Details on Vince McMahon agreeing to cancel WWE legend's heel turn
WWE legend Mick Foley has revealed why he asked Vince McMahon to cancel his planned heel turn on The Rock in 1999.
Known as The Rock ‘n’ Sock Connection, Foley and The Rock won the WWE Tag Team Championships three times between August 1999 and October 1999. Before becoming tag team partners, the two men were involved in a WWE Championship rivalry at the start of the year.
Speaking on Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Sessions show, Foley said Vince McMahon originally wanted their rivalry to be revisited towards the end of 1999. However, he convinced the WWE Chairman to continue with The Rock ‘n’ Sock Connection storyline due to fans’ positive reactions to it:
“I remember calling Vince and saying, ‘I don’t wanna do this heel turn. Vince, I feel like people are really responding,’” Foley said. “I realized that I’m coming slowly but surely to an end, my knees are giving me trouble. It’s real, people feel it on a definite basis, and that’s part of the reason I think why the character still resonates.”
Mick Foley and The Rock famously took part in a 'This Is Your Life' segment on the September 27, 1999 episode of WWE RAW. Vince McMahon initially “hated” the segment before finding out that it drew an 8.39 television rating.
Vince McMahon allowed Mick Foley to remain a babyface
Although The Rock ‘n’ Sock Connection did not stay together for long, the team is still one of the most memorable from WWE’s Attitude Era.
Mick Foley believes the tag team’s legacy is proof that he was right to ask Vince McMahon to cancel his heel turn:
“Because we didn’t do the turn, it allowed people to have those great memories of The Rock ‘n’ Sock Connection,” Foley said. “Fans come up to me, ‘You guys were the greatest tag team in history,’ and I’ll say, ‘Can you name one match we had?’ They can’t but they do remember how we made them feel.”
WWE is currently counting down the 50 greatest tag teams in the company's history. The latest episode of the countdown, which can be seen on Peacock and the WWE Network, listed The Rock ‘n’ Sock Connection in 16th place.
Please credit Broken Skull Sessions and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.