All language subtitles for WWE Rivals - Season 5 - EP-05 - The Rock VS. Mick Foley

- Millions of The Rock's fans
want to see your fat cellulite

ass go one on one

with The Great One.

- This was the cool kid versus
the outcast.

They were polar opposite in
terms of appearance.

- Biggest bona fide piece of
trash walking God's green Earth.

- The interactions were wildly
entertaining.

- Mankind's looking real good.

- Yeah.

- But it got violent.

- The Rock is putting
Mankind through

a tremendous amount
of punishment.

- The things that Mick would
allow me to do

to him was incredible.

- Damn it Rock.

- Mankind has put his body
through so much pain.

- Mick's goal was
to put Rock over.

- Uh oh, this is getting out of
hand now.

- But did it in a way that was a
little bit unpleasant.

- Oh my God.

Oh my God.

- I am coming to end your
career.

- I don't know how much more
personal it can get.

- When two legends collide,

their rivalry stays pinned in
our minds forever.

This is where we break down the
legendary stories

behind the greatest rivalries
of all time.

I'm Gabriel Iglesias

and this is

WWE Rivals.

- Rock, you have given Mankind
some of the damnedest matches

I've ever had.

- Mick Foley versus The Rock.

Two people couldn't be
any more different.

- It's polar opposites.

Mankind, this incredible
character that looks like it

came out of a Friday the 13th
movie.

- Mankind-

is in agony.

- When you compare him
to The Rock,

who was the most popular guy,

the most cocky guy.

Everybody loved him.

- The millions-

[crowd yells "And millions"]

-of Rock's fans.

- Those two sides pitted against
each other,

was pretty interesting
to see.

- Almost takes you back to,
you know, being in school,

there's the popular kid and
there's the very unpopular kid

and there's that.

Mhm.

These two just they don't gel
well.

- You know and Mick Foley had
done all this incredible stuff,

and everybody knew his history.

I mean, Foley's a legend for a
lot of reasons,

as hardcore.

And you got to wonder how is
Rock going to do with this.

- My first impressions
of Mick Foley

were back in the day,

and I just took him as being one
tough SOB from the get go.

- Mick took a lot of chances in
the Indies to get noticed.

- I think his philosophy was I
can take more damage

than what most people
can dish out.

- He was smart, and that's why I
hired him at WWE.

- When Mankind arrived
in WWE in 1996,

he was very dark.

He was a tortured soul.

- He'd pull his hair out and
punch himself,

and do all these crazy things.

- Mankind, obviously,
the most deranged individual,

I think perhaps in the history
of the WWE,

- Comes in as Mankind.

Crazy.

Sadistic.

He was a crash test dummy.

Just violence personified.

- Can you imagine the pain that
Mankind is suffering here?

But he's still standing.

- You compare that to someone
like The Rock, who of course is,

He looks like he was just
molded.

- Yeah.

What's ironic is when Rock
started,

he wasn't accepted by the
audience at all.

- Rocky Maivia
came in hot.

We thought people were going to
just eat him up

and love every single thing
he did.

- Everyone should have their
eyes on this extraordinary

superstar Rocky Maivia with all
kind of moves.

- Not the case.

They thought that we were
really shoving

him down their throats.

- If you're not authentic,

then you're done,

and fans can see
through that.

- The opportunity to test him
with a talent like Mankind,

who was on the rise as well.

It was a good opportunity at the
In Your House show.

- I want to talk about what
Mankind is doing to this punk.

Right now, t's time for this
little punk,

Rocky Maivia, who everybody
thinks is the second coming

to reach back.

- The biggest babyface reaction
I received

when I was bad, dark, mean,
tortured, Mankind was,

The Rock went up for his
finishing move,

the crossbody off the top.

I rolled through.

I came up with the mandible
claw,

and every person in
Richmond stood on their feet

because they hated him.

I remember at one point turning
to uh one of my colleagues and

saying, "Maybe they ought to
pull the plug, you know?

Maybe they better cut their
losses,"

because it was so bad that I did
not see how it could be fixed.

- Look, we weren't ready to give
up on him,

and the opportunity

to completely change his
character came.

I daresay that's where The Rock
was born.

- In arenas across the country,

I heard chants of "Rocky sucks."

