Mankind vs. The Rock

[9.0] "One of the best I Quit matches ever. Fan favorite, braveheart champion vs. soulless, company-man challenger. From the early stages, The Rock attacks more brutally and mercilessly, trying to destroy Mankind both physically and psychologically. Mankind's bumps are, as often, scary. They masterfully carry the I Quit concept through mic work and body language; the hatred between them is palpable. They fight in the ring, on the announce table, among the crowd, everywhere, and the breaking point of the match is when Mankind falls onto the electrical platform, which is not even the scariest thing in the match; for a moment the entire arena lights go out, even Shane McMahon comes to protest how ruthless The Rock has become, enriching the narrative. After The Rock fully gains control and handcuffs him, delivering 10 horrific chair shots is one of the hardest things to watch; Mick Foley sacrificed so much for this business and the fact that he is still alive is a miracle. The screwjob finish may not be brilliant, but it fits the story successfully. A ruthless, soulless The Rock murders Mankind to become champion again. ****1/4"

[10.0] "Wrestling as a horror movie. Some of the most uncomfortable I've ever felt watching a wrestling match and by design. The Rock is doing phenomenal heel work here, being presented as an absolute monster. His constant shit talking and brutal chair shots just make you hate him, especially because Foley is the most likeable man in the world. Creative sequences at the start devolve into pure brutality with that ending sequence being the stuff of nightmares. Completely get if this isn't your bag, but it's mine."

[10.0] "I believe the rating on this match is artificially lower than it would be otherwise due to the chair shots at the end, which is completely understandable. Even before the final sequence of chair shots, these two had an incredible brawl and the atmosphere is intense throughout. The Rock is a perfect a-hole and Foley looks as tough and resilient as ever. It was simply incredible. You'll never see another match like this but let me be perfectly clear; that's a good thing. As impressed as I was with the performance of both men and as emotional as they got me the first time I watched it, I never want to see a wrestler go through what Mick Foley went through in the last few minutes of this match. When he told Rock "You'll have to kill me" it was haunting. And to see Foley take that last shot to the back of the head was scary as f*ck. My rating is based on performance and the fact that after going through that, Foley deserves every accolade he can get. Quite frankly, it's incredible that Foley is still coherent or even alive at all. This is one of the greatest performances by either man in their respective careers but the finish is an incredibly difficult watch. Not for the weak hearted."

[6.0] "Dislike this match and have only rewatched it a couple times. Honestly think Rock is being a prick here even accepting the character. He wouldn't have taken those handcuffed chairshots. He couldn't. Not many men could. Only reason that this gets a reasonable score is Foley's almost paranormal resilience."

