Over the course of his three-decade career, The Undertaker took part in thousands of matches, so it’s no wonder that some of them didn’t quite go according to plan.
The most memorable of these was his clash with Mick Foley at King of the Ring 1998 inside Hell in a Cell. The match has gone down in infamy in wrestling history because of the abuse Foley – then going by Mankind – took to his body from the start.
After he made his entrance, Foley immediately climbed to the top of the cage and Undertaker followed. The two briefly fought on top of the structure before The Phenom sent Foley flying from the top and through an announce table 16 feet below.
While that would have been the end of a lesser man, the match continued and Mankind even climbed back up, only to be Chokeslammed through the roof of the Cell to the mat below. A chair followed down with him, knocking him unconscious.
As medical personnel and Foley’s friend Terry Funk checked on the Hardcore Legend, The Undertaker jumped down and attacked Funk.
The Undertaker recalls Chokeslamming Terry Funk out of his shoes
Looking back on the match during a recent appearance on Complex’s Sneaker Shopping web series, The Undertaker said he thought Foley was “inches away” from not getting back up after the fall.
“It’s just one of those things that happened. Obviously everyone was really concerned for Mankind going through there [the cell]. He was inches away from probably not getting up from that, so that’s why that all just happened [unplanned].”
The Phenom said he went off-script to Chokeslam Funk – who lost his shoes in the move – because he felt he couldn’t just stand around looking on.
“I don’t know what kind of shape Mick’s in, right? But then again you just can’t stand there and look around, so there’s a wrestler in the ring, somebody’s gotta get it! Somebody’s gonna get Chokeslammed, and Terry Funk, he was the recipient.
“Up he went and there’s the shoe. It’s funny that something the stature of that match, what an iconic moment of Terry Funk losing his shoe to a Chokeslam!”
Against all odds, the bout continued – with Funk’s shoes still in the ring – and saw yet more violence as Foley emptied a bag of thumbtacks on the mat only to be Chokelammed onto them. Undertaker then finished things with a Tombstone Piledriver for the pinfall victory.
H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the above transcription.