WWE Rivals (TV Series)

Triple H vs. Mick Foley (2022)

Rebecca Quin: Becky Lynch - WWE Superstar

Quotes 

• Self - Host : All rivalries come to a point. This one came to... a retirement match. It's gotta be easier if you know that going in, but I feel like as a part of that storyline, no matter how scripted it is, it has to be painful, but it also has to feel great.

  Self - WWE Hall of Famer : I thought going into the Royal Rumble that was going to be my final match. I think I talked to Mr. McMahon. I brought up the idea of a loser must retire. But now we're going to put a sense of finality to it.

  Triple H - WWE Hall of Famer : What more can you do as a heel than take a loveable character, like you force him to then retire?

  [a clip is shown of Cactus challenging Hunter to a Hell in a Cell match] 

  Triple H - WWE Hall of Famer : At that point in time, the Hell in a Cell match was mythical. And they'd gone from the classic that 'Taker had and Shawn had. And then you have 'Taker and Foley.

  [a clip of Undertaker throwing Mankind off the top of the cell is shown] 

  Triple H - WWE Hall of Famer : How do you begin to follow that?

  John Bradshaw Layfield - WWE Hall of Famer : Guys like Mick Foley are a rare breed. I mean, that's really cool to say, "All of my career, everything I've done, I'm going to give it all to you tonight."

  Self - WWE Hall of Famer : I had the legend of the cell to my name. But I said, "Okay, let us take that ball and run with it as far as we can." I-It's quite a task to get ready for something like Hell in a Cell. I more or less have to metamorphosize into a different human being. Generally, I needed just some type of jolt with something big. And once there was a big move...

  [a clip of Triple H throwing the steel ring stairs at Cactus is shown] 

  Self - WWE Hall of Famer : I would be jolted into that alternative reality.

  Becky Lynch - WWE Superstar : I remember watching this match and everything that Mick went through and how hard he fought, thinking "He has to win this. This can't be the last Mick Foley match ever."

  Triple H - WWE Hall of Famer : I have to do my part to make sure that this is as epic as it deserves to be for him.

  Self - WWE Hall of Famer : [clips of the match are shown]  We've had an exciting match, and we just have to find a way to create a memory. Well, there's an art to presenting your toys, and so you're not rushing it. You want people to enjoy what is essentially an hors d'oeuvres of violence.

  [a clip is shown of Cactus lighting a barbed-wire 2x4 on fire and preparing to piledrive Hunter onto it] 

  Triple H - WWE Hall of Famer : Once I let go of him, I have no control.

  [a clip is shown of Hunter countering the move; as he backdrops Cactus onto the cell, a panel breaks and a portion of the ring collapses as Mick lands] 

• Beth Phoenix - WWE Hall of Famer : The best rivalries across history involve a protagonist and an antagonist. That-that's what we understand more than anything.

  John Bradshaw Layfield - WWE Hall of Famer : Foley was one of these guys that once you give your body for so long, fans start appreciating you.

  Triple H - WWE Hall of Famer : [a clip is shown of him winning the match]  I think it was important for him to go out in the biggest way possible. For me, the fact that he was willing to do that for me on the way out was incredible and something that I can never forget.

  Becky Lynch - WWE Superstar : I remembered just being in tears, in tears at the thought that that was the last Mick Foley match that we were gonna see in WWE.

  Self - WWE Hall of Famer : I turn around, and it's the classic blood, sweat, and tears. It's there on my face, plain as day. Blood mixed with sweat, tear in my eye. Triple H allowed me to ride off into the sunset with my head held high. He allowed me the type of exit that, uh, you know, most people can only dream about. I went to a much nicer hotel than I otherwise would have stayed in, had a nice room service meal. Sat on my bed and cried like a baby, because it was over.

  Self - Host : He felt like one of us by the time that story was done, and everybody loved him. And it was heartbreaking to see him go. And the respect that he earned comes out in that moment more than any because we know it's the last time. It's that final standing ovation. And so that's how I'm gonna remember this rivalry from now on.

  Cody Rhodes - WWE Superstar : There's a time, I feel like, for every fan of wrestling when they finally, "That's my guy. That's my girl. That's... I-I gotta watch this." And that was for me for when I really went all-in on Triple H. Hunter did look the part, did work the part. But if he didn't have someone to beat the piss out of, if he didn't have somebody to sell, sell Triple H, and it's not Triple H to do that. It's the opponent. If he didn't have that, it doesn't work. And Mick's humanization and all that doesn't come out unless he's got a bully.