The Rock/Mick Foley vs. Randy Orton/Batista/Ric Flair 03.14.04

Where: New York, NY

Backstory:
Randy Orton was being groomed to be a top player in the WWE and had adopted the legend killer gimmick. Every time there was a wrestling legend around Randy Orton, he would fall victim to Randy Orton's RKO. When Orton met Mick Foley in Madison Square Garden in 2003, Randy spit on Foley and threw him down a flight of stairs. Foley then later came back for a match against Orton, but in a rare babyface move, showed fear and chickened out. After Evolution jumped Foley and beat on him 3 on 1, Foley enlisted his former tag partner to Rock to help him battle Evolution at Wrestlemania XX.

In Ring Analysis:

The crowd is ready for this match as not only is the star power amazing, but the feud has been going on for almost nine months.

Evolution enters first, and you have to admit that Triple H trained them well (except Ric Flair) because they all act like their huge stars. They walk with confidence, and that means a lot when it comes to being a huge star in this industry.

Foley enters next to a good response, and then waits outside the ring for The Rock to make his entrance. They give a quick pep talk outside, then they charge the ring to begin the match. The Rock and Sock Connection get the better of Evolution and clear the ring.

There's a little bit of awkwardness in the beginning with 5 guys in the ring, and the Rock having not wrestled since April of 2003, but it's quickly cleared up. Rock and Flair start off the match proper.

Rock hits a shoulderblock on Flair and does a subtle Nature Boy strut that the crowd notices. The Rock his some more offense as you can tell the crowd is liking Flair a little more than The Rock right now. This can be expected as wrestling fans view Flair as one of their own as he's on the road every day, and the Rock is entering retirement at a very early age. This is evident as Flair hits his signature eye poke on The Rock and the crowd loves it. Rock comes back with a back body drop outside the ring, and Foley hits an elbow drop from the apron to the floor. Smart teamwork by these two as they have worked together a ton.

Orton tags in and The Rock tags in Foley. I was surprised as they usually let the big showdown build for a little bit with the heel chickening out whenever he can. Orton tries to run away and sucker punch Foley, but Mick is too smart and strikes first. Foley gets the advantage and puts Orton in the tree of woe, then hits him with a diving forearm. The Rock follows with a groin shot.

Orton finally gets relief when Batista pulls down the top rope after The Rock gets Irish whipped. Batista tags in and uses his limited offense to pummel Rocky. He tags in Flair after 30 seconds who continues the assault. For the uninitiated with wrestling booking, big guys like Batista can be top draws in our wrestling society as long as they can mask their shortcomings in the ring. Batista looks like a badass but it's a decent wrestler at this point. They put him in tag matches like this so the more talented and experienced guys can do the bulk work, while he goes in for short bursts. This lets him get some seasoning, makes him look tough, and keeps him from being exposed as a poor wrestler.

Flair is having a good time hitting chops and soaking in the acknowledgement from the crowd. Flair goes a little overboard and Rock hits him with a big clothesline to boos. Flair then goes up top for a double axe handle which the Rock counters to a bodyslam. Flair is considered an all-time great, and you can see how he adjusted his character from serious top wrestler to older somewhat crazy comical figure.

Batista comes in to hit some shoulder blocks in the corner, but Rock comes back with a clothesline and a tag to Foley. Foley is a much bigger star so he takes a bulk of the offense, but they are protecting Batista properly so he gets to break up the offense with quick responses so he doesn't look weak. Batista dumps Foley outside, and Flair and Orton work him over.

Foley is now playing the sympathetic face now, and Foley dos a great job of it as he's a great bumper. All of Evolution take turns working him over until Foley and Batista hit a double clothesline on each other. Flair tags in, but Foley is able to fight him off and tag The Rock.

The Rock hits all his big moves on all three guys including his flying forearm and the ddt. Batista gains the advantage on The Rock and hits a spinebuster, and here comes the spot of the match. The crazy Ric Flair then begs Batista to let him have at the prone Rock so he can hit his own People's Elbow. The crowd loves it and cheers his attempt. Flair takes too long as the Rock nips up and spinebusters Flair down to a chorus of boos. The crowd finally acknowledges the Rock as the great performer that he is by cheering his People's Elbow with a majority of cheers.

The WWE is the top company in the game because when it comes to signature spots like that, they KNOW how to film it. Credit goes to Kevin Dunn as he makes sure to pan to a wide shot of the crowd to show the reaction the move gets.

After getting only a 2 count, Randy Orton tags in, but The Rock hits a Rock Bottom. Flair pulls the Rock out, and the match is starting to break down. Batista clotheslines the Rock and hits the Batista Bomb. Orton crawls over very slowly and gets a nearfall. Rock staggers over and tags in Foley who tears into Orton. He eventually gives him a double armed DDT and goes into his pants for Mr. Socko. Out of nowhere, Orton hits Foley with an RKO for the surprise pinfall.

Winners by pinfall in 17:00: Randy Orton/Batista/Ric Flair ****


Oton leaves in shock of himself as he didn't think he could do it. Afterwards The Rock who is clearly disappointed in the loss (or realizing that he might be done wrestling) gets the crowd to give Foley a round fo applause for a great effort after being out of the ring for 4 years.

Foley is quoted as saying that he petitioned for Flair to be involved in the match because he didn't want Orton to freeze up in his first marquee match. We never know if he would have, but having Ric Flair in the match was a great idea as the MSG crowd loved the man that they rarely got to see live.

Looking back, this match is all star power. Everyone one in this match either had, has, or went on to have major main event runs in the wrestling industry. Foley, The Rock, and Flair being in a ring with Batista and Randy Orton was some great on the job training.

Historically the match is also great as it turned out to be The Rock's retirement match, Ric Flair got a great Wrestlemania moment and Randy Orton got put over as a star in a major way. Kind of surprising that after all of that, it's Batista who is main eventing Wrestlemania 21. The wrestling business sure is funny like that.