Ex-WWE star reveals Randy Orton's reaction after 2004 moment with Mick Foley
Randy Orton defeated Mick Foley in a Hardcore match at Backlash 2004 to retain the Intercontinental Championship. In a recent video, former WWE star Maven Huffman revealed how The Viper reacted to the thumbtack spot during the 23-minute bout.
Throughout his wrestling career, Foley was well known for his creative use of weapons. At Backlash 2004, The Hardcore Legend looked set to land on a set of thumbtacks after Orton lined him up for an RKO. However, he quickly escaped the move, causing his opponent to land back-first on the tacks.
In a new video on his YouTube channel, Maven said the risky spot was not as painful as it looked:
"It's actually not as bad as you think. I do remember when Randy Orton had to fall on thumbtacks. He told me after the match, because I was curious, I said, 'What did the thumbtacks feel like?' and he told me, 'Not that bad.' In fact, he said the worst part about it was the taking them out process. Once he took the bump on the thumbtacks, his whole body took the bump, and when you disperse pain over a larger area, it's just way better than if you take one at a time." [2:01 – 2:35]
The match with Foley was viewed as a breakout moment for Orton. Although he performed as a bad guy at the time, many fans began to respect the former Evolution member after the thumbtack incident.
Maven attempted his own Randy Orton thumbtack spot
At the end of Maven's latest video, he landed back-first on a set of thumbtacks to experience how the likes of Mick Foley and Randy Orton felt.
The inaugural Tough Enough winner concluded that thumbtack bumps will always be painful no matter what:
"Thumbtacks in wrestling is the one thing you truly cannot fake," Maven added. "Sometimes you just have to know something is gonna s*ck, you have to embrace that, and you just gotta go out and do your job." [17:24 – 17:37]
In the same video, Maven revealed more secrets about the art of taking a thumbtack bump in wrestling.
Please credit Maven Huffman and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.
