Review of WWE: Mick Foley - Greatest Hits and Misses (Hardcore Edition - 3 Discs)

Introduction

In a wrestling world that is full of truly unique individuals, it could easily be argued that Mick Foley is the most unique of them all. You see, the man who made his reputation by being the one-eared maniac from Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, is also a tremendously articulate orator, and the author of several best-selling books, both autobiographical and fictional.

Known as one of the originators of "hardcore wrestling", Foley is often derided for being more akin to a stuntman, than a pro wrestler. That, however, is an unfair criticism, as there is no denying that he has been involved in some tremendous matches over the years, most notably with Sting, Shawn Michaels, and The Undertaker. Foley`s style may be a brawling one, but the wrestling world would be a boring one if everyone`s style was identical.

Although his greatest fame came in the WWF/WWE, much of his most inspired work has come away from the spotlight, notably in the original ECW promotion, and in Japan. In ECW, his "anti-hardcore" gimmick produced some of the greatest promos (interviews) ever recorded. In Japan, he participated in some ground-breaking, brutal matches for the FMW promotion. In 1995, he won the King of the Death Matches tournament, but suffered third-degree burns in doing so.

This three-disc set was released previously as two-disc package, with this "Hardcore Edition" released to coincide with Foley latest book. The extra disc looks at Foley`s returns to the WWE ring in both 2004 and 2006, with the others covering his career in WCW, ECW, as well as WWE.

Video

Video is presented in 4:3 fullscreen PAL, and is very good for a DVD of this genre. The transfer of the footage is excellent, so what you are seeing here, is likely the best that this footage has to offer. Naturally, the lower-budget ECW footage does not look anywhere near as good as the WWE footage, but that is actually an integral part of the ECW charm.

One interesting note about the video is that during Foley vs. Vader bout (the first on Disc One), some footage of the match from Foley`s personal library is shown, rather than the footage that aired on television. That is because there was a WCW policy at the time, whereby no blood was allowed to be seen on television. Foley, however, obtained an unedited copy of the bout, so halfway through, you`ll see the switch to the poorer-quality, but unedited, footage. Although miles away from DVD standard, it is very watchable indeed.

It should also be noted that some video editing has been done to several bouts on Disc Two, so as to obscure the WWF "scratch" logo, that is not allowed to be shown following a court case involving the World Wildlife Fund. The digitisation is a little distracting, but generally will not affect your viewing pleasure.

Audio

Audio is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0, and is also very good for a DVD of this genre. Everything is clear in the mix, from commentary to in-ring action, and suffers from no noticeable transfer issues.

One minor complaint regards the editing of the audio, done for copyright reasons. Some of the entrance music tracks have been altered, and worse, the commentary of Jesse Ventura has been removed from the Foley vs. Vader bout, leaving big gaps in between the words of Tony Schiavone. These things are noticeable to the trained ear, but are covered well enough that casual fans may bypass them.

In a change from the original release, a 2.0 track is also available for German viewers.

Features

As we have come to expect from WWE Superstar releases, this one is packed with extras.

On Disc One, we have four interview segments, all of which are typically excellent. One is Foley`s interview after his bout with Vader (on the main feature), and another is his ECW farewell speech, during which the fans show their appreciation for him, even though he had played heel for months prior to that. The two remaining interviews were part of that heel angle in ECW, and are absolute must-viewing. Innovatively conceived, and delivered with the believability of an award-winning actor, these remain as some of the greatest interviews ever captured on tape.

There are also three matches on Disc One, the first being a Falls Count Anywhere bout between Foley and Sting, taken from WCW Beach Blast (20th June 1992). This is an excellent brawl, in what was considered Foley`s signature match. My only complaint is that the original commentary is not available here, replaced with a new one by Foley and Jonathan Coachman. This appears to have been done for copyright reasons.

The re-match with Sabu (30th September 1994) also appears here, and is perhaps even more of a violent brawl than the original encounter in the ECW Arena. Foley and Coachman are back to commentate, this time, I believe, because no commentary was originally recorded for the match. The conclusion to this bout is absolutely brutal.