That's the gratitude
I get from you pieces of crap.

- And I'm watching
along with the other talent,

backstage on the monitor,
maybe a few weeks into his

tenure with the Nation of
Domination,

The Rock says the words to Ron
Simmons,

the leader of the pack.

He says,
"With all due respect,"

- The Champ is talking.

- And we all looked at each
other like,

"I think he's got something."

- I was in the Nation, became
the leader of the Nation,

then started to break off.

My goal was just to entertain
the fans.

The Rock is the People's choice.

Just in that I was just able to
be myself, and from then on,

[finger snap]

it was shot
out like a Rocket.

- I just remember watching Rock,
him starting to gain momentum,

starting to establish a
relationship with the crowd.

- The Rock is going to raise the
People's eyebrow.

He's going to lay the smack down
on your candy ass.

If you smell what The Rock is
cooking.

- This was a great confluence of
events in that The Rock's star

had been rising as a good guy.

The heir apparent to Stone Cold
Steve Austin.

- The intention always was to go
with Rock and Stone Cold at

WrestleMania in Philadelphia.

We needed an opponent for
The Rock.

You let Rock get some heat on
his way to Stone Cold.

- And I get the call
to be that guy

that is hopefully going to
get him where he needs to be,

and I take that job very
seriously.

- The idea behind putting Mick
with Rock

was you let Rock get
some heat with Mick,

and it was easy
to do on the way.

Mick was very sympathetic.

- The Mankind character changed
dramatically.

- Look at the corporate Mankind
with a shirt and tie on.

- He evolves so quickly.

Mankind,
by that point already,

he was the corporate Mankind
trying to, you know,

make Vince happy and
all this stuff.

- Vince, it's me.

I brought you some presents.

- He's the demented guy,

but now he's kind of like

the lovable loser that wants to
be buddies with the boss.

- Say hello to Mr. Socko.

- Mick Foley is Mr. McMahon's
right hand man.

- You like me, Vince.

You really like me.

"Mr. Socko too."

- And ends up being handpicked
by WWE,

the corporation, right?

to be the guy.

- It's almost like my life has
taken on a whole new meaning.

- Mick Foley represents the
corporation,

and that's at that point,

this is The Rock's biggest enemy

at the moment is the
corporation.

- I don't give a damn about the
people, which means Rock,

I have a problem with you

because you're the
People's Champion.

- The Rock.

Third generation looks like a
million bucks.

And the audience is like,
"That's my guy."

Because, oh my God, everybody
wants to be The Rock.

And when you look at Mankind,
who at the time

was somewhat of
a corporate puppet.

It was easy to feel sorry for
Mankind,

even though Mankind
was supposed to be

the heel in this situation,

and it's made.

It's so simple because opposites
attract and Rock was everything

that Mick wanted to be,

and Mick was everything that
Rock despised.

So put them together and you got
a match made in heaven.

- Welcome, everyone, to the 12th
Annual Survivor Series.

- Wow.

- Tremendous ovation from these
21,779,

for The Rock.

- The Rock is this

white hot baby face,

and Mankind is a corporate
stooge.

- You know, he's the corporate
stooge,

but people care for him because
of the way he's portrayed.

- He's a pawn in this whole
orchestration.

- He just wants to be accepted.

Everybody can relate to that.

- Mankind is Mr. McMahon's
chosen one,

and McMahon made it very clear
he does not want the Rock

to win
the WWE title.

- This is the big one.

I in my heart don't feel like
I'm WWE title material.

I feel like I'm going to do

my best to have a really good
match,

because there's no question that
The Rock and Stone Cold

are the future of the
company.

- Rock in control.

- You had a hard time,

like, "Who do I cheer for?"

The Rock,

people wanted to cheer him
because he was so cool.

Mankind,

you felt bad for him.

Because of all the things he had
been through.

- Oh my gosh, look at this.

Ooh.

Hell Mankind can gut and
quarter The Rock,

and not get disqualified.

He'd probably get a raise.

- Oh my gosh, look at this.

- Oh good God almighty.

- Mankind is sick.

- Oh in God's name,

can these guys recover from
this?

- Oh my gosh, look at this.

- Oh good God almighty.

- Mankind is sick.

- Well, the carnage is just-

- You all right?

- -unbelievable.

