While the match put Mick Foley on the map, earning him a WWE contract, “The Hardcore Legend” admits he would have “been in a pretty good position” just wrestling in Japan, ECW, and the indies. He stated that he was talked into accepting the WWE offer from Paul Heyman, who convinced him that he was a lot more than just “a glorified enhancement talent.” 

Despite going on to achieve great heights in WWE, Foley still believes the IWA match against Funk was the defining moment of his career. “Terry giving me that [match] really made me,” Foley admitted. “I believe that, to this day, there are plenty of people in Japan, who refer to me as the King of the Death Match.”

In December 1997, barely a few months after Funk retired and unretired, he returned to the WWE as a new masked character, Chainsaw Charlie, and began teaming with Foley in their rivalry against New Age Outlaws. At WrestleMania XIV, Foley and Funk defeated the Outlaws in a Dumpster Match to capture the WWE Tag Team Championship, a moment that Foley fondly remembers as one of the highlights of his career in his book, “Have a Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks.” 

Foley admits that the WWE run with Funk gave him more reason to believe in the late legend’s greatness.

“I think he was the greatest wrestler of all time,” Foley said of Funk. “Nobody is wrong [to express their opinions], but if a fan doesn’t have him in their top 20, they need to go back and do their homework. If someone from that era, who did work with him, doesn’t have him in their top 10 … I did say that nobody is wrong, but they are wrong.” Foley believes Funk would be remembered as someone who “gave more of himself to wrestling than anybody I’ve ever seen.”