Twenty-five years ago, The Rock still had hair, Mick Foley was still getting launched from steel cages and the WWE was still called the WWF.
And on September 27, a quarter century ago, all three came together to create one of the most memorable moments in wrestling history.
Friday marks the 25th anniversary of ‘Rock, This Is Your Life’ – one of the most controversial and successful segments in the history of WWE’s flagship telecast, Monday Night Raw.
At the time, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and Mick ‘Mankind’ Foley were two of the biggest stars in the then-WWF, and had spent the previous year feuding over the WWF Championship.
They’d recently formed an uneasy alliance as the odd-couple tag team, ‘The Rock ‘n’ Sock Connection,’ and had won the WWF Tag Team Championship.
But the two could never really form a solid bond, so on the September 27, 1999 episode of Raw, Foley tried to win the affections of his tag team partner in the hilarious segment.
Taking cues from the NBC radio and television series of the same name, Foley introduced a series of characters who had supposedly influenced The Rock in his formative years.
That included a former school teacher, an old football coach and his high school sweetheart.
The interactions went just as you’d expect, with the Rock proceeding to mock each one.
As far as concepts go, it wasn’t exactly revelatory, but a quarter century later, ‘This Is Your Life’ remains notable for a couple reasons.
First, it did huge numbers.
The skit earned a reported 8.4 rating — more than nine million viewers — a figure that still makes it the highest-rated non-wrestling segment in Raw’s 31-year history.
4Foley wheeled out a number of people that were claimed to have an influence on Johnson’s careerCredit: WWE
4But the ten-time world champion wasn’t having any of itCredit: WWE
‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin’s 1999 championship clash against The Undertaker currently holds the all-time top spot with a 9.5 rating.
Secondly, ‘This Is Your Life’ really angered former WWE owner Vince McMahon.
Originally scripted to run about eight minutes in total, the segment totally went off the rails, lasting some 20 minutes in total and sending notorious control freak McMahon into a tizzy.
Something tells us once he saw the ratings, he calmed down a bit.
In fact, ‘This Is Your Life’ was so successful that the WWE would even repeat the stunt in 2004.
This time, it was The Rock celebrating Mankind in a segment.