- Mick Foley and The Rock?

I love this rivalry.

- This match was the
genesis of it.

- The winner of this match is
the new man

of the World Wrestling --.

It could be time for the
People's Elbow.

This is not what McMahon wants
to see.

- No way.

Oh.

- Two and a near fall.

- The excitement of

"Well, who is going to
become champion?"

Everything that you knew changes
in one moment.

- There's a Sharpshooter.

- Sharpshooter?

- Hey, McMahon
said ring the bell.

Wait a minute.

What?

- We do a double turn.

Rock becomes the bad guy.

- What?

- What the hell?

They were in on it all along.

All three of them.

They screwed us all.

- I was watching with my friends

when it dawned on us
what happened.

It was so shocking.

- These fans are stunned.

- Whoa.

- It was a
hell of a shift.

And it was a
hell of a turn,

because now
you align yourself

with the company's top heel,

who is Vince McMahon.

- And now the People's Champion
becomes the corporate champion.

What?

What,
you betrayed us.

How dare you?

- You can believe that each and
every one of you

are just as pathetic and
gullible as Mankind.

- And like Mick, sold it so
well too.

Because he's not even mad.

He's just sad.

- So now that we have Rock as a
massive heel, you know,

everybody knows it's going
towards

Steve Austin versus The Rock.

- The Rock is the new WWE
champion.

But for how long?

- But Mick Foley has so much
momentum.

- Now, there is a ton of empathy
for Mankind.

- Poor Mick Foley.

- There's anger at The Rock.

He's off to the races.

- Well some of you call
The Rock,

a kiss ass?

Well, I'm sure you will.

Because, quite frankly, you
are all unintelligent

pieces of trailer park trash.

- You take the moniker of the
People's Champion,

which people loved that
engagement,

and being part of the
People's everything.

People's eyebrow People's Elbow
and you turn it corporate.

It was a recipe for phenomenal
success,

and success, just in terms of
fans loving to hate me.

Fantastic.

- At the time, it was shocking
to see Rock joining forces with

the McMahons and poor Mankind,
who is, you know, just

such a sympathetic character

being set up and screwed over

uh, that really set the table
for, you know,

wanting to see these two clash
and wanting to see Mick prevail.

- He had a way of making people
connect with him on an emotional

level, and he also had something
that was strangely relatable.

- It's a lot more attainable to
look like me

than it is to look like
The Rock.

- So I think-

- People connect to that.

- that's it.

People connect to that.

Yeah.

[fan yells "The Rock sucks"]

- The Rock was so arrogant,
so cool.

It's hard to relate.

- Right.

- The next pay per view was
called Rock Bottom.

To obviously give The Rock as
much, you know,

- Steam.

- Yeah, as much steam as he can

once he turned and now he's
the champion.

- Well it does pay to suck up to
the boss, doesn't it?

- I guess so.

- It was an uphill struggle for
the Mankind character, for sure,

but that's what made it so
enjoyable.

And as a result of that uphill
struggle,

fans really got behind Mankind.

- Mankind trying to win the WWE
Championship

for the very first time.

- Now there were those like a
Non-wrestling fan who would be

watching with their friends and
they would go, "Wait a second,

so you're telling me that guy
who looks like he's carved out

of stone and looks like a
Hollywood star,

he's the bad guy.

And that guy with the leather
mask and the white work shirt,

he's the good guy."

- It's kind of polarizing
as a fan.

Whoa, this is so different.

- But within minutes, they would
get it.

- Mankind,

what a way to stick it to the
corporate team if he could win

the WWE Championship tonight
at Rock Bottom.

- There it is.

- Because personalities make the
matchups.

- Smell what The Rock is
cooking.

- And we played off each other
so well.

It's the chemistry that takes
it to that next level,

and we always had that.

- When I think about Mick, just
how special of a performer

Mick was,

His desire to entertain
an audience

through great impact
with his body.

It was mind boggling.

Staggering.

- He's ready.

He's ready to finish him off.

Oh, no.

- Missed with the clothesline.

Mankind now, DDT.

Double arm.

- This is bad.

- Rock can't-

He can't stand straight.

- It's the sock.

- Socko.

The Mandible Claw.

Socko.

The Rock's in trouble.

[bell rings]

- It's over.

We have a new champion.

