10 Fascinating WWE SummerSlam 2006 Facts
4. Rob Van Dam's Arrest Benefited The Flair/Foley Match, In Foley's Eyes
Foley and "The Nature Boy" put on a surprisingly-barbaric match at SummerSlam, especially for two men that list "bleeding profusely" on their resumes as special skills. It was a wholly gruesome spectacle, one made a bit more heated by their barbed promos beforehand. Barbed promos are a good segue into barbed wire, after all.
Foley believes that Rob Van Dam's arrest for drug possession in early-July 2006 had an unexpected benefit for the match with Flair. The Raw following RVD's arrest was supposed to feature a six-man tag where Flair and Foley would be on opposite teams.
After Foley left Flair a bloody mess at Vengeance, Mick wanted to avoid physicality with Flair for a number of weeks leading up to the PPV, so that their war would seem fresh. RVD's arrest necessitated changing the format for Raw, and the six-man was off. Silver linings and all that good stuff.