WWE Classic of the Week: Remembering the Rock vs. Mick Foley at Survivor Series

Mankind versus The Rock is one of the greatest rivalries in the history of World Wrestling Entertainment. It is also one of the company's most violent as the two iconic stars unleashed a new brand of violence on one another over the course of seven matches between 1998 and '99.

Their "I Quit" Match in January 1999 at the Royal Rumble featured a dozen stiff, hard-chair shots to the unprotected head of Mankind by his hated foe.

They would trade the title back and forth leading into WrestleMania, making for some wildly unpredictable and entertaining television.

Every great feud has a beginning, and for Mankind and The Rock, that beginning was the main event of the 1998 Survivor Series pay-per-view, in a match for the vacant WWE Championship.

Background

In September 1998, Steve Austin lost a controversial Triple Threat Match for the WWE Championship at In Your House: Breakdown. In that match, he was pinned by both Undertaker and Kane, creating doubt as to which man was the rightful champion.

The following month at In Your House: Judgment Day, Undertaker and Kane would meet for the title in a match where Austin was the guest referee. Of course, with the Texas Rattlesnake involved, things did not go as the evil, corrupt owner of WWE Mr. McMahon wanted, and the title remained vacant.

Austin was fired for his insubordination, and a tournament was announced to fill the title vacancy.

McMahon's son Shane would appear on the October 26 episode of Raw and rehire Austin, to the dismay of his father. Furthermore, he announced that Austin would be included in the field of competitors for the WWE title at Survivor Series.

While the Austin drama was going on, Mankind had grown close to Mr. McMahon and had seemingly become oblivious to the fact that McMahon found him disgusting and wanted nothing to do with him. He was regularly toyed with and manipulated. Yet, through it all, Mankind remained loyal to the boss.

Mankind underwent a corporate makeover, shaving his face and wearing a tuxedo. He would compete in said suit throughout the night at the Survivor Series.

Running concurrently with those two main event stories was the rise of The Rock as a babyface. He was coming off of a star-making performance at SummerSlam in a Ladder Match with Triple H and had won over a large portion of the audience. With each week that passed, he became more and more popular before finally earning the ire of McMahon.

Vince tried repeatedly to keep Rock from the WWE title tournament at Survivor Series, but it was for naught. Rock defeated Mark Henry on the November 9 episode of Raw to secure his spot in the tournament.

At the Survivor Series, Rock defeated Big Boss Man, Ken Shamrock and Undertaker to earn a spot in the finals while Mankind took down Duane Gill and Al Snow in the first two rounds. In the semifinals, he defeated Austin when Shane McMahon revealed that he was, in fact, working for his father and screwed the Texas Rattlesnake out of the match and title.

In the finals of the tournament, Rock and Mankind clashed with Vince and Shane McMahon at ringside.

The Match

A collar-and-elbow tie-up started the match. Rock backed Mankind into the corner and teased a clean break but swung at him anyway. Mankind ducked out of the way and backed himself away from his opponent.

Mankind won the tie-up this time, backing Rock into the corner. Rock, never one to let himself be at a disadvantage for too long, delivered a hard right hand to the face, breaking the hold and again sending Mankind backing away.

Rock backed Mankind into the corner, delivering a succession of hard right hands. Mankind reversed an Irish whip into the corner. Rock exploded out with a big clothesline, followed by a pinfall attempt, but Mankind shot his shoulder off the mat at two.

Rock pounded a fallen Mankind repeatedly in the corner until the future Hall of Famer ducked out of the ring. Rock followed him out, which proved to be a mistake as Mankind caught him with a hard right hand to the face. A few more rights followed before he slammed Rock face-first into the steel steps.

Back inside the squared circle, Mankind attempted to slow the pace of an already slow match by applying a rear chinlock to his bigger, stronger opponent.

Mr. McMahon and his son Shane, who had screwed over Stone Cold Steve Austin earlier in the evening's first shocking twist, made their way to the ring as the fans inside the Kiel Center showered them with boos.

Rock finally managed to fight out of the chinlock after two minutes by hammering away at the midsection. A side suplex broke Foley's grip. A hard right from Rock knocked Mankind through the ropes and to the arena floor.

Mankind caught Rock coming out of the ring with a big right to the face and attempted a suplex on the arena floor. Rock blocked it and took Foley over with one of his own, the thud of Foley's body crashing into the ground resonating with those in the arena and at home.

