Mick Foley On Lying To Vince McMahon About His HIAC Match With The Undertaker

Mick Foley’s legendary Hell In A Cell match against The Undertaker back in 1998’s King Of The Ring pay-per-view (PPV) is one of the most historic matches in WWE history. On the 20th anniversary of the match, Foley spoke to Sports Illustrated to discuss the historic bout.

He admitted that had he walked on top of the Hell In A Cell earlier that day he might not have agreed to go through with the spot:

“I told Mr. McMahon two of the biggest lies of my life that day. I told him I had been on top of the cell earlier that afternoon, and I told him that I felt completely comfortable up there. Had I gone up there for a walk-through, there would be no twentieth anniversary because I would have realized that getting thrown off was a terrible idea.

“It was that that made me finally believe in my own mortality. That cleared the way for a very different Mankind character who feuded with and later teamed with The Rock. … I was really so caught up in preparation that I didn’t call home before matches, I always called home after matches. I did that on every occasion except for this one, but I thought I had a legitimate excuse for not calling home because I was unconscious.

“I later heard from WWE agent Dave Hebner, who said my family was very upset. When I did call, I got an earful from my wife, who wasn’t thrilled with my decision-making. I could have used a sympathetic ear, but what I really needed was someone to tell me that I couldn’t continue to do the things I was doing if I wanted to see my children grow.”