10 Best "Passing Of The Torch" Matches In WWE History
7. Randy Orton Vs. Cactus Jack (Backlash 2004)
Few individuals have sacrificed more for professional wrestling than Mick Foley. From losing his ear in WCW to consenting to The Undertaker throwing him from Hell In A Cell, Foley has literally put his life on the line for the sake of telling a good story. His WWE run was particularly destructive, and saw his body endure more punishment than anyone else in company history, but it paid-off. Foley’s spirit made him a folk hero, and one of the Attitude Era’s most important players.
Even in 2004, with his broken body barely held together anymore, Foley was still giving back to the business. The former WWE Champion was called upon to give the rising Randy Orton a huge rub at Backlash 2004, and that’s exactly what he did. The duo wrestled a hardcore match for Orton’s Intercontinental Championship, and with Foley summoning his old Cactus Jack persona, the results were brutal, bloody, and violent.
Orton was portrayed as a complete hardcore amateur prior to the match, but he was a star by the end of it. Barbed wire, tables, thumb tacks: all of Foley’s usual toys were present and correct, but he couldn’t compete with the younger wrestler, who proved his mettle with a hard-fought victory. This wasn’t a “passing of the torch” in the sense of Orton inheriting Foley’s hardcore mantle, but it proved Orton’s legitimacy in the ring, and showed that he could hang with any wrestler in any environment.