2. Mick Foley Steals The Show At Back-to-Back Royal Rumbles
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14DK8PTl01Y Before 1999, Mick Foley was an important member of the supporting cast of the Attitude Era. He was the stunt man and the wrestler most willing to put himself at risk to help everyone else. Over as he had become, his peers just kept passing him by. He had a few major matches and had been involved in headlining stories, but the Austins, Rocks, and Hunters of the world always earned a spot higher than his. On the first Raw of the year, however, Foley won the WWE Championship from The Rock. People became more engrossed in Foley's success than ever thought possible. At the Royal Rumble a few weeks later, he lost the title back to Rock, but he did so in spectacular fashion. He took ten consecutive chair shots to the head. It was a brutal match that toughened up Rock and stamped Foley as far more than just a member of the ensemble for the top stars. More people ordered the 1999 Royal Rumble on PPV than ever before or since and much of the credit should go to Foley. The following year, Foley would retire from full-time wrestling, but not before an incredible series of matches with Triple H completed his legacy. At Madison Square Garden (cite of many of the Rumble's most celebrated moments), Foley brought back his Cactus Jack persona and fought Trips in a Street Fight regarded as one of the Attitude Era's greatest matches. Foley and HHH clicked, both in the ring and on the microphone. They were perfect foils. By Royal Rumble 2000's end, Foley had hit another critical and financial homerun. He was WWE's Rocky Balboa. He was a huge star.
"The Doc" Chad Matthews has written wrestling columns for over a decade. A physician by trade, Matthews began writing about wrestling as a hobby, but it became a passion. After 30 years as a wrestling fan, "The Doc" gives an unmatched analytical perspective on pro wrestling in the modern era. He is a long-time columnist for Lordsofpain.net and hosts a weekly podcast on the LOP Radio Network called "The Doc Says." His first book - The WrestleMania Era: The Book of Sports Entertainment - ranks the Top 90 wrestlers from 1983 to present day, was originally published in December 2013, and is now in its third edition.
Matthews lives in North Carolina with his wife, two kids, and two dogs.