the experience. I respected Jerry, but I thought this idea of his sounded crazy. I wished him luck and really did hope for the best for him, but the idea of launching a national wrestling promotion seemed like a good way to waste a lot of time and money.

Some time later, when I heard about this Dixie Carter person purchasing the company, I wondered about this woman's mental state. Who would want all the headaches and heartaches that go along with running a full-time wrestling promotion? Well, luckily for everyone - the wrestlers, their families, the millions of people who enjoy TNA around the world, I wasn't the guy calling the shots at those pivotal times. And I didn't call the shot as it pertains to this Monday night. Anyone can see that WWE is taking this move seriously; they have the great Bret Hart hosting, and a lineup that looks stronger than some of their PPV's. Ultimately, it's a difficult decision for wrestling fans to make. Back in the glory days of the Monday night wars, the miracle of digital video recording was either non-existent or in its infancy, (this is a wrestling web-log, not a history lesson) so difficult choices had to made on a weekly basis. This seems like a situation custom made for the Tivo.

Wrestling fans can make up their own minds, but I know I am personally motivated about my upcoming moment in the ring (or backstage, or somewhere) with Hulk Hogan. I know I've been critical of the Hulkster in the past; not just on recent ?iMPACT!? episodes, but in books and interviews as well, but as a guy who appreciates the history of our business like I do, I have always looked forward to the prospect of doing business with one of the greatest stars in the history of the business.

Hope you point that remote control our way this Monday night.

Now, on to some sad news.

The wrestling business lost one of its great performers with the passing of Dr. Death, Steve Williams. For those who were fortunate to see Doc in his prime - in Bill Watts old Mid-South/UFC promotion, in early 90's WCW, or especially in late 80's-early 90's All-Japan Wrestling- you know what a huge loss this is. For those of you not as familiar with Doc, take a little time out to see how great some of his classic matches were - especially those with All-Japan. Those were truly some of my favorite matches to watch; by combining a world-class amateur background (an All-American at Oklahoma) with a rugged Bruiser Brodyish propensity for brawling, Doc had some of the wildest, most believable matches of his, or any era. At a certain time, I felt like his singles matches with some of the great stars of All-Japan were the absolute best in the business, even if the "backdrop driver" he used for a finish used to make me jump up out of my chair during late night viewings at my old house in Atlanta.

I only had a chance to actually wrestle Doc on one occasion; a little exercise in pain and fear in Saginaw, Michigan, in early 1990. I happened to be Doc's opponent on an evening where he had received some bad news concerning his contract negotiations with WCW. Eddie Gilbert tried to talk to Doc on my behalf before the match, but I'm guessing it didn't do much good. Anyone looking to see a retrospective of my Mick Foley's greatest offensive moves probably doesn't need to seek out the Saginaw match for their collection. I took quite a pounding in that match, but Doc never forgot it, and he always respected me for taking such a good beating on his behalf.

It was a respect that I was proud, a respect that lasted almost twenty years. I will always remember how well Doc treated me on my one tour of Japan; a time when he and Terry Gordy made up what I felt was the best tag-team in the business. He and Gordy had a thrilling match with Stan Hansen and Danny Spivey to end the tour at a sold-out Budokan show, and even though I was in something of a preliminary match on the show, Doc took the time to watch my match and offer feedback, which I've never forgotten. I dropped a big elbow off the second rope onto either Dory or Terry Funk (my actual first in-ring encounter with the Funker) and came up selling the move big-time, doing what I thought was the best thing to "get over" the pain involved in such a move. But my selling of the move brought about laughter from the Japanese audience. Doc told me to "sell" it stronger. "Brother, you just pulled off a strong move", Doc said. "It' your time to shine! Don't sell weakness...sell the strength!"

When I look back on my career, I so often think of people who took time out of their lives to help me -- to offer encouragement or advice. Doc was one of those guys. The wrestling business lost a hell of a performer with the passing of Steve Williams...and the world lost a hell of a man.

Dawn Marie wrote a very nice piece about Doc, a man she'd come to look at as an inspiration and an angel of sorts. I hope some of you will click onto WrestlersRescue.org to take a look.

Tags: Mick Foley, TNA, WWE, Steve Williams, Bill Watts, MSW, WCW, Bruiser Brody, Eddie Gilbert, Terry Gordy, Stan Hansen, Dory Funk, Jr., Terry Funk,