The final match on this disc is only Foley`s second bout as a professional wrestler, a tag team match where he partners British veteran Les Thornton (who now resides in Canada), to take on The British Bulldogs (13th September 1986). The match is an entertaining squash, notable only for the beating Foley takes, which he explains in more depth prior to the bout.

Also included here is a short (six minutes) feature on Foley`s departure, and subsequent return, to the WWE, after a falling out with Vince McMahon.

Disc Two concentrates on interview segments, which again maintain a high standard throughout. Firstly, we get to see several vignettes which were used to introduce Foley to the WWE audience back in 1996, under the new guise of Mankind.

From there, there is an in-ring interview with Foley and manager Paul Bearer, prior to his bout with Shawn Michaels, and we also get a look at the sit-down interview segments with Jim Ross, which planted the seeds of Mankind as a babyface (good guy). At the time, these were considered ground-breaking.

The first appearance of Mr Socko (yes, a sock puppet, which in Foley hands, is much funnier than it sounds) is next, as Mankind commiserates with Vince McMahon at the latter`s hospital bedside. Then, there are two oddly comical features with Foley and Al Snow in Las Vegas, the purpose of which will escape the memory of even the most ardent WWE fan. Finishing up Disc Two, there is an interview segment with Kurt Angle, from Foley`s role as WWE Commissioner in 2000. Shockingly, Foley bears great resemblance here to Eric Bana, in his portrayal of Mark "Chopper" Read!

Finally, on Disc Three, all four bouts have an extra commentary track, with Joey Styles and Foley himself. While I highly recommend that you watch the bouts for the first time with the original commentary, Styles and Foley do provide an interesting track, with Foley discussing his mindset going into each bout, and providing further behind-the-scenes information.

Conclusion

The main feature begins with Foley (as Cactus Jack) facing Vader, in a match taped for the WCW Saturday Night TV show (17th April 1993). The bout isn`t particularly great, but as previously noted, it is incredibly brutal, especially in light of the extra footage from Foley`s own library. That, more than anything, makes it essential viewing.

The tag team bout alongside Maxx Payne, against The Nasty Boys (17th April 1994), is another hellacious affair, fought under Falls Count Anywhere rules. Unlike so many no-rules bouts of today, this truly feels chaotic, and features too many brutal moments to mention, though a sickening Foley fall particularly stands out. You will be hard-pressed to find a similar bout which meets this one`s lofty standards.

The ECW Hostile City Showdown encounter between Foley and Sabu is next (26th June 1994), a bout which didn`t quite live up to its hype, although ECW head-honcho Paul Heyman has claimed that some fans in the audience whose expectations were that someone would die during the bout. It is still a good contest, one which I remember to this day for the chair shot Foley delivers to 911 in the match`s aftermath.

After an old-school style match with the late Chris Candido (18th November 1994), Foley then engages in an odd encounter with the Sandman (4th February 1995). The bout is fought under Texas Death Match rules (the loser fails to answer a count of ten), but falls apart somewhat when The Sandman is devastatingly knocked out in the opening minutes of the contest. Still, in many ways, the oddness of the match makes it one to watch.

The next bout is another tag team contest, as Foley teams with Raven to face Terry Funk and Tommy Dreamer (18th November 1995). This match has some elements of humour (a VCR used as a weapon) in its opening, but soon turns into a bloody brawl, and an entertaining one at that. The final ECW match here - in fact, Foley`s last original ECW match - against Mikey Whipwreck (9th March 1996), doesn`t quite match the same standard, but is essential in Foley`s career nonetheless.

Disc Two begins the look at the WWE years, and the Mankind character that Foley would play for much of his time there. The first bout on offer is from In Your House: Mind Games, against Shawn Michaels (22nd September 1996), and is a bout which Foley has recently proclaimed this to be his second favourite bout from his career - the first is coming up on Disc Three. The match with Michaels is very good, although I was quite saddened that it is spoiled by a poor finish.