[9.0] "Dear lord, this match is godly! Or should I say, diabolic? Both can fit pretty well into the descriptions, lol. But yeah, an unrepeatable all-time classic between Rock and Mankind here, simply fantastic. The I Quit is just a magnificent concept, that fits very well into the storyline, because Foley was already screwed two times when he didn't even gave up, first he was tricked by the McMahons, and they've tried to make him believe that he gave up at Survivor Series, and then he won the title against Rock, but considering Rock wasn't pinned or submitted, just suffered the mandible claw, Vince reverted the decision and screwed Mick once again. This time he's the champion, and it's an ultimate test for both of them. The biggest story in this match was that Mick Foley never said the words "I quit", and that he's simply uncapable of giving up, while Rock, despite being the clear underdog, considering the stipulation fits Foley a lot more, wants to prove that he's the man and can handle a dangerous figure like Mankind. The first section of the match is just a great brawl, with many punches, and awesome shots with the mic. I think it's very funny that a lot of things went wrong, the microphone wasn't working when they first tried to use it, the table spot was messed up, because the table collapsed right before the rock bottom, and of course, the infamous chair shots weren't even supposed to be that dangerous... the match had a lot of "fucked up" things, but that's life, and sometimes there's a little beauty into these flaws, it makes them more human, and in a match like this, dirty and anarchic, it's nice to have some things not going well, a hardcore match thrives on ugliness. The brawl on the outside is beautiful, they kick each other's ass at the ramp, and then proceed to climb right through the audience, and it's when of the most amazing spots I can remember happen, with Rock throwing Mick into the electricity boxes, and everything just explodes and the arena went dark. If you look closely, it's not even a super nasty spot, but the visuals are crazy, and the way they sold it was phenomenal, with even Shane O'Mac appearing and showing concern over what's happening. After this moment, it's a horror movie, not only the arena went dark, but the entire match. Rock carried Mankind back to the ring and handcuffed him, which made sure we were about to see high level torturing. Foley even had some shots, he tried his best even handcuffed, he gave Rock two low blows, but it's not enough, and Rock proceeded to hit him with chair shot to the head after chair shot after chair shot, totally unprotected, one of the nastiest visuals ever in WWF. Of course this is not a match that ages well, considering how much CTE was a thing, with the Benoit incident and all of that, this is just something inconceivable nowadays, but considering exclusively the art form, it's freaking awesome, and definitely one of my favorite matches in WWF/E history. The psychology couldn't be better, Mankind is a tough dude that was willing to die rather than say "I quit", and Rock took extreme measures to win and prove that he's not just some cartoonish charismatic wrestler. In the end, Foley kept his promised, and didn't said the words, an audio of him saying I quit was played, and it fooled people into thinking he actually said it, but he didn't - {****1/2}"

[9.0] "What a phenomenal match. The Rock's antics in this absolutely amazing heel work and the chair shots were shocking and scary. "You'll have to kill me.""

[9.0] "Man all those chair shots really make me cringe. Fantastic match imo, a perfect Foley match and a perfect Attitude Era match, all over the ring and all over the outside of the ring, real WWF hardcore match with some real nice spots that got some huge pops from the crowd (and me for that matter). The only match really worth watching for the PPV."

[6.0] "The match was good until the handcuffs were represented. I personally don't mind hardcore wrestling, but there was something about The Rock hiting Mankind to the back of the head that made it too much for me. Everything before that was good but man that final act was hard to watch"

[6.0] "I did not love this match when I first saw it in 1999, and I do not think it has improved with age. Both Mankind and The Rock give a good performance. I just do not love the booking of the finish. I also thought for the match was a little too long. Even though I do not care for the match, I would recommend that any fan of The Attitude Era watch it at least once."

[8.0] "[4.0*] One of the most infamous and polemic matches of all time. It starts with a back-and-forth brawl and at some time the announcers table broke before the Rock Bottom, so I immediately thought that I was not going to love this one as much as I did because I was not feeling all of it. However, everything changed when they went brawling on the outside. They picked a fucking ladder and placed it in a way they could climp up to the crowd. There, Rock threw Foley right into the electric circuit where he caused a short circuit on the whole arena. Incredibly creative spot, I must say. The match went on and Rock handcuffed Mankind, at first Foley tried all ways of escaping including some low blows, but ultimately Rock got a chair and from now on this is a gore movie lmfao. He starts hitting and hitting and hitting Foley with insane chairshots on the fucking head until Mankind could not take it any longer and he finally quits. I am still in a state of shock because holy hell this was more brutal than any bump or deathmatch ever. It was the first time ever I had to pause a match due to not being able to go through this in just one shot. I know that this is extremely problematic nowadays with all the CTE research, but for that period in time this is a pretty much perfect ending. The most brutal I Quit ending ever, with the babyface hero being forced to quit because he would have died otherwise. The complete opposite of their RAW is WAR #293 match. The usage of the mic was also impeccable there."

[10.0] "The ending of the match can and is very hard to watch because of both men going too extreme for each others own good with those gnarly chair shots Rock gave Foley, but before all that this was still real fantastic with all the action and storytelling between each other despite them going too far beyond the distance."

