Mick Foleys stupid wife - Beyond the Mat (2000) Discussion

[–] o1977jp 13 years ago

I felt the same way about that scene, although we see afterwards that he did receive an injury that required stitches, so it wasn't totally fake. What I didn't understand was why the kids were even there to begin with if there was even a chance they were going to get scared. Looked like horrible parenting to me, which Mick kinda concluded when he watched the tape later.

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[–] simian_ninja 13 years ago

"No wonder the kids were so upset, she was screaming and hugging them as if it were real. If she had kept her cool they probably wouldn't have even been the least bit bothered."

Yeah, because seeing someone you love being smacked in the head with a chair ten times is totally not going to make you lose your cool.

"What I didn't understand was why the kids were even there to begin with if there was even a chance they were going to get scared. Looked like horrible parenting to me"

Totally agree.

Even if they do understand it's fake, why would they understand WHY their parents would be participating in such a thing.

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[–] 13 years ago

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[–] The-Last-Prydonian 13 years ago

Eh, that's kid not kids. Foley's son wasn't screaming and looked calm during the whole incident. It was his daughter that was going in to hysterics!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNXb_aVEzAk&feature=related

About 4 minutes in to this portion of the documentary you is roughly when the match takes place and you'll see that the son never once looks at all distressed.

But I have to agree that she was just a stupid as Foley for allowing the kids to be present at the match. What gets me is that she seems to attempt and succeeds in guilt tripping her husband when she was just as culpable. It's like oh, no I won't take any of the blame I'll just put it all on you! Sheesh!

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[–] josborn828 13 years ago

I don't see how anyone could watch the boy during the part of the match where his father is getting beaten by the chair and not think he is upset. His Mom is holding his sister so he repeatedly reaches for her hoodie and shoulder to cover his eyes and when the family gets up to leave it is pretty obvious that he is about to start crying. He even wipes his eyes when they are walking away from the ring toward the stairs (just before his Mom says "excuse me").

I have to think that what money he earned from this match will be nothing compared to the money that will be spent on therapy for those two. I don't know if the mother just didn't realize that it was going to be that bad but it seems like Johnson and Foley would have thought better of making sure the kids ringside seats.

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[–] dishnazi 13 years ago

Foley mentioned earlier something to the effect of "When you work with someone as good as the Rock you trust him" I think it is pretty clear that they didn't know how far the Rock was going to take it before the match. If they had known they probably wouldn't have had their kids there.

As far as the second comment about the wife not losing her cool and making the kids "think it was real". The problem with this comment is that even though the outcomes in wrestling are predetermined and most of the moves are an illusion there is nothing fake about a chairshot to the head. There is no "wrestling trick" that makes that look real. It is real, he is really getting smacked in the head with a metal chair repeatedly with his hands tied behind his back. This practice is actually forbidden in wrestling today since so much has been learned about concussions in the last decade. This type of head trauma was the main reason for the Chris Benoit tragedy and the suicide of several nfl players so I think it is asking a bit much of his wife to act like its no big deal.

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[–] catapultrk 13 years ago

EXACTLY!!! As a former ref, I can attest to exactly how real how much of it is. Although the chair was real, Johnson was hitting a gimmicked HEAD.... dang, some people have absolutely no clue about what these people put their bodies through in a single "regular" match... let alone one like this.

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[–] The-Last-Prydonian 12 years ago

I think to say that people don't know what is going on as far as getting hit in the head with a chair is a pretty broad assumption. After the match you could see Foley getting his head stitched up so it's fair to say that he was really being hit in the head and I'm glad it has been banned. As far as not going too far you have to ask whether or not the Rock (the title he went by at the time) real name Dwayne Johnson had wanted to hold back but was informed not to by his then boss Vince McMahon. I have no hard evidence to back this up of course but I wouldn't rule it out judging from the character of the man and having watched another documentary called “Bret Hart: Wrestling with Shadows” where we get a slightly more in depth look at McMahons character. Judging from that and interviews from other wrestling superstars I have seen on Youtube I wouldn't be too surprised if it were the case.

Going by interviews I have seen with Johnson he strikes me as a down to earth, easy going principled man who I think looking back probably regrets having any part of that incident. It's a shame because he's not here to defend himself to some degree over what happened. Was he wrong to not hold back, I'd say yes but there's maybe more to what happened than we don't know about.

Maybe Mick's wife didn't know what to fully expect, we can't know for sure but it does slightly bother me sometimes when someone marries a person knowing fully well what they do for a living and then gets upset when the ugly side of the business rears it's ugly head. That said Wrestlers do really kill themselves out there which some people fail to realise. They're out there practically every night doing long tours and even being forced to wrestle after suffering a injuries and really putting themselves through the wringer. But this is where people like Vince McMahon should really grow a conscience and put they're wrestlers ahead of profit. I suspect he is perhaps the biggest villain in this hole scenario.

As for Micks son I have to wonder if he would have been so upset had it not been for the reaction of his Mum and his little sister? Neither of them should have been there but then neither of course should Foley have been expected to take shots to the head the way that he did!

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[–] CrazyJim2004 12 years ago

This type of head trauma was the main reason for the Chris Benoit tragedy

I would argue that it was a contributing factor but I doubt it was the main reason and there is certainly no evidence to prove it.

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[–] jbhutt0 11 years ago

I can't remember exactly, but if the Hell in a Cell match with the Undertaker happened before, you can understand WHY she was scared.

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[–] christianlatt123 11 years ago

True but her husband was getting beaten to a pulp...Mick agrees that the Rock went overboard with those chair shots.

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[–] Herreken 10 years ago

I think their daughter was already crying before Mrs. Foley started yelling but yeah...all that yelling and hysterics couldn't have helped the situation. She should've taken her kids out of there or better yet, not take them in the first place. The intent of that match was to be as over-the-top as possible & Mrs. Foley knew how much her husband wanted to push things, so they shouldn't have had their kids there.

The son seemed all right to me. It's tough to tell if he was upset or not. I'd have to go back and take another look.

Also, did Foley have to see his family right after the match while his face was a bloody mess? Couldn't he have cleaned up a bit first?

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[–] Elmonator 9 years ago

Having read his book, he gives a detailed description of the whole thing:

- A great deal of the match was improvised.
- It was agreed upon that five hits with the chair to the head were given by The Rock.
- His family was there because they went to Disneyland beforehand
- His wife was supposed to be part of the match, saying "he quits", but Mick Foley disapproved beforehand, fearing her wife would be booed out of the hall.
- The children wanted to be there, knowing what their father does for a living. However, it got too intense for all of them. He regrets taking them there a lot.

From what I read in the books, he seems like a highly intelligent, reasonable person - and a very good dad. His wife also supported him in everything he did and is most likely not a "stupid wife", just concerned, knowing it went overboard.

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