We have a new WWE champion.

- Ladies and gentlemen, the
winner of this contest.

- My name was actually announced
winning the WWE title.

And out comes Mr. McMahon.

- All right.

Mankind wins the match.

Mankind wins the match.

- We have a new champion.

- However.

- Wait.

- The only way to become a WWE
champion

is by pinfall or submission.

And since The Rock did not tap
out or did not say "I quit."

Still, your WWE Champion ladies
and gentlemen, The Rock.

- Oh, that's a damn shame.

- No, he's right.

- I was okay with it
because I thought

the interest was in the chase.

Fans were building up a lot of
empathy for me.

- King, this should have been

the greatest moment of Mick
Foley's life.

And look at this.

Not only did he have the
championship

ripped away from him,

now he's getting attacked by
Bossman and Shamrock.

- Them screwing him
multiple times,

that only made him even more
likable and more lovable.

And it made him the ultimate
underdog.

Like the whole corporation, this
billion dollar entity was, uh,

trying to hold him back.

- The WWE Championship is up for
grabs,

The Rock against Mankind,

and the odds are stacked against
Mick Foley.

- He's somebody people could
relate to that just was living

his dream was feeling very
fortunate to be in his dream.

- Mankind,
obviously the underdog.

- Watch, look at this.

- And Rock hammering away
on Mankind.

- But he knew, this was his
opportunity,

and he was willing
to give it all,

including sacrificing his body
to the absolute limit

for the entertainment
of the fans.

- Oh, we got big problems
here now.

Ah.

- The Rock is putting Mankind
through a tremendous

amount of punishment.

That could be it.

Cover two and Mankind gets the
shoulder up.

- What?

- The world loves an underdog
story.

- You've got to give him credit.

He has so much heart.

- And we got to live that

through Mick Foley.

- Mr. Socko.

The Rock may be out.

- Yes.

- Oh.

- To see him in this moment,
knowing he's already up

against the odds with an
opponent like The Rock,

and then-

[Stone Cold's music]

Glass break.

Stone Cold Steve Austin.

- The Rattlesnake is here.

Look out.

Stone Cold with a chair.

He put Mankind on The Rock.

- No, no.

Don't do it.

[bell rings]

- Mankind actually wins the
title on Raw

because of Stone Cold.

I'm screaming like a maniac when
Mick Foley wins the title.

I woke up the whole house.

It was so unexpected.

- It just felt beautiful.

It felt to me immediately, like
more of a lifetime achievement

award than it did a WWE title.

- It's a really special moment.

- Yeah, we you know, we hoi-

- Yeah, you guys hoisted him on
your shoulders.

- like, hey, you know,

"Once he wins the title, why
don't you guys pick him up?"

It was just-

- You guys did that on
the spot.

- He was so like over.

And the sentimental favorite to
everybody.

It was just like.

It was great.

- Mankind has achieved his dream
and the dream of everyone else

who's been told you can't do it.

- He had a very special magic to
him and fans could see it.

- I mean, you think about the
appeal of Mick Foley.

Foley does all this for the
Rock.

You're setting up The Rock
versus Stone Cold.

Foley is so hot in this,

he not only makes The Rock into
a mega star,

he keeps himself as a
mega star this entire time.

Then he wins the title.

- The last week was,
without a doubt,

the greatest moment in my
15 year career.

- As you stand in the middle of
The Rock's ring with The Rock's

WWE title, it makes him sick.

The least your unworthy ass can
do is give The Rock

what is rightfully his, and
that's a shot at his WWE title.

- You and I at the Royal Rumble
in an "I quit" match.

- What?

- You see, what
I'm going to do, very simply

is beat the living hell out of
you.

You will be screaming the magic
words "I quit."

"I quit."

"I quit."

- I'm seeing The Rock as the
lead heel.

The problem I see is that he's
so entertaining

that he's hard to truly dislike.

And I see the future.

And the future is Rock, Austin.

And I feel like my job in
wrestling The Rock is to get him

in the best place possible,

to have the biggest money
match possible,

Steve Austin.

And I convinced Dwayne

that the world needs to see a
different side of him.

They need to see a bona fide
mean streak,

and we're going to show
it to them.

- Folks, there are no pinfalls.

There are no count outs.

There are no disqualifications.