[7.0] "(3* [1.5* deduction from 4.5 due to chair shots]) the one match on this card worth half a shit. i can't imagine how disappointed i'd have been to order this ppv about halfway through the sable-luna strap march fiasco, then utterly elated to be live witness to this instant classic entry in the r&s connection's fraught history. certainly i like many others have a complex relationship with this match given the disgusting liberties taken by the rock in this match, but damn if it isn't compelling storytelling as only wrestling can deliver. i love this match and, due to the hell unleashed on mick foley's brain, i wish it never happened."

[8.0] "This would be a 10/10 but I cannot make a make that caused this much permeant harm that high but even for the stuff before Mankind got handcuffed the match was amazing"

[10.0] "This is the best Rock v Mankind match in my opinion, but the graphic nature of the finish does make this tough to watch, especially with what we know about concussions and CTE today. The match itself is storytelling to absolute perfection because this was a match that was impossible for The Rock to legitimately win, which reversed the narrative from Mankind's feel good championship win! The way the match escalated is great, where at first it was a back and forth match with both of them making good use of the stipulation as they trash talk each other and of course The Rock is obviously going to shine when using a microphone is a part of the match stipulation. The match does become a very one-sided match after the huge spot where Mankind goes flying into the electrical circuits. This brought out a break in character from Shane McMahon where even shows concern and wants the match to stop, but the rest of the match made The Rock look like a killer and it also brought a lot of sympathy to Foley when he ends up getting handcuffed and at the mercy of 11 chair shots to the skull. This part of the match is very excessive and seeing him busted up and being unable to defend himself was very difficult to watch as well as seeing him given the chance to quit and he says You'll have to kill me! ' and a tape recording made it appear as though he said I quit when he was actually unconscious! The Rock was absolutely at his peak as a heel here and Jerry Lawler put it over big when admitted it went too far at the end when he was fully supporting him throughout the match."

[8.0] "[****1/4] This match is difficult to comment on. If it had taken place today, my opinion might be very different. While I absolutely don't want anyone to replicate even a fraction of the brutality of this match, for its time and the story they were telling, this is simply a near-masterpiece. It's Foley's ultimate WWF performance up to this point, following his famous Hell in a Cell match with Undertaker. Initially, Foley has the advantage due to his experience in this type of match, taking The Rock down on his own field. But then The Rock gradually snaps, showing an unexpectedly vicious and brutal side of himself that no one had seen before. Foley takes every shot The Rock delivers, playing the role of the masochistic underdog fighter who never gives up. While many people focus on the final section of the match (and understandably so), the action leading up to it is also fantastic. Both The Rock and Foley make the stipulation work perfectly, keeping it exciting and dynamic due to their charisma and personas. The Rock's incredible trash-talking adds to the drama. Then you have the ending. The Rock cuffs Foley in the middle of the ring, takes a chair, and what follows is history. The Rock hits Foley with a series of brutal unprotected chair shots, the impact and sound of which still resonate with fans today. Throughout this sequence, The Rock genuinely looks like a murderer. Foley is a bloody mess, quitting at the end of a brutal sequence that every pro wrestling fan remembers (although it seems like he didn't actually quit and it was just a voice recording of him saying the words. Essentially, Foley never truly quit, or at least that's what it seems here). This match adds an entirely new layer to The Rock's persona, revealing a side of him never seen before while also building on Foley's beloved underdog, masochistic babyface spirit. A fighter who goes to unbelievable lengths for the love of wrestling, much like his Hell in a Cell match with Undertaker a few months earlier. Unfortunately, the match becomes so violent with those final chair shots that it gets pretty uncomfortable, especially seeing Foley's state by the final bell. I am conflicted since, on one hand, it's an incredible piece of wrestling in terms of conveying emotion and storytelling between two fighters. On the other hand, the match is what we would now consider unsafe beyond belief, and the level of discomfort slightly detaches me from the overall story. In any case, it's a must-watch and a piece of wrestling history."

