Randy Orton is a bona fide WWE legend, but his feud with Mick Foley is what truly made him in the company.
Quickly after forming Evolution in 2003, Orton became the “Legend Killerâ€, which was somewhat ironic given his mentors were Triple H and Ric Flair. Anyway, a near-year long rivalry with the Hardcore Legend soon began year would lead to some great moments.
Amongst these were the 2004 Royal Rumble, where Foley made a shock return to the ring in the 30-man match to confront the young man who had been tormenting his life for much of the previous six months.
Orton and Foley’s lengthy feud went into overdrive at the Rumble
To set the scene, Orton (with the help of Flair) had spat in Foley’s face and thrown him down a set of stairs in June and when a match between the pair was set for December, Mick, in storyline, walked out of it in fear of facing Evolution’s diamond in the rough.
When the Royal Rumble came around in January 2004, Orton was flying high having won the Intercontinental title the month prior. In his first Rumble match, he entered second and lasted over 33 minutes in the match.
Randy Orton
His run ended when Foley arrived on the scene, having assaulted the original 21st entrant, Test, and left him lying unconscious. As Test’s music played, the cameras cut back to this with doctors and Stone Cold Steve Austin (then Raw’s Sheriff) attending to him.
Stone Cold berated the unseen assailant and demanded he enter the ring in the place of his victim. This, of course, was Foley who ran to the ring much to the shock and fear of Orton.
Foley instantly went after Orton, beating him all over the ring, eventually eliminating him, as well as himself, with a classic Cactus Jack clothesline over the top rope.
Take a look below at this memorable Royal Rumble moment (clip shared on Twitter by @WrestleClips).
VIDEO: Mick Foley returns to attack Randy Orton at the 2004 Royal Rumble
It’s an underrated but brilliant Rumble moment
The pop is enormous for a beloved wrestler and true WWE legend and shows the brilliance of the Rumble and its propensity to have shock returns and entrants.
Foley looks in terrific shape and it perfectly suits his character at the time that he only had eyes for Orton – it made the feud seem extra personal.
Additionally, Orton and Kurt Angle coming to blows in the ring a particular highlight. The two men had had zero interaction prior to this due to the strict brand split rules, which actually made the Rumble even better during this time. Two years later, the two would be part of a triple threat with Rey Mysterio at WrestleMania 22.
What happened next?
Their interaction at the Rumble set up their epic WrestleMania 20 and Backlash matches. ‘Mania was a handicap match for the ages between Evolution (Orton, Flair, Batista) and The Rock ‘n’ Sock connection, which saw Orton pick up the pin for his team on Foley.
Randy Orton
Backlash saw both the peak and end of their feud, as the two engaged in a brutal hardcore match. Like Triple H in 2000, a selfless Foley helped Orton become a “made man†in WWE and in the eyes of the fans.