10 Wrestlers Better Off For Having Worked With Mick Foley

Very few wrestlers can be credited with leaving sports entertainment a better place than it was when they got there.

The Hall of Fame is dotted with men and women who cannot make such a claim, their successes undeniable but not so impactful that they benefited the industry in a way that improved it in any measurable way.

One Superstar who can, though, is the bearded, flannel-wearing heavyweight who spilled blood on continents across the globe, fell on hundreds of thumbtacks, endured thousands of chair shots and inspired millions of fans.

His name is Mick Foley and many of the industry's greatest competitors owe him a debt of gratitude.

Foley was a selfless performer, someone who sacrificed his body for the sake of entertaining the masses, in pursuit of greatness, and in hopes of making his opponents look every bit as credible as he did.

More times than not, he succeeded, and the business prospered on the backs of the stars he helped build, create and elevate.

Who are those Superstars lucky to have shared the ring with the Hardcore Legend and why?

Let's take a look.

The Nasty Boys had plenty of exposure by the time they returned to WCW in 1993. They had previously competed for the company and found success in both the AWA and WWE.

As nasty as their demeanour may have been, though, Knobbs and Sags were still lacking that one series of matches that demonstrated just how violent and vile they could be.

Enter Mick Foley, under the guise of Cactus Jack. With partner Maxx Payne, he waged war with The Nasty Boys at April 1994's Spring Stampede. It was a wild and chaotic Chicago Street Fight with tag team gold at stake, a brilliant match that helped Sags and Knobbs entrench themselves in the heart of the tag team division.

The rematch a month later at Slamboree improved upon the instant classic that was the original, a phenomenal match that captivated the Philadelphia fans with its sheer violence and unforgiving brutality.

Jack teamed with Kevin Sullivan on that night, winning the tag titles in a feel good moment, but it was the Nasty Boys who were better off for having worked with Foley. Never really the strongest wrestlers from an in-ring perspective, the series opened the eyes of management to the quality brawls the team thrived in.

Against Harlem Heat and Public Enemy, they would become cornerstones of the tag division by working those same brawling-type matches.

More importantly, they would gain acceptance from a WCW audience who, previously, only remembered them for getting their asses kicked by the Steiner Brothers some four years earlier.