[8.0] "This match was absolutely crazy. The back and fourth in the first half of the match is great, Rocks heel work was amazing. The way he kept bashing Mankind for the chair only for him to quit made both men look like beasts."

[10.0] "If wrestling is about telling stories then this match tells the one of the greatest. The Rock slowly reveals just how far he's willing to go to win, it really gets him over in a huge way as a vicious killer, and kind of buries mick foley because its like damn you let this happen for real and kayfabe. The last portion of the match is what wrestling is about pure emotion, the sense that something is going horribly wrong is always thrilling whether people admit to it or not and the rock just not giving a shit that's he's murdering a man in front of his children is just glorious in the wrost way. It's sort of hypocritical of wrestling fans to condemn this match cause why do we watch wrestling, because its dangerous, you don't want people to get hurt but the fact that it could happen is what the whole thing is based on. That's the point, why watch wrestling over a movie because its actually dangerous and yeah sometimes people get hurt but it wouldn't be wrestling otherwise"

[8.0] "A very infamous match and not without cause! Obviously the multiple chair shots is the controversial part of this match, but as a grudge match for the title this match really delivers in terms of a pure attitude era spectacle."

[8.0] "The repeated chairshots at the end are the most controversial and talked about moment in this whole thing. On one hand Rock's trash talk and the story they were telling in that ending is amazing, on the other hand it was incredibly dangerous and risky. I have to knock down a few points of the match thanks to that. Still its the absolute best in the card, Foley was amazing at taking bumps and the first half of this match is an incredibly fun brawl. The "I Quit" coming from a tape is a bit of a cop out but its a smart finish. Also props to Michael Cole really liked his commentary on this one"

[7.0] "This is hard to watch, but it's not just brutality for the sake of brutality, as Foley knows perfectly how to get himself over with these crazy bumps and his selling. He doesn't quit at no point and Rock has to cheat to be victorious, making himself even bigger heel than he was before the bout. The chair shots are horrific and you might wonder if they could achieve the same sympathy for Mick without going that far, but they did what they did and thankfully it served the purpose."

[8.0] "Good match in the sense of spectacle, not in terms of pure wrestling. The Rock is super entertaining as a Heel during this match. Mankind takes so much, especially with chair shots directly to the head. It was very good, in the sense of spectacle. (4*)"

"This match is brutal and proves why Mick Foley is a legend by taking unprotected chair shots to the head countless times without saying I Quit. The Rock played the Cooperate Heel perfectly but unprotected chair shots to the head is extremely risky. My rating for the match is 5/10 as it was terrifying to watch at certain times especially when Foley went through the electricians table from quite a height."

[9.0] "Glorious brutality. A match like this has to be remembered. It's not an all-time classic but it's iconic due to its aggressivity."

[9.0] "A match Ill probably never watch again. Too much even for me and I love chairshots to the head. 11 or 12 unprotected shots to the head what more can you say its just insane. Brutal in every sense I feel for mick foley and Im glad hes still alive and relatively fine today. God bless the man. A great match if u can stomach the unprotected shots to his head. 4.5/5"

[10.0] "I never want to watch this match again. Im giving it a 10 but I dont want to watch it again. It is an uncomfortable watch, which is what makes it special in a weird way. The story telling throughout this match is incredible. It becomes a terrifying watch the longer it goes on, but God Bless Mick Foley."

[9.0] "Absolutely insane match. Although this type of brawling is not usually the kind of match i prefer, this really was a spectacle. It starts out good for Mick, as he beats up the Rock in and around the ring. Pretty quickly it swings to Rock, and from here it is just a slaughter. An insane dive from the crowd, and i dont even know how many chair shots with his hand in handcuffs."

