The I Quit Match between The Rock and Mick Foley at the 1999 Royal Rumble is as close as the WWE has ever come to delivering a snuff film to the public. The Behind the Mat documentary famously undercuts the brutal series of chair shots that The Rock gives Foley near the tail end of their match with reactions from Foley's wife and children, who grimace their way through the first couple, and absolutely lose their s--t after it goes into double digits. Which is the most rational response to that unnecessarily hardcore display. She probably had images of having to spoon-feed her husband for the rest of his life by number 6. Most wrestlers take a chair shot by throwing their hands in front of their faces at the last second, and with good reason: GETTING HIT IN THE HEAD WITH A STEEL CHAIR IS NOT CONDUCIVE TO LIVING A FULL LIFE. In order to give The Rock a more sadistic bent going into his feud with Stone Cold at WrestleMania XV, Foley came up with the idea to basically sacrifice his personal health in some extremely misguided martyrdom. Reportedly, Mick blacked out after the first couple shots (or went into some kind of shock that left him unable to just stay the f**k down for God's sake), and that's why The Rock just kept swinging, trying to get Foley over to his mark. But to paraphrase The Brahma Bull, IT DOESN'T MATTER IF HE DOESN'T HIT HIS MARK! Just stop trying to end his life! https://youtu.be/mgeZdjsqqfU?t=2m17s A rematch was immediately ordered for The Royal Rumble. Mankind and The Rock went to battle on January 24, 1999 in an I Quit match. This match had one of the most horrific displays in WWE history when The Rock cuffed Mankinds hands behind his back and repeatedly blasted him in the head with a steel chair. When The Rock asked Mankind if he quit, a recording of Foleys voice was played over the speakers from a prior interview with Mankind screaming I Quit three times. When it comes to telling a good story, this match between The Rock and Mankind at the 1999 Royal Rumble did a great job. However, they did it at the expense of Mick Foleys safety, and even did it in front of his family. While filming Beyond the Mat, Foleys wife and children were sitting ringside and had to watch the patriarch of the family get his hands tied behind his back and eat chair shot after chair shot in an unprotected manner straight to the head.
