WWE: 10 Most Famous Loser Leaves Town Retirement Matches
4. Triple H vs. Cactus Jack (No Way Out 2000)
When a company wants to elevate a performer to a higher level, making him a bigger star in the eyes of the fans, the established standard in the wrestling industry has always been for a wrestler with a higher profile to help make them. This usually involves the bigger star putting over the up-and-comer, spotlighting them with wins in big time matches. A perfect example of this is the effort Mick Foley put into Triple H in early 2000. Hunter Hearst Helmsley had broken away from being seen as a member of DX and had become his own (Stephanie McMahons) man. He had been having some very good matches in the midcard and WWE felt like he was ready for the next step. They put the title on him but he still needed that one final push. Enter Mick Foley, who at the time was battling some nagging injuries due to the punishment he put his body through and was contemplating retirement. Tradition states that if youre going to go out, you do so on your back so Foley and Triple H engaged in a classic blood feud designed to push Helmsley to the upper echelon of the roster. The 2000 Royal Rumble featured a brutal street fight between the two that saw them use chairs, the ring bell, wooden pallets, a trash can, thumbtacks and a 2x4 wrapped in barbed wire. Triple H picked up the win after pedigreeing Jack on the thumbtacks. It was a classic and would be ridiculously hard to top. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lf9zF-yQbio No Way Out the following month featured the return match with the hated rivals going to war inside Hell in a Cell, with the added stipulation that if Cactus Jack lost he would retire. The barbed wire 2x4 made another appearance, this time being set aflame. The two men broke through the cage and scaled to the top, bringing back memories of Foley's heartstopping bumps in his Cell match vs. Undertaker. Much like that match, he took a fall through the roof of the cage to the ring below (which had been properly gimmicked this time to absorb his landing), and a pedigree later Mick Foley's in-ring career was over. For thirty six days.
Brad Hamilton is a writer, musician and marketer/social media manager from Atlanta, Georgia. He's an undefeated freestyle rap battle champion, spends too little time being productive and defines himself as the literary version of Brock Lesnar.