[10.0] "The best I Quit match ever. My god Funk (god rest his soul) and Flair doesnt even come close to this. The Rock cemented himself as the OG heel of the company and this boosted my intrigue to this storyline. Both guys beat the hell out of each other in very enjoyable spots. Now, of course we need to talk about the Chairshots. I counted 9. I know people count it higher but I counted 9. This spot was so brutal yet just so memorable. The reason it hits hard is because unlike Hell in A Cell it has never ever been replicated. Absolutely amazing match."

[9.0] "This is the best match of the series that go from the Survivor Series to the Ladder match. This was an all out brawl from start to finish with great pace, impact and creativity. And it's got to be mentioned but the match doesn't try to go over the edge, doesn't try to be falsely epic, all that overkill that we could see today... The finish is among the greatest finishes of all time, makes both workers looking really strong and sets up a rematch (or several in that case) that looks legitimate. Solid ****1/2."

[10.0] "This match is incredible drama even if the chairshots to the head get a bit excessive and painful. Had this match happened 10 years later when more was known about the dangers of chairshots to the head i'd have marked it down but for 1999 it was incredible drama"

[10.0] "Incredible match, this is the match that sold me on The Rock as a character. It's hard to watch but totally worth it."

[5.0] "Both guys are legends and the match is a solid overall, however it is memorable only because of the brutal finish and post match heat."

[9.0] "It's a thoroughly unpleasant watch and years later this looks so stupid but it's still utterly compelling. The Rock's commentary. Just smashing Foley over the head repeatedly with this chair. An iconic, brutal match."

[9.0] "this match goes over the simple definition of wrestling. this is pure storytelling and put his own body on the line"

[8.0] "Aight look here me out, yes, the ending did not need to be that extreme. They did not need to rattle Foley's brain. The ending is too brutal and takes the match down a bit. But, aside from the ending, man what a match it was. This is arguably the best I Quit match in the history of wrestling. Sure it starts as yet another Attitude Era brawl, but once Mankind gets thrown into the equipment from the balcony, the match kicks into another gear. Both used the mic for great dialogs, the Rock was vicious, Mankind fighting despite the odds. And while the chair shots to the head were absolutely unnecessary, the ending with the recording worked well. I want to like the match more, but I can tell you, nothing made me actively disgusted in a WWE, match except for the series of chair shots."

[7.0] "The match that makes everybody squeemish since the Benoit Family fallout years ago and viewers started getting smart to CTE. Typical crazy brawl and Rock stopping to do commentary was funny. Mankind trying to outdo his HITC bump by falling into the rigged electrical equipment was typical for the Attitude Era. It would actually get worse later on up until the previously mentioned Benoit tragedy with wrestlers flat out attempting murder on each other in stupid segments, then turning up perfectly fine the next night on Raw. Once the WWE went back to PG friendly politically correct marketing, this stupid crap thankfully died out pretty much. Match finally ends with Mankind being handcuffed and Rock just blasting him repeatedly with chair shots to the head and knocking Mankind out and somebody rigging up a doctored audio of Mankind saying "I Quit" from a previous interview to give the match to Rock. This kind of stuff won't be seen in the WWE ever again, or maybe another 20 years at least when they think they can get away with it as the tragedy starts to fade from peoples minds and maybe they figure out how to use actual stunt chairs."

[8.0] "Tricky match to rate for a few reasons. Firstly, there's not much actual wrestling, it's a full on brawl, but "I Quit" matches usually focus on submissions. Secondly there's the actual brutality of the repeated unprotected chair shots, and the "electrocution" bump looked a bit silly. Ultimately I'm going to rate it based on the match as it was and not the issues, so it gets an 8, as with the exception of the electicity and too many chair shots it was genuinely compelling, and the screwy finish actually worked."

