Background: After dubbing himself “The Legend Killer”, Intercontinental champion and one-fourth of Evolution decided to pick a fight with former WWF/WWE Heavyweight champion Mick Foley; leading to several clashes including a successful Three-on-One Handicap match alongside Ric Flair & Batista against Foley & The Rock. Foley invoked the spirit of Cactus Jack to fight Orton one-on-one for the Intercontinental Championship.
Backlash
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
April 18, 2004
Randy Orton vs. Mick Foley
Both men came out brandishing weapons wrapped in barbed wire. Orton’s contraption fell apart during his first swing, putting him in retreat immediately as Foley tried to crack the champ’s skull. Using his quickness, Orton was able to drop toe hold his aggressor into the steel ring steps before bashing him in the head with a metal trash can until the object was crushed and broken. Foley retaliated in kind by kicking the incoming champion, leading to a loud cheer of approval from the fans. The challenger was all over Orton, using everything from simple chokes to baseball slides to keep him on the offense. Then Orton decided to make a break for it up the ramp. Foley attempted to follow, taking a belly to back suplex on the steel ramp … for a near fall in favor of the champion!
“The Legend Killer” wanted to end this one as quickly as possible, but the man dressed in his Cactus Jack attire refused to stay down. Foley had to low blow his way out of a situation that would’ve seen him be busted open with the barbed wire baseball bat. Pulling out Mr. Socko, Foley realized the fans wanted to see the bat meet Orton’s body – and meet it did as the challenger cut Randy’s face with ease. Running knee strike in the corner by Foley was topped by Orton getting his face further cut by the wire. Putting the bat between Orton’s legs, the challenger dropped a big leg to a huge ovation that had Randy rightfully screaming in pain. Pulling out a container of gasoline, Foley intended on setting the bat on fire. Unfortunately for Mick and the fans, “Raw” General Manager Eric Bischoff promised to shut the show down if he completed his goal. But Foley had some other tools of destruction including an entire wooden palate of barbed wire. Orton, taking the chance to recover and retrieve some powder from his trunks, blinded his opponent prior to slamming Foley on the wired board!
As if that wasn’t enough, Orton whipped Foley onto the board before slamming it atop the challenger to seriously cut Mick’s left arm. A cardboard box neatly placed in the corner was revealed to hold hundreds upon hundreds of thumbtacks that Orton intended to RKO Foley into when he got to his feet. Blocking the maneuver, Foley slammed Orton back-first into the thumbtacks! “The Legend Killer” could barely kick out of Foley’s follow up cradle, heading out of the ring yet again. And Foley came after him; leading to a chase to the backstage area that resulted in Foley pitching off the stage through a wooden box holding extra camera cables. Referees came out to check on Orton’s status as this match appeared to be over. But the challenger wasn’t done, flying off the stage to drop the big elbow on the champ!
Rather than go for the pin, Foley dragged his barely conscious opponent into the ring with the intent of beating him with the double arm DDT, but the maneuver only gave the challenger a near fall. grabbing the wired bat, “The Legend Killer” clipped the approaching Foley. Looking for the homerun swing, Orton put himself in position to be downed by Mr. Socko and the mandible claw. Like Foley earlier, a low blow saved Orton and gave the champ a chance to hit the RKO … to gain a one count!
Foley could barely get up, but when he did he fall to the RKO into the barbed wire bat that finally put his shoulders to the mat for those precious three seconds.
Winner: Randy Orton (23:03)
Is It A Classic: This was Randy Orton’s first star-making moment as he delivered a match better than anything in his career up to that point in an environment foreign to him. And Mick Foley was in incredible shape – able to hang with a young gun and give him the fight of a lifetime. A true classic in every sense of the word.