There is only one way to win the
title.

And that is for your opponent to
say "I quit."

- The character of The Rock
needed this match.

- He definitely had to step it
up because that was outside

of the box for him.

I've never seen him in a match
like that before.

- I think people were ready

for this great challenge for
Dwayne.

And Mick created a great
challenge for Dwayne.

- Before I was a writer, I was
a big WWE fan

and I was actually at the
"I quit" match

between Mankind
and The Rock.

[bell rings]

- Rock's got his work cut out
for him.

- And King because of the
rules of this matchup,

it's going to be the most
physical

title match in the history of
the WWE.

- Now say it.

- The Rock is going to kick your
fat ass out there.

- It was one of those moments
where it's fun.

- Bells will be ringing.

- And then it gets a little
uncomfortable.

- This is dangerous.

This is bad.

- Oh my God.

Oh my God.

- Sparks flying and everything
that used to be like,

"Oh, that must be the end of the
match."

- King, they got to stop this
thing.

- He raised the
bar in terms of taking

Taking punishment
and pain.

- That's it, that's it.

- No no no no.

No doctor, no nothing.

That son of a bitch will scream,
"I quit,"

and I'll be damned if he
doesn't.

And I didn't hold back that
night.

- Turn around.

- That match got carried away in
a way that I hope

no other match ever does.

- Say "I quit."

- I mean I put him in that
position,

and encouraged
everything he did beforehand.

- Mankind.

Your monkey ass

says "I quit."

- I quit, I quit.

- What?

- What?

- I quit.

- The words "I quit, I quit,"

had been piped in from a
previous interview I'd given,

and it was
really imaginative way of

getting to that ending.

- It was too violent.

But Mick did it in the spirit of
making The Rock look stronger.

- The Rock is the WWE champion.

That match was pivotal in The
Rock's build,

his toughness, his credibility,
all those things.

- That was my primary goal and
in that we were successful.

Like the world saw a different
side of The Rock

that night for sure.

- The Rock makes me sick.

- I hate this guy.

I think they played it
perfectly.

He went to the level that he had
to go to in order to get the

people to turn on him as hard as
they did.

- It got us where
we needed to go,

but did it in a way that was a
little bit unpleasant.

It affected the relationship in
that for a while,

I didn't think he appreciated
what I was trying to do for him.

And, uh,

I let it, I let it get to me.

And, you know, Rock
and I did what

I think is the mature thing.

We sat down one day and we
talked about it.

We shook hands.

We hugged, and we've been tight
ever since.

- This may be the most heated,
most hated rivalry

in the history of the WWE.

- The Royal Rumble 1999.

The match where Mankind brought
out a new side of The Rock.

- If the task was, let's get
Rock to a level where

people see this-

this is a bad guy
who can do bad things

going into the program with
Stone Cold.

That was mission accomplished
because it was really shocking.

- After the infamous "I quit"
match,

We're at Super Bowl 33 and
uh, something very unique

at halftime, uh, WWE presented
a thing called Halftime Heat.

- Super Bowl '99 is a
great game.

It's the Broncos and the
Falcons.

John Elway's ride off into the
sunset moment.

Halftime, by the way,

Stevie Wonder and
Gloria Estefan.

But if you're a fan of WWE,

all due respect to the icon
Stevie Wonder,

I got to flip over and
see what's happening

with The Rock and Mick Foley.

- There was no doubt that our
rivalry,

Mankind and Rock was really
rolling.

The Rock and I were given an
opportunity to

have a match at halftime of
the Super Bowl.

And I suggested the empty
arena match,

and I remember
Terry Funk and Jerry Lawler

having this amazing
empty arena match.

So I arranged for WWE to get a
copy of that match for Dwayne.

- And there they go, back in the
chairs.

- And Dwayne gave me a call
a couple of days later,

Says uh, "Mick, it's Rock.

Uh, I think we got a little
problem here."

I said, "What is it?"

He goes, "I watched that match."

and I said, "Yeah."

And he goes, "It sucks."

"No, no, it doesn't suck.

It's a classic."

He goes, "No, it sucks."

And I later approached Terry
Funk and I was like,

"Terry, how is it that match has
gone down in lore

as being a classic?"

He said, "Oh, Cactus, that match
is terrible."

