"Forever grateful"- Randy Orton sends a heartfelt message to one of his greatest rivals
Randy Orton sent a heartfelt message to WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley in his latest tweet.
Randy Orton and Mick Foley competed in a Hardcore match for Orton's Intercontinental Championship at Backlash 2004, 18 years ago. The match is seen by many as the moment Orton turned into a top star. The bloody brawl lasted more than 20 minutes and ended with the 14-time world champion picking up a huge win.
Foley sent out a tweet earlier tonight, remembering his match with The Viper. Orton responded to the tweet with a wholesome message for the hardcore legend.
"Same! Forever grateful Mick!" Orton wrote in his tweet.
Check out the exchange HERE.
Randy Orton and Mick Foley engaged in a heated rivalry in 2003-04
Orton and Foley were bitter rivals back during the Ruthless Aggression Era. By late 2003, the former world champion had established himself as a hated heel and was known as The Legend Killer. He targeted Mick Foley on WWE RAW, and the feud quickly became incredibly personal.
At Royal Rumble 2004, Foley entered the match and eliminated Orton, thus shattering his dreams of a WrestleMania main event.
At WrestleMania XX, Foley teamed up with The Rock to take on Orton, Batista, and Ric Flair in a three-on-two handicap match. In the end, the current RAW Tag Team Champion hit a RKO on Foley to pick up the win for his team.
A few weeks later, The Viper and Foley met again at Backlash. The match included a bunch of aggressive spots involving weapons such as barbed wire baseball bats and thumbtacks. Orton suffered some serious punishment at the hands of Foley but managed to defeat the hardcore legend to end the feud.
It has been 18 long years since Orton and Foley's iconic rivalry ended at Backlash 2004. The Viper has done quite well for himself over the years and has gone on to win the world championship 14 times.
Do you remember Orton and Foley's hardcore outing at Backlash 2004? What was your favorite spot from that match?