Next up is a bout with Triple-H, at this point still known by his full ring moniker of Hunter Hearst Helmsley (22nd September 1997). This is taken from an episode of Raw which is more famous for being the first occasion that "Stone Cold" Steve Austin beat up Vince McMahon. That may have been momentous, by Foley (actually debuting the Cactus Jack gimmick in the company) vs. Helmsley is a very good, and typically punishing, Falls Count Anywhere match.

The same description could be applied to the next match, as Foley squares off against perennial nemesis Terry Funk (4th May 1998), also with Falls Count Anywhere rules. This match is a little slower than the bout with Helmsley, and is almost as enjoyable to watch.

While it is not as well remembered as many of Foley`s other bouts, his contest with Steve Austin from Over The Edge 1998 (31st May 1998) is truly one of the best of his entire career. A wild brawl all over the building, additional intrigue is added to the match with the presence of Vince McMahon as special guest referee. Thankfully, due to an unadvertised guardian, McMahon doesn`t get things all his own way, and thus the match saw all expectations, and raised them.

Without question, the Hell in a Cell encounter with The Undertaker (28th June 1998) is Foley`s most (in)famous bout, and rightly so. In fifteen years as a wrestling fan, having watched various promotions from all across the globe, I don`t believe anything has surpassed the insanity of this bout. Foley takes two huge falls, lesser distances from which have quite literally paralysed others. To put it in perspective, Foley later asked The Undertaker what he thought after he saw Foley take the second fall. "I thought you were dead," was his reply.

The penultimate bout is an interesting one for a number of reasons, as Foley faces The Rock (4th January 1999) for the latter`s WWE title. Aside from being the first occasion that Foley captures the belt, the bout caused controversy when the announcer of the rival WCW Nitro event, a live show that was going head-to-head on television with the taped WWE Raw, told Nitro viewers that there was no point in changing the channel to Raw, as the results were already known, and Foley had won the belt. At almost the exact point that the announcer (Tony Schiavone, who was explicitly told to make the remark) said this, a purported 600,000 viewers switched from Nitro to Raw. In any case, this is a fun TV match, with an incredibly raucous ending, only made better by the behind-the-scenes story.

The last bout on Disc Two, and the last of the original DVD release, is the bout with Triple-H at the Royal Rumble (23rd January 2000). Fought under Streetfight rules, this is a long and violent contest, and one of the best among the many great matches here.

Finally on to Disc Three, where the first bout is another (surprise!) Falls Count Anywhere match, this time with Randy Orton (18th April 2004). This bout is rather a slow-burner, but it is paced superbly, so that every single crazy blow means something within the bout`s context. This is the bout which Foley now considers the best of his career.

Similarly, Foley considers the next match, against Edge at Wrestlemania (2nd April 2006), to be his finest performance at that annual event. Widely considered the match of the night, this is a classic ECW style affair, which features a quite insane finish.

Oddly, Foley teams with Edge in the proceeding bout, against Tommy Dreamer & Terry Funk, from ECW One Night Stand (11th June 2006). This bout is about as far away from a technical wrestling match as can be, but it is still a dramatic brawl, which fits in well with the other bouts here.

The final bout, a No-Disqualification match with Ric Flair from Summerslam (20th August 2006), is an odd way to finish this release. An intriguing and very bloody match, this bout contained a god-awful conclusion, which is absolutely not the way to wrap up this excellent set.

Overall, Mick Foley`s Greatest Hits and Misses: Hardcore Edition, is an absolute must-have. Introduced by Foley himself, he tells some interesting anecdotes to open each bout, providing a little behind-the-scenes colour to what the viewer is about to see. Furthermore, the matches themselves are often captivating and momentous in equal measure.

With high-quality video and audio available here, and further excellent extras to keep viewers busy, this is a DVD that every modern wrestling fan should have in their collection.