Cactus Jack / Dude Love / Mankind / Mick Foley vs. Randy Orton (Hardcore match) for the WWE Intercontinental Championship, from WWE Backlash 2004

For as notorious as the biggest spot of this match is, it doesn’t represent the nastiest fall Orton ever took in a wrestling match—he’d later get thrown over the top rope in an unsafe manner that left him with a broken collarbone. Hardly anyone remembers that spot, though, while EVERYONE remembers the spot in this match because it represents both a marked evolution of his character as well as the emotional high point of this, easily the best match of Foley’s career after his first retirement. It’s weird, it’s maybe too long, but it’s also fantastic and great fun.

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