10 Biggest Moments In The History Of WWE Backlash
3. Foley Makes A Man Out Of Orton (2004)
Mick Foley has represented the turning point in many heels' careers. His brutal matches with Triple H and Edge helped legitimise those superstars, giving an added dimension of toughness to their existing wiles.
However, perhaps the most infamous of these bloodbaths came against Randy Orton at Backlash 2004.
Before this encounter, Orton was seen as a reviled pretty boy, far closer to the archetypal cowardly heel than the twisted sadist we're familiar with these days. This match changed all that, as Randy was put through a gauntlet of punishment, from barbed wire to tables to thumbtacks - taking perhaps the most famous thumbtack bump in WWE history, as his bare back was punctured by hundreds of the damn things.
Eventually he was able to secure victory, and emerged a legitimate star. Orton certainly owes a lot to Foley, even if he perhaps didn't feel so grateful in the immediate aftermath.