5 Times Ric Flair Took WWE To The Extreme

Hot off the heels of the big showdown with…Big Show down in ECW, Naitch would once again take his aging body to the extreme just one month later when he would square off with perhaps the most legendary hardcore performer in WWE history – the hardcore legend, Mick Foley.

Born out of disparagingly negative comments made by Flair towards Foley in his autobiography (namely labelling Mick a “glorified stuntman”, no less), the animosity between the two men was believable for good reason – it was real. Suspension of disbelief wasn’t necessary in this one; there was genuinely no love lost between these two men and it would all come to a head in the fabled “I Quit” match.

The intrigue factor was palpable as fans struggled to predict which of these proud, battle-tested warriors would have to resort to uttering the dreaded words, “I quit”. Would it be Foley: the hardcore legend with a near-mythical reputation forged on blood, violence and brutality? Or would it be the iconic Flair: a 16 time World Champion who had beaten the very best and had a list of in-ring accolades longer than the Four Horsemen’s Marriot bar tab?

Having already lost 2-0 in their “Two Out of Three Falls” match-up two months prior at the Vengeance PPV, Foley had a score to settle going into the match and his actions would convey this fact from the get go; pummelling Naitch from the opening bell. Playing the role of heel, Foley was in full-on Cactus Jack mode on this night and was more than happy to supply the relevant toys and tools for the occasion: barbed wire bats, barbed wire boards and, of course, the unforgiving Foley equaliser - the dreaded bag of thumbtacks.

The match was messianic brutality and undeniably violent from bell to bell. Barbed wire chops to the chest, multiple barbed wire board shots to the face and enough blood to leave the ring looking like a crime scene made the Sabu/Big Show “Extreme Rules” match earlier that evening seem like Midnight Mass by comparison. Breakfast at Tiffany’s this was not.

Shades of his classic “I Quit” match with Terry Funk some 17 years earlier, Flair would exude a rare mean streak and intensity during the bout, taking the fight to his bitter rival in a way seldom seen yet growingly evident throughout 2006. Despite the match being stopped twice - first by officials following a hellacious Foley back bump to the outside and the second by way of Melina (Foley’s short-term valet) throwing in the towel – Flair refused to yield until he made his opponent scream those two emasculating words.

The match eventually came to a head when Flair – wielding a barbed wire bat – would target Melina; threatening to unleash his anger on her. Mercifully, Foley spat out the fateful words to seemingly protect his valet and the bout was over. Flair emerging as the bloodied victor with Foley left laying as the noble, wounded soldier; lacerated arm, crimson faced and visibly a beaten and battered man.

It would be the last time Flair and Foley faced off inside a WWE ring; however, the two legends would wage war once more four years later on the smaller stage of TNA Impact in a “Last Man Standing” match. Despite both men’s advancing years, the return bout is yet another brutal encounter – arguably more so than their SummerSlam brawl – and an unmissable necessity for any fan of either men.