But it's such a, it's such a
surreal spectacle.

The empty arena.

Lawler.

Funk.

Funk's cursing, which I'd never
seen before.

- I heard enough
[bleep] from everybody.

- But by this time, we were
already tied into

the empty arena theme.

Now, the issue we had at hand is
because the Royal Rumble match

had been pretty excessive in its
bloodiness.

I was under an edict there could
not be a single drop of blood.

And that's that's pretty
harrowing when you've got a

large gash up there in your
scalp.

So I showed up for that match
swathed in more gauze than

Boris Karloff in the original
Universal Mummy movie.

It looks really strange when you
watch it.

It looks almost like I'm bald
because the gauze is just so

tightly wrapped around my head.

- What you're watching is
history in the making.

The first time ever empty arena
match for the WWE title.

- One on one.

- What have you got?

- We're in an empty arena
watching a match.

- Which is one of the
hardest things to do.

- Yeah, when you're when you're
a live entertainer,

you need that feedback

Yeah.

So, to, to, to have this match
with no crowd at-

Wow, that's-

- And you get a lot of the
personality

from The Rock with this.

You know that's where you get
the commentary from The Rock.

This is a really hard thing to
do.

And these guys pulled it off.

- Finally halftime Super Bowl
The Rock the great one,

The most electrifying man in
Sports Entertainment today.

If you smell what The Rock is
cooking.

Now, I'll tell you what-

what Mankind can do.

What?

[yelling]

- An empty arena match affords

The Rock and Foley the
opportunity

to get creative, to get violent.

- How about a kick in the ass?

- But also to get silly
as well.

- Oh, look at this.

Too much salt.

Went to the catering,
and it was like

messing around with the food.

[yelling]

- What would maybe come
across as hokey,

came across as for whatever
reason,

so cool when they would do it.

- It's mild, you-

- It's kind of their superpower.

- You want to smell what
The Rock is cooking?

[yelling]

- And he was on,

he had verbiage for every room
that he was in.

- Yeah, Smackdown hotel.

That's right.

Well, no, Mankind is not
available right now.

He's a little busy.

His mouth is full with The
Rock's foot in his mouth.

[laughing]

- I mean, WWE was so
hot back then

that if Halftime Heat went long

and cut into the Super Bowl,

you wouldn't have cared.

- Rock and Mankind.

Hammering it out.

- I thought we did a pretty good
job-

Down.

-in what was, in a sense, the
first WWE cinematic match.

- No, don't don't don't pin him.

No, no,

No.

- I'm walking away
with the WWE title

and we draw in a monster crowd.

A lot of new eyeballs on the
product.

- And it ended up just
sort of furthering the legend

of Foley and The Rock.

- These two men,
very best

Sports Entertainment has
to offer.

- They had so many big matches
close together,

from Survivor Series to
Valentine's Day Massacre.

We're talking November to
February.

They headlined every pay per
view.

I remember as a fan, not once
did I think,

"Oh, Rock versus Mankind again."

- You're over it.

- I never felt that

'cause every match
was all so different.

- The Rock has a little
challenge of his own.

The Rock proposes a match called
Last Man Standing,

which means there are no
pinfalls.

There are no submissions.

If you've got enough testicular
fortitude,

then you'll go ahead
and accept The Rock's challenge.

- You have a sympathetic
character like a Mick Foley.

- You look at The Rock when the
Rock is speaking to you.

- They had that chemistry
because of that.

Rock is so quick witted and Mick
was the perfect fodder for him.

- The Rock will proceed to beat
your roody poo candy ass

all across the arena.

Through my nature, my desire to
entertain.

I wanted to go into
every performance,

whether it was on

the microphone or
whether it was

in the ring,
without inhibition.

And I always thought every
single night,

there was nothing
that I won't try.

Know your role.

Get your candy ass out of the
Rock's chair.

[laughing]

- The Rock is here to add a
little bit of class to the show.

The challenge was to be an
arrogant,

entertaining individual.

Look at The Rock's competition.

Look at him.

It looks like a big monkey came
down here, took a crap,

and out came Mankind.

But at the same time, audiences
would still enjoy seeing

get the better of it.

Come here.

- Look out.

- The rivalry was so special
because they could go in and out

of so many things.

