Don’t Think Twice 09.06.08: Crossing the Line

Posted by Scott Slimmer on 09.06.2008

Mick Foley seems poised to cross the line and go to TNA. But after all that he has done for us as fans, can we still turn our backs on him and not follow?

I keep a close watch on this heart of mine.
I keep my eyes wide open all the time.
I keep the ends out for the tie that binds.
Because you're mine, I walk the line.
– I Walk the Line by Johnny Cash

The relationship between artist and audience, the connection between them, and the synergistic, sometimes symbiotic tie that binds them are at the heart, the core, the very marrow of all great art. Nowhere may that be quite as true as in the case of that most unique form of art that we all love, the art of professional wrestling. As Sting said just two nights ago when he addressed the fans in the Impact Zone, it's only natural for the fans to want to be a part of the show. They should be a part of the show. But they can't be the show. The wrestlers are a part of the show. The fans are a part of the show. One cannot exist without the other, and neither can thrive if the balance between them is shifted too far to one side or the other. That unique, fascinating dynamic between professional wrestlers and their fans is one that I'd like to explore in far greater detail some time in the future, but for today I'll confine myself to two specific examples. One is a Hardcore Legend. And the other is the Next Big Thing.

Four weeks ago, as Brock Lesnar prepared for his UFC fight with Heath Herring, I wrote a column in which I attempted to find some sort of valid rationale behind the fact that I'm still a huge Brock Lesnar mark. I wasn't all that successful. Whether you were a Brock Lesnar fan, a Smackdown fan, a WWE fan, a professional wrestling fan, or maybe all of the above, Brock Lesnar spit in your face and screwed you over when he walked out the door in 2004. He proved then and there that his passion and his loyalty did not lie with the company, the industry, or the fans. And yet, as angry and resentful as I was then, I find myself hoping that Lesnar is a huge success in UFC. I am nowhere near a die-hard UFC fan, and yet I'm absolutely giddy with anticipation of November 15 and the epic spectacle that will be Lesnar / Couture.

And I get the impression that I'm not alone. Making generalities about the IWC is a tricky proposition at best and an idiotic one at worst. By its very nature, and to its credit, the IWC will always have more than its fair share of the proverbial vocal minority. There's always going to be that one guy that honestly believes XPW was the greatest professional wrestling promotion in history. There's always going to be that one guy that still thinks Mantaur was the greatest superstar ever. And there's always going to be that one guy that is absolutely convinced that Kurt Angle could have a successful career in MMA… even if that one guy is just Kurt Angle himself.

The point is that it would never be accurate to say that we, the members of the IWC, believe this or believe that. Because there will never be any match, angle, wrestler, or promotion that will ever unite the entire IWC. But I can, at times, try to give voice to what I think many of us may be thinking, always with the implicit understanding that there are those who disagree. And as such, I get the impression that I'm not alone in hoping that Brock Lesnar is a huge success in UFC. I have to believe that many of us would jump off the couch and mark like school girls if Lesnar actually does defeat Randy Couture for the UFC Heavyweight Championship. Despite all of the reasons that Brock Lesnar has given us to give up on him, I still wish him the best. And I like to think that I'm not alone.

The notion that I still support Brock Lesnar, if for no other reason that because he spent two years of his life as one of the greatest professional wrestlers in the world, was as close to a conclusion as I could come when I first wrote about him four weeks ago. But in the days and weeks that have followed, I've begun to contemplate the other side of the equation. Many of us support Brock Lesnar in spite of the fact that we don't have many, if any, good reasons for doing so. But could we ever end up at the other end of the spectrum? Could we ever end up in a situation in which we find ourselves abandoning a man who has given us every reason in the world to always stand by his side? Could we ever turn our backs on a man that has given more than we had any right to ask for no other reason that to entertain us? And is that exactly what's happening right now with Mick Foley?

In so many ways, Mick Foley and Brock Lesnar are polar opposites in the world of professional wrestling. Lesnar possessed every physical gift you could hope for in the perfect wrestler. Foley… eh, not so much. Lesnar was handed the world on a plate far sooner than he was prepared to handle it all. Foley had to fight and scratch and claw for every push that he ever received. Lesnar seemed destined to be a World Champion, a man whom fate had chosen to be a huge star. Foley once resigned himself to the fact that he would never be a World Champion, and even when he was there were still those that doubted whether he could put butts in the seats. But all of that being said, it was Lesnar who seemed to wrestle for himself while Foley wrestled for the fans. It was Lesnar who wrestled for a paycheck while Foley wrestled to entertain us. It was Lesnar who walked away from the industry and abandoned his fans after only two years while Foley spent a lifetime breaking bones, losing ears, and getting speared through flaming tables.