[10.0] "Brutally entertaining match. Yeah, Rock definitely took it too far with the chair shots. Still one of the best I Quit matches in WWE history. *****"

[9.0] "Rock and mankind go back and forth all around the arena, their use of the microphone adds to the match since trash talking is always good. Rock takes over the match after a low blow on the balcony, Mankind takes a crazy bump on all of the electrical equipment causing some of the arena to go black. Mankind does get brief offense when back in the ring but is ultimately limited by the fact that he was handcuffed. Then we get to the crazy rapid chair shots by The Rock to Mankind that age really poorly when watching in 2022, but in the context of the match, it makes sense since Mankind won't stay down no matter what Rock does so Rock resorts to doing that..****œ"

[10.0] "I can't agree with selling it short due to personal squeamishness surrounding the excessive unprotected chairshots. This is undoubtedly a masterpiece and one of the very best matches to feature the I Quit stipulation."

"Great 'I Quit' match. Mankind wasn't gonna give up. The flow of the match was insane. Legends 8.5/10"

[10.0] "this is just a masterpiece of a match it is so good and it fits mick foley so good and one of my favorite match to watch"

[4.0] "Just rewatched this and man does this not hold up at all. I appreciate Mick and the rock for all of the memories they gave me, but knowing even the tiniest bit of CTE makes this hard for me to stomach."

[0.0] "I despise this match. It caused legitimate heat between the two performers, and Rock took it way too far. I know it seems a bit hypocritical to rate this so low when I rate Necro versus Joe so highly, but when you go too far and try to legitimately hurt somebody, that's never okay. The first priority of a wrestler should be to make sure your opponent is safe, and Rock showed no instinct to keep Mick safe."

[8.0] "The microphone allowed both guys to throw shade when they were attempting to submit each other. This is pretty much your standard Attitude Era brawl throughout the arena. However, things get serious when the two are fighting on the balcony and Mankind takes a nasty fall onto electrical equipment, sending sparks everywhere and temporarily cutting the lights in the arena. It's a nice visual. Rock then puts Foley in handcuffs and starts stomping away at him. Mankind tries to get back at him with whatever he can muster. He kicks, headbutts, and bites The Rock. Mankind drops a knee on The Rock's groin, making the entire crowd wince. Then it's time for the unprotected chair shots. God, this is hard to watch in a post-Benoit world, but you can't deny it created drama. 1999 WWF isn't known for its high work-rate, so I think you're are going to struggle to name a better match that's not the tag ladder match at No Mercy and maybe Rock/Austin at WrestleMania from this year."

[8.0] "This is literally a snuff match and it was one of the greatest title match ever. Rock is brutal with those chairshots."

[10.0] "One of the greatest matches in wrestling history and it never should have happened the way it did. Foley during the infamous chairshots is one of the greatest babyfaces of all time."

[8.0] "The sheer amount of chair shots Foley took. Should he have taken them? No, but he did, and it definitely fulfilled the purpose of making the match more dramatic. The match was great, but the amount of damage Foley took was just disturbing, and a lot of people in the audience were even noticeably unnerved. It made the match seem very real, and Foley continuing to get up and keep going made him look like an absolute badass. ****"

[7.0] "I'm a bit conflicted with this one, as it's a decent brawl for the most part but the stuff with Rock braining Mankind with countless chair shots has aged very poorly, and it wasn't a very pleasant watch to begin with. A dramatic and bruising bout, that most assuredly isn't for everyone"

[8.0] "Really brutal match here, Mankind did the two things he did best: take a beating and make a star. I mean Rock was already a big star by this point, but the beating he gave Foley here really elevated him. As was becoming more and more evident to the company, when you need someone to make a star, you get Mick Foley. My only complaint is the commentary: Michael Cole was insufferable here. I realise that JR wasn't around during this time, but he was not ready for calling matches on PPV, as was evident with the forced calls for Mankind to quit. Turn the sound down when you watch this, it makes it a lot better."

[7.0] "This match was good and very memorable. Also this was one of the best I quit match. But I didn't recommend it for sensitive People"