Touch a little bit of comedy and
then it can be very serious

the very next second.

- The Rock counters.

No, no.

- It was a really physical
match.

I'd be hurting for quite a
while after that.

- Foley may be broken in half.

- Mick Foley would do anything
for the audience,

anything to make sure that

when that person went home,

they had a memory that would
last a lifetime.

- No, no, no.

- That's what drove Mick Foley.

- How the hell is he still
moving?

- I try my best to make
everything I do original,

but once in a while you borrow a
little bit.

And so in the Last Man Standing
match,

Rock and I borrowed from
The Rocky Two finish

with the double knockout.

- Mankind to his feet.

Rock with his feet.

Both have chairs.

Oh.

They both clocked each other
with those chairs.

- So we ended up with a double
knockout finish.

Inconclusive.

- This bout is a draw.

[crowd boos]

- The reasoning for it was to
get to a match on television and

to-to kind of pay it off on TV,

where you have a larger
audience.

- The Rock will try to become

a three time WWE champion.

He will meet Mankind in a ladder
match for the title and a chance

to go to WrestleMania 15 as
champion.

- Now you're going to have a
decisive winner,

because there's only one
championship belt

that will be
hung above the ring.

You got to climb a ladder and
fight like hell to get there,

but only one person is going to
grab that championship

and be the champion at the end
of the day.

- I was pretty banged up,
but we still had a good match.

Like we couldn't help it.

We had the chemistry there.

- Mr. Elbow.

- His whole run with Rock
was so entertaining.

I mean, they had such a great
chemistry together.

- Mankind climbing the ladder.

- I enjoyed that whole rivalry
quite a bit.

- Mick was always wanting to do
something that was going to be

great for the match,

great for you,

and great for him.

- Mankind is in serious trouble
here.

- Mick didn't have a selfish
bone in his body.

- No, no.

Rock Bottom.

Rock Bottom.

Holy cow.

- He had everybody's respect.

- Rock DDT,
planted Mick Foley.

[crowd cheers]

- The Rock climbing the ladder.

The Rock has the championship
belt.

The Rock is going to
WrestleMania as champion.

- And that's the way we ended
this magnificent

journey The Rock and I
had been on.

- I thought Mick really
benefited from this as far as

establishing him as the
sentimental favorite.

- And for The Rock,

he needed someone like this to
give him the credibility.

- Yeah.

- Right.

They were so different and they
had this incredible rivalry, and

they made so much magic
together, and they really both

elevated each other to be
becoming bigger stars.

- By the time you get
to summer in 1999,

WWE is starting to really get to
its peak of mainstream appeal.

- Hasta la vista, baby.

- Mr. Socko.

- The Rock and Mick
Foley became these superstars

beyond the ring.

Both just went to the moon.

- The Rock's says this Big Show
and The Undertaker.

You two Jabronis, you come on
down here

later on at the end of the
night,

you face The Rock
in a handicap match.

- Rock has laid a challenge
down.

[Mankind's music]

- I'm here to tell you.

That you don't have to
do this alone.

You see, Mankind was talking to
the people.

And the people want Mankind

as The Rock's partner.

- What?

- Wow.

- I thought they hate each
other.

- Together we will stand side
by side.

[crowd cheers]

- Yeah, the fans are standing.

- And lay the Smackdown.

- Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa.

- I don't think this is going to
happen, JR

- Lot of bad blood between
these two.

[crowd chants "Rocky"]

- The Rock says one time you
will be the People's partner.

- What?

Wait a minute.

- It's going to happen

- The Rock and Mankind
are two of the biggest stars,

and to see these two guys

that were constantly battling
against each other all of a

sudden form this very different
union.

- The tag team titles at stake
here now.

- Man this stinking
Socko is out.

What is this?

It's the most electrifying.

Oh.

- A double People's Elbow.

The Rock got the cover,

can he?

Yes.

[bell rings]

[The Rock's music]

- We've got new tag champions.

- The birth of The Rock 'n Sock
connection,

which I don't think anybody saw
coming.

Especially me.

- The best rivals often make the
best partners.

- The greatest tag team in WWE
history.

- The Rock 'n Sock connection.

You get something straight right
here, right now, don't you ever,

and the Rock means ever

[crowd yells "Ever"]

- Refer to The Rock and yourself

as The Rock 'n Sock connection
again.

