Ranking The Biggest Rivalries In Wrestling Every Year 1990-2020
17. 2004 - Randy Orton Vs Mick Foley
Mick Foley's attempt to hold on to his second 2000 retirement was far more earnest than his first, not least because he ended up having a bit of a fall out with the company over a number of issues including but not limited to their own disinterest in his character and their sudden fascination with a guy pretending to f*ck a corpse on television.
That guy was somebody Foley made, and look what he was doing with that privilege. Perhaps Randy Orton wouldn't be quite as bad backstag-
Well anyway the programme was incredible. Foley was kicked down stairs and spat on at the end of 2003 to set up his heroic return at 2004's Royal Rumble, taking them to a box office Rock & Sock/Evolution tag at WrestleMania before their bloodthirsty showstealer at Backlash. Immaculately plotted, executed and worked, Orton's ascent was assured rather than assumed in its aftermath.