Rock locked eyes with the McMahons and allowed himself to become distracted, leaving an opening for Mankind to recover and attack him from behind. Rock, however, demonstrated great awareness and caught Mankind coming in. He delivered a few hard rights to the face, then dumped his opponent over the guard rail and to the unprotected floor.

Rock and Mankind fought through the crowd in a sight that had become very familiar to fans of the Attitude Era. Mankind reversed an Irish whip into the guardrail, but Rock answered with a back body drop to his opponent, dumping him over it and back to ringside.

Rock rolled Mankind back into the squared circle and applied his own chinlock.

Mankind fought out of the hold and caught Rock with a knee to the midsection. A clothesline over the top rope took both men to the floor. Mankind delivered a big chair shot to the back of his opponent, despite no announcement beforehand that the match was a No Disqualification match.

Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler did an excellent job of covering for it, however, by bringing up Mankind's alliance with the McMahons and how that would probably keep him from getting disqualified.

Mankind picked up the ring steps and turned to use them on Rock, but The People's Champ greeted him with a chair shot, knocking the steps back on him. Rock unleashed with a series of chair shots to the steps, sending pain shooting up and down the body of his opponent.

Another hard chair shot to the face of Mankind left him nearly unconscious.

Back inside the squared circle, Rock pounded away on Mankind in the corner. In a desperation moment, Mankind caught Rock with a low blow and proceeded to choke him, illegally, in front of the official.

Outside the ring, Mankind dropped an elbow on Rock from the ring apron, then sent him into the announce table. A legdrop on Rock,  leading to them both falling off the table, resulted in a "good God almighty" from Ross on commentary.

Mankind covered Rock, who was able to roll his shoulder off the mat at the very last second.

The competitors exchanged hard rights, which Rock got the best of, but Mankind caught him coming in and back-dropped him over the top rope and back to the floor. They returned to the ring, but the action once again spilled to the outside.

Mankind climbed the ropes and attempted to come off onto Rock, but he moved, and Mankind crashed through the Spanish announce table.

The Rock rolled Mankind back into the ring, delivered a bodyslam and teased the People's Elbow. The arena came alive as he hit the ropes, came off and delivered the elbow. It looked like the match was over—the fans in St. Louis most certainly thought it was—but Mankind showed great resilience by fighting out of the pin attempt at two.

Moments later, Mankind ducked under a clothesline attempt and caught Rock with a double-arm DDT. He retrieved Mr. Socko from his tights and applied the Mandible Claw. Rock fought to his feet and caught Mankind with Rock Bottom. A two count followed.

Back to his feet, Rock shot the McMahons a People's Eyebrow, before locking in the Sharpshooter in a scene that felt eerily familiar. Suddenly, McMahon called for the bell, and Rock was announced as the new WWE Champion, despite Mankind never submitting.

Post-Match

After the bell, Vince McMahon grabbed a microphone and addressed the audience. 

He revealed the alliance between him, son Shane and The Rock before calling the people "as pathetic as Mankind." He took a great deal of pride in screwing Steve Austin earlier in the evening.

The Rock told the people to kiss his backside before Mankind took the microphone. He said he did not understand exactly what was going on. He would have his naivety repaid with a shot to the back of the head with the WWE title and a Rock Bottom, for good measure.

Rock and the McMahons stood tall to close out the Survivor Series.

Analysis

This was a solid match and a fitting conclusion for the wild and unpredictable tournament that had unfolded throughout the evening. 

With that said, the match has been overrated in the years that have followed it, likely due to the love fans have for the two Superstars involved, not to mention the fondness with which they look back at the Attitude Era and the 1998 Survivor Series in particular.

Their later matches, including the January 4 Raw main event and the aforementioned "I Quit" Match at the 1999 Royal Rumble, were significantly better.

Historical Significance

The match set in motion a rivalry between Mankind and The Rock that introduced an intensity and aggressiveness to The Great One's in-ring work and adequately prepared him for his impending WrestleMania match against Steve Austin.

It also continued the tradition of a controversial conclusion to the annual November event and transformed Mankind from deranged psychopath to beloved, iconic WWE Superstar.

Most importantly, the match demonstrated the chemistry Rock and Mick Foley had when it came to entertaining an audience. Ten months later, after bashing each other with chairs and putting each other through tables, they would form a wildly successful tag team known as the Rock and Sock Connection.

The duo would win multiple tag titles and be responsible for the highest rated segment in the history of Monday Night Raw.