10 Most Extreme Rules In WWE History
9. The Pink Slip On A Pole Match
A throwback to the kind of matches that Vince Russo touched himself over, the Pink Slip On A Pole match took place between The Rock and Mankind on the December 27th 1999 edition of Monday Night RAW.
The McMahon-Helmsley Faction - the Attitude Era’s precursor to the Authority, with less corporate double-speak but more moustache-twirling evil and moronic henchmen - had only just debuted, and been opposed by Mankind, playing the underdog-speaking-truth-to-power babyface role against Triple H and Stephanie that Daniel Bryan took on fourteen years later.
As payback for publically opposing them, Mankind and The Rock, who had been teaming together as The Rock N’ Sock Connection for the last few months, were forced to face one another, with the loser being fired. Strangely enough, the winner would be the one to tear down the pink slip and keep his job, despite the ‘receiving a pink slip’ being a figure of speech for losing it.
The Rock would win the six-minute match in the middle of the show, and Foley was fired, delivering a heartfelt retirement speech in the middle of the ring to a standing ovation as Jim Ross put him over. However, making a run-in from the crowd to save The Rock in the handicap-match main event the following week, he would be reinstated the week after that when The Rock and the rest of the roster threatened to go on strike unless the McMahon-Helmsley Regime changed their minds.
So there you have it: a short match that made no sense, with a manipulative finish that didn’t stick and a storyline that didn’t go anywhere. Welcome to the Attitude Era.