Mick Foley Reveals He Lied to Vince McMahon Before His HIAC Match With The Undertaker

The Hardcore Legend Mick Foley recently had an interview with Sports Illustrated’s Extra Mustard section where he talked about his Hell in a Cell match against The Undertaker at the 1998 King of the Ring, and what lesson the whole experience taught him.

Foley says that before the match, he lied to Vince McMahon about being comfortable with getting on top of the cell. Foley says that he wouldn’t have agreed to get thrown off the top of the cell if he’d really went on top of it before the match.

“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.”

After the brutal match took place, Foley reveals that the whole experience taught him a valuable life lesson. He realized that he cannot continue to be in dangerous spots like these if he wants to be there with his family.

“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.”

Foley also talked about his experience with wrestling with Andre the Giant, and his efforts to raise funds for Puerto Rico. You can check out the entire interview here.