Rock 'n' Sock Connection
| Rock 'n' Sock Connection | |
|---|---|
 The Rock (left) and Mankind | |
| Tag team | |
| Members | The Rock Mankind / Mick Foley |
| Name(s) | Rock 'N' Sock Connection Rock 'N' Sock |
| Billed heights | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) - The Rock 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) - Mick Foley |
| Combined billed weight | 562 lb (255 kg) |
| Debut | August 30, 1999 |
| Disbanded | March 14, 2004 |
Rock 'N' Sock Connection is a former professional wrestling tag team of The Rock and Mankind that wrestled in the World Wrestling Federation between 1999 and 2000 and briefly in 2004. As a team, they held the WWF Tag Team Championship three times.[1]
History
On August 30, 1999, the Rock 'N' Sock Connection was formed when The Undertaker and Big Show attacked The Rock on Raw, leading The Rock to challenge both of them to a match. At the time, it was considered career "suicide" to face a team as deadly as The Undertaker and The Big Show. With this in mind, Mankind (who recently started using a smelly sock named "Mr. Socko" as part of his gimmick) asked his former enemy if he could help with his fight against Undertaker and Big Show. The Rock reluctantly accepted, and later that night, the two captured The Undertaker and Big Show's WWF Tag Team Titles when they pinned Big Show after a double People's Elbow.[2]
They lost the belts on September 7 in a Buried Alive match against Undertaker and Big Show, when then-heel Triple H interfered. However, Triple H was really only helping out Undertaker, as he hit The Big Show with a sledgehammer.[3]
On September 20, the Rock 'N' Sock Connection won the titles back in a Dark Side Rules match against The Big Show, Mideon, and Viscera (The Undertaker did not feel like being in the match so they took his place, thus turning the match into a three-on-two).[4] Three days later on SmackDown!, the New Age Outlaws reunited and challenged Rock 'N' Sock Connection for the titles, which The Outlaws won.[1]
Several days later, Mick Foley helped WWF Raw achieve some of its highest ratings ever with a segment featuring himself (as Mankind) and The Rock. The "This is Your Life" segment aired on September 27, 1999, and received an 8.4 rating.[5] Two weeks later, The Rock told Mankind that he was tired of him, did not like the whole Rock 'N' Sock team, nor did he enjoy Mankind stealing his catchphrases during promos. Mankind begged The Rock to team up with him for one more night, but he did not tell The Rock who they would be fighting.
They ended up challenging The New Age Outlaws for the championships on October 14, 1999.[1] That night, the Rock 'N' Sock Connection won the tag team titles for the third time, meaning they would have to continue teaming together to defend the titles.[1] Four days later on SmackDown!, before their title defense against The Holly Cousins, Mick Foley gave the Rock an autographed copy of his book, Have a Nice Day!, but later found it in the trash. Mick confronted The Rock and cursed him out for throwing away his life's work. Later that night, during their match, a crushed Mankind refused to participate as he sat despondently on the steel steps, facing away from the ring, as Hardcore and Crash Holly (with outside interference once again by Triple H) beat The Rock for the Titles.[1]
The Rock and Mankind began a feud with each other, until Foley discovered that it was his close friend, Al Snow who threw the book in the trash, since the book contained many Al Snow jokes. In real life, Foley and Snow are very good friends, and continually make good-natured fun of each other and their careers.[6]
Reunions
The Rock 'N' Sock would later reunite to take on the McMahon-Helmsley Faction. They teamed off-and-on until Foley's in-ring retirement in March 2000 and The Rock's blossoming movie career.
In 2004, The Rock 'N' Sock Connection reunited at WrestleMania XX when they took on then Evolution members Randy Orton, Ric Flair, and Batista in a 3 on 2 handicap match. However, the Rock 'N' Sock Connection lost the match, when Orton pinned Foley after an RKO. There were rumors that Mick Foley would appear on WWE Raw on May 2, 2011, to reunite with his longtime friend The Rock as together as the Rock 'n' Sock Connection for The Rock's birthday. However, this did not happen.[7]
In wrestling
- Double team finishing moves
- Double People's Elbow (both members perform an elbow drop with theatrics)
- Mandible Claw released into a Rock Bottom
- The Rock's finisher
- Mankind's finisher
Championships and accomplishments
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f "World Tag Team Title History". WWE. Retrieved 2007-05-20.
- ^ "First Title Reign". WWE. Retrieved 2007-05-20.
- ^ "Undertaker and Big Show's Title Reign". WWE. Retrieved 2007-05-20.
- ^ "Second Title Reign". WWE. Retrieved 2007-05-20.
- ^ Christopher Robin Zimmerman. "Slashwrestling RAW report - with ratings". Retrieved 2007-01-13.
- ^ Foley, Mick. Have A Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks (Foreword p.x)
- ^ "The Rock's WWE Alumni Profile". WWE. Retrieved 2007-06-04.
- ^ Foley, Mick. Have A Nice Day: A Tale of Blood & Sweatsocks (p.199)
References
- Mick Foley (2000). Have A Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks. HarperCollins. p. 511. ISBN 0061031011.