But now, as we still stand by Brock Lesnar, it seems that many of us are turning our backs on Mick Foley. And as much as it pains me to admit it, as much as I fight it even as I type these words, I find myself questioning Mick Foley. As you undoubtedly know, Foley let his contract with WWE expire and will, in all likelihood, soon be debuting with TNA in an as yet unknown capacity. And somehow, that just seems… wrong. It seems like Foley, by crossing the line and going to TNA, has also crossed some sort of line that now separates him from so many of his long-time fans, myself included. And I hate myself for thinking this, but I have to wonder if Mick Foley is somehow tarnishing his legacy by working for TNA.

I'll be the first to admit that many of my doubts and uncertainties about this most recent development in Mick Foley's career are rather irrational and indefensible. Over the course of more than twenty years, Foley has wrestled for WCCW, UWF, the other UWF, WCW, ECW, SMW, IWA in Japan, WWE, and even appeared in ROH from time to time. He's been around the block and left a trail of blood, sweat, and tears in his wake, so wouldn't it be natural for him to spend some time in what is currently the second largest professional wrestling company in the country? In the case of a man that has worked for every major promotion of the last two decades, why should we begrudge him going to TNA?

I think part of the reason that this all seems so… untoward, for lack of a better term, is that many of us felt that Mick Foley was part of the WWE family. While doing color commentary for ECW One Night Stand 2005, Foley explained that there were some wrestlers, like the Dudley Boys, who had wrestled for WWE but would always consider themselves to be ECW wrestlers. Foley, on the other hand, thought of himself as a wrestler who had wrestled for ECW but would always consider himself to be a WWE wrestler. I think that many of us felt the same. He's been three different wrestlers, the WWE Champion on three occasions, the commissioner, and a color commentator. All for the same promotion. All for WWE. He's fallen off the Cell, fallen through the Cell, been Pedigreed face-first into thumbtacks, and been speared through a flaming table. All in the same promotion. All in WWE. It just sorta seemed like Mick Foley was WWE for life. And maybe part of what we're feeling is the inevitable discomfort that always comes with change. Particularly with a change that many of us thought would never come.

But could it be more than that? Is part of the reason that this all seems so… irksome, for lack of a better term, not so much that Mick Foley is leaving WWE, but that he's going to TNA? Would any of us be so concerned if he was going to ROH? Or has TNA finally jumped the shark so many times that we have a collective knee-jerk reaction whenever another of our favorites decides to cross the line? Has TNA wasted so many talented wrestlers and so many potential stars that we're concerned they'll also waste whatever Mick Foley has left to give? Are we worried that Mick Foley, who should go down in history as one of the all-time greats, will instead be remembered alongside Dustin Rhodes, Spike Dudley, and Shawn Daivari as a worker who went to TNA when he had nowhere else to go? Are we just not ready for what might happen when Mick Foley becomes ensnared in a promotion filled with far too much of Vince Russo's writing and far too many on-a-pole matches?

As you've probably come to expect from me by now, I have little in the way of answers to many of the questions that I've asked. But instead of trying to figure out why so many of us, myself included, are hesitant about Mick Foley going to TNA, instead of trying to justify why so many of us, myself included, seem to be inclined to turn our backs on the Hardcore Legend, let me offer up just one reason why maybe we should stick with Mick. And that one reason is that he deserves it. For more than twenty years, Mick Foley has earned our loyalty by risking his life on a nightly basis for the sole purpose of entertaining us, the fans. In an industry in which every wrestler is asked to sacrifice more than he should for the sake of the fans, Mick Foley has often gone above and beyond what even the rest of the locker room considers to be sane just to put our butts in the seats and make sure that we get our money's worth.

Sure, Mick Foley in TNA might suck. It might suck hard. But on the other hand, it might be kinda cool. Hell, it might be awesome. If TNA does run with a full-blown old blood / new blood feud, with whom would Foley side? Would he necessarily join the ranks of the wrestlers of his generation, or would he come to the defense of the new stars that carry the torch that he once carried himself? And just think of the possibilities. If Foley were to ever feud with Samoa Joe, you just know the promos would be gold. And while Foley may not be able to climb in the ring and put on a five star classic with AJ Styles or Curry Man, I've got a feeling that he could have an epic hardcore match with Abyss. And hey, if nothing else, the mere fact that Mick Foley is going to step into the Impact Zone means that there is at least a finite chance that he might do serious bodily harm to Don West. And who wouldn't love that?

But none of that really matters right now, because right now we don't know if Mick Foley will be a success or a failure in TNA, or if he made the right decision when he left WWE. But what we do know is that he has spent more than twenty years of his life entertaining us in ways that would have killed the average man. And as far as I'm concerned, that makes it impossible for me to turn my back on him now. Because if I still mark for Brock Lesnar in spite of the way that he has treated me as a fan, then how can I not also mark for Mick Foley because of the way that he has sacrificed for me as a fan?

You may have your doubts about Mick Foley going to TNA. I know that I do. There is no denying that Foley is walking a very fine line indeed. But all I ask of you today is that you give him a chance. Because if nothing else, he's earned that chance. So let's wish Mick all the best in TNA. Let's have faith that he'll find what he's looking for. And if nothing else, let's hope that when he walks into the Impact Zone for the very first time, he'll have a nice day.