When Mick Foley was announced as the first inductee for the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2013, only one name came to many fans' minds with regards to a potential inductor. Today, that name was confirmed to be reality.
As revealed on Mick's twitter and the YouTube channel of The Hardcore Legend's son, Mickey Foley, Terry Funk will induct his longtime friend on Saturday, April 6, at Madison Square Garden. A WWE Hall of Famer himself, Funk is one of the most respected legends in sports-entertainment history, known for his branding iron, an intense rivalry with Ric Flair and for delivering credibility to a young company called ECW.
Tag team partners, bitter adversaries and mentor and mentee, respectively, Mick and Terry's relationship has taken on just about every possible form there is to have inside the squared circle. Throughout 1995 in Japan, each man put hardcore wrestling on the map by competing against each other in some of the most brutal bouts in history. That same year, their rivalry spilled into the States in ECW, creating some of the most memorable moments from the revolutionary Philadelphia-based organization.
After Mick became a star on WWE's national stage during The Attitude Era, his tremendous respect for the Amarillo, Texas, native was put into the spotlight. Following a 10-year absence, Foley's mentor returned to WWE under the guise of Chainsaw Charlie to partner with Mick's Cactus Jack persona. Together, the unpredictable pair worked in tandem during the 1998 Royal Rumble Match and won the World Tag Team Championships from The New Age Outlaws at WrestleMania XIV in a chaotic Dumpster Match. One month later on Raw, Chainsaw and Mrs. Foley's Baby Boy battled each other in a memorable and hard-hitting Falls Count Anywhere Match, the first bout Mick competed in under his real name in WWE.
In 2006, when ECW was preparing a relaunch, Foley and Funk were made two of the centerpieces. At that year's One Night Stand, they met in New York City's Hammerstein Ballroom and competed in a vicious brawl that brought back their fun and games of barbed wire lit on fire.
Considering their 20 years of friendship, let's hope the two men leave their hardcore toys at home when they meet in midtown Manhattan once again. This time, it's not in a Barbed Wire Match. It's for the WWE Hall of Fame.