Original subtitles

Honestly, I did not expect him to get up from that.

He hit, and finally he started moving around, and I was like, man, that's one

tough son of a gun right there.

Well, my feud with The Undertaker had actually ended a while earlier. I

we were entering a match cold.

I thought my character had been through a lot and people had lost interest in

it. After watching the first ever cell match between Shawn Michaels and The

Undertaker, I realized I was in a terrible predicament to even try to

the level that they had reached was going to be very difficult. And I just

didn't see how it would be possible.

without something special.

I can guarantee that mankind will have a surprise for everyone that you will

not soon forget.

If we can do something special, if we can start a match in a way that no one

ever has, maybe we can fool people into thinking we're having a great match,

even if we're not.

I'm not sure exactly what had happened, but Undertaker broke his foot.

And we weren't sure how that was going to play out. Yeah, I did happen to have

fracture in my ankle.

It was such an important time in the business.

You knew you had to do it, so you just grit your teeth and go in there and do

what you do.

That compounded the troubles that we were facing.

Yeah, The Undertaker and I reminisced about that a couple of years ago. Like,

what were we even doing in that situation?

And yet he willingly entered it with a broken foot, which speaks volumes as to

what type of competitor he is.

I don't

remember the buildup to that day other than being approached by Mr. McMahon.

And him asking me if I had been up on top of that structure earlier in the

afternoon. And I assured him I had, which was the biggest lie I'd told up to

that point in my life.

And then he asked me if I was comfortable up there. And I assured him

which became the newest, biggest lie I'd ever told in my life. Because if I had

ever gone up on top of that structure in the afternoon, I wouldn't have been

scaling it that evening because it was terrifying.

Absolutely terrifying. I know there are people in the WWE Universe, superstars,

who are not afraid of heights. I'm not one of them.

The reaction,

even with a normally hot crowd, was a little bit lukewarm until we got up on

of the cell.

I need that.

For what?

He's not very logical.

I mean, he needs therapy.

To be completely honest, it's like, crap.

Am I going to be able to get up there?

You know, the answer was yes, because I don't know how. I mean, I would have got

up there. I don't care how, but I would have got up there.

It was definitely an exciting way to start off a Hell in a Cell match,

to start out on top.

There are moments when our feet are actually sinking into the mesh.

It's like we're tearing holes in the mesh as we walk,

which should have been a harbinger for even worse things to come.

They're destroying the hell in the cell. And my God, don't get them over here

where we are. I still remember clearly the distinct sound of the wire coming

unwound or breaking from the pressure of our weight.

Well, funny enough, I felt safer on the edge or the pulling of the cage.

And I just remember getting a couple of really quality chair shots to the back.

I think Jerry Lawler said, let's go.

And the next thing I know, I was in flight.

was spontaneous and real. So that call has a pulse.

I cannot believe... Listen, it's over. That cage is 16 feet high.

When I tossed him off of there, you know, as I was watching him fall, and it

seemed like it took forever for him to hit the table.

The only thing I can liken it to is an outer body experience.

It was very... It was so...

And it was so loud in there with the people. At that point, nothing like that

had ever been done.

Believe me, I was almost having a heart attack. Watch what was going on. And I

got to Mick. I'm asking him, are you okay? Are you okay?

And he gave me the sign there that, yeah, I can continue, which

me.

He said something.

Kind of quietly, and then I heard him say it again, my shoulder, my shoulder.

So I called for a stretcher, and in order for the stretcher to get there, we

to lift the hell in the cell up.

So with the Undertaker still on the top of the hell in the cell, it started

moving upward.

Why is the cage breaking? Do they realize the Undertaker is still on top

cage? They're raising the cage when the Undertaker's still on top.

Obviously, I know they raised the cage, but I was kind of oblivious to it,

really. I was so zoned in in what we were doing at that point.

I'm kind of up there without any kind of communication with anything or anybody.

I was just like, I guess I'm not going anywhere until they bring me down.

We got Nick about halfway back.

He said, no, I want to go back. I want to go back. I said, no, you're not going

anywhere. You're going back. You know, you're going to the hospital.

And the next thing I know, Nick jumps up. He started climbing up to hell and

cell again.

And he started going up to the top.

How in the hell is he standing? Oh, my God.

And notice, he's got a smile on his face for God's sake.

Are you kidding me?

Everybody in the building thought the match was over. I didn't know for sure

I could, but I said I was going to give it my best try.

But by the time I got to the top of the cell, I was just about out of energy.

So I looked back, and I wished that I'd had the strength and the energy to

exchange with The Undertaker.

But I'm thankful that I didn't in retrospect, because if I'd had the

exchange, I also would have had the strength to get off the cell for the

slam.

Knowing what we know and knowing that that structure gave way, I believe that

I had gone up in a way that I usually did for choke slams, that would afford

the safest landing on a mat inside a ring that I would have over -rotated and

landed high on my shoulders and likely never wrestled again.

I totally agree with that.

We're talking a matter of a couple of inches, even the way he landed.

I mean, that could have been catastrophic.

I mean, it really could have. But I stepped off of the panel and onto the

support bars.

If I hadn't have done that, we'd have both gone through that together.

So if you could imagine, if I had stayed on that panel, my weight would have

probably been on him too.

And then what happens?

It's a scary thought.

to see it and we could see something you know in his nose i remember punching

him trying to talk some sense into him but also being just distracted by this

huge what i thought was what i thought was a booger in his nose come to find

that it was one of his incisors that went through his lip and ended up in his

nose And I had the presence of mind to think that if I could just find a way to

stick my tongue through that massive wound and wriggle it, that it would

a compelling image.

I knew I was going to be okay.

Oh, my. And he's smiling.

He is smiling.

Mick had basically just had two really bad car accidents and still had the

fortitude to get back to his feet and say, we're going to finish this. I

That's just another cut of human being right there.

You know what? I'm panicking. I really am. I don't know if I should just say

match is over.

And then he grabs me and he goes, where were the tacks?

You know,

just the glittery.

You know, the shininess of the tacks.

And I guess in retrospect, we needed something like that and seemed like a

suitable way to end that match.

The tacks were probably

the easiest part of the night. It was definitely icing on the cake for him.

He ended up in a bed of tacks.

So it was a rough night for Mick Foley.

And even as Timmy White was counting three, I believe the right foot was just

kicking ever so gently to show, like, I'm not completely out of this ballgame

yet.

Mike Chioda, who was not the referee of record, but he came out and told me they

were bringing a stretcher out for me.

He said, and you can look on the video, and you can see I lift my arm. And the

reason I lift my arm is I didn't want anyone in Pittsburgh to see me talking.

And what I said to him was, have I already been on a stretcher tonight?

And when he informed me that I had, that right arm went up about three seconds

after that for a second time. And I said, I can't be on two stretchers in

night. And I hobbled my way to Mr. McMahon's room.

I took him back and... put him on a table. He went to let me know that his

shoulder was hurt.

But he smiled at me and I could see, you know, that he had a gash

under his lip.

They started stitching him up right there. Just an incredible sight to see.

Mr. McMahon sat me down and I remember those words specifically. He said,

You have no idea how much I appreciate what you've done for this company, but I

never want to see anything like that again.

It's everlasting.

It's in our minds forever, and it's like any other great event in wrestling or

mainstream sports.

It's that play that defines the game.

I couldn't ask for...

a better human being to do that with than Mick.

These are things that, like I said, that I haven't really talked about.

There's probably only a handful of people that I would, you know, open

like that to, he being one of them. It's really special to still be considered

such an iconic match and one that people really, you know, have all these really

fond memories of. That just lets us know we did something right.

It was the reactions to the unexpected.

And I think that element of surprise embeds it in people's minds so that

who was there in the venue or watching live when it happened will never forget

that moment.

This moment or series of moments has left this indelible imprint on people's

memories. We're somehow able to create.

an image in people's minds that lives on and will outlive me and the Undertaker

cult.