- It's all just Mankind's
whole backstories,

always having a hard time being
accepted

and all he wants is to be
accepted.

And The Rock is so cool and too
cool for school all the time.

- These two guys are still the
most unlikely tag champions

I've ever seen.

- For us to come
come as partners,

and it's Rock ' n
Sock connection.

The Rock will take that goofy
mask you got on

turn that sumbitch sideways,

and stick it straight up your
candy ass.

He was able to exercise his
muscles as a comedian.

- Uh, Mankind, uh,

how do you feel?

- It doesn't matter how I feel
Michael Cole.

- Rock spoke of me with such
disdain.

- Rock's not even listening to
you.

Rock can't even hear himself
talk.

[bleep] sakes.

- That's good stuff, though.

Like-

Like I was beneath him even to
be out there.

While in real life we were
having the time of our lives.

High five.

You got me again.

I'm off.

I've got work to do.

The show is over.

Cameras are no longer rolling,

and Rock and I are still there
for another 5 or 6 minutes.

- If you smell-

- What The Sock is cooking.

- Foley made impeccable
comedy timing with Rock.

That just made you laugh out
loud.

- You smell what The Sock is
cooking?

- We had so much fun doing that.

It was a nice dynamic between
us.

- And the truth is, we didn't
team up all that long.

It was like a two month period
of time.

- Well this crowd supports The
Rock 'n Sock connection.

- The Rock 'n Sock was a
beautiful experience,

and then he went his own way
and I went mine.

- A few years have gone by

- You know, Rock by that point
was doing the movies.

Wasn't really around much.

- Yeah, he's definitely a
Hollywood star at this point.

- I get a phone call from Brian
Gewirtz,

who was the head writer of Raw
at the time,

and he asks
me how I would feel

about The Rock as my partner at
WrestleMania.

I kid you not, I got, like, warm
tinglies.

[laughing]

I got, I did,

I felt all fuzzy because I did
not know

that he thought that
highly of me.

- That parallel of the outcast
truly being embraced

by the cool kid

is something that really,
really, truly touched his heart.

- For me to come
back to WrestleMania

and team with a guy who I
admire, who I respect.

It's a thrill.

It's a pleasure.

You see, Mick Foley, it's our
night.

It's our night.

Let's go out there and electrify
as only you and The Rock can.

Let's go out there, slap the
lips off those Evolution

sons of bitches, whoop their
candy asses.

- Rock 'n Sock

are rocking and rolling
here.

It really ended up becoming this
fun additional chapter

that you never thought
you would get.

- Oh, look out Randy.

- And oh,
Randy Orton with the RKO.

- Beautiful.

- Out of nowhere.

- Oh.

- And Evolution wins it.

Mick Foley and The Rock gave us
all they had here.

[crowd chants "Foley"]

- The ending was very nice.

- I think you call it respect.

- And so we really came full
circle.

And we've continued to be,
uh, very good friends.

He reached out to me and let me
know that there was going to be

a Christmas episode of
Young Rock inspired by me.

- Merry Christmas, Mick.

- Back at you, buddy.

- And I found myself in a hotel
room,

sitting in a chair by myself,
fighting off tears, thinking

"This man, the biggest star in
the world,

who I once thought did not have
enough respect for me,

is showering me
with respect and love.

And it was one of the best
experiences of my life.

- It makes me have a great
admiration and appreciation

for a guy like that.

When you think about all the
things that he's done,

just in terms of putting his
body on the line.

- They both really became bigger
stars

in working with each other,
but they needed each other,

and we saw that.

- My rivalry with
The Rock was huge.

It opened the door for the
single biggest

moment of my career-

- Mankind has achieved his
dream.

- -and I think the teaming
meant even more.

- I have love for you and
respect.

Let's do our thing.

- If you smell-

- They were so opposite that
they blended so well.

- The Rock 'n Sock connection.

People never got tired of it.

They can come out now and still
people would enjoy the segment.

- Do you think The Rock walked
all the way from the other side

of this arena,
right here to find you,

just to shake your hand?

The rivalry that I had with Mick
Foley was very special.

[laughing]

And it was a pleasure

to work with him
and to be his partner.

- Hey, hey, my my Rock 